Hey Freak!

Finally. The Bush administration is doing something to protect the troops. Usually, it's all just talk, but yes, this time, there is real protection involved.

The only problem? He's protecting them from environmental law.

President Bush exempted the Navy from an environmental law so it can continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the California coast -- a practice critics say is harmful to whales and other marine mammals.

The White House announced Wednesday that Bush had signed the exemption Tuesday while traveling in the Middle East.

The Navy training exercises, including the use of sonar, "are in the paramount interest of the United States" and its national security, Bush said in a memorandum.

"This exemption will enable the Navy to train effectively and to certify carrier and expeditionary strike groups for deployment in support of worldwide operational and combat activities, which are essential to national security," the memo said. [full story]

Ah, yes. Because experimenting with sonar is much more important than, say, the well-being of area marine life, and, in the big picture, our entire ecosystem. Fuck whales, man. We gotta have our sonar! Besides, what have whales ever done to help protect the country? Fucking slackers.