This is James Inhofe, who in my mind represents everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. He is an ideologue who is resistant to facts that don't square with his version of the truth. He supports torture. His attitude toward the Middle East is shaped by his apocalyptic Biblical fantasies. Not only does he oppose various expansions of rights for homosexuals, but he has an outright hostility and disgust for them. Recently, he proudly boasted that his sterling family tree hasn't been tainted by a single divorce or incidence of homosexuality. And, most important to me, Inhofe refuses to acknowledge that humans are the source of the global warming that has been observed over the past 100 or so years. Global warming is a "hoax," according to Inhofe, who represents deep-red Oklahoma.
So, it was with great interest and surprise that I learned Inhofe, who has chaired the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee since 2002, may be supplanted as Ranking Member by John Warner. Warner is an honest conservative who votes the way he believes, but has an enormous amount of respect for the lawmaking process and understands that compromise is the most effective way to govern (other conservative Republicans I admire include Richard Lugar, Chuck Hagel, and Chuck Grassley) . Inhofe, on the other hand, has nothing but contempt for the other side, and represents the kind of poisonous, polarizing politics that is killing rational political discourse in our country. I don't expect much much from Republicans anymore, but allocating such a high-profile leadership position to a reality-based politician like Warner would speak volumes.
A related Republican-related environment development: GOP Presidential hopeful John McCain has been sending suprising signals about Bush's environmental policies. Would he support federal action to cap-and-trade carbon dioxide emissions?
