Letter: Watch Fridays for bad news

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2004 | 8:50 a.m.

Anyone wishing to see the real values of the Bush administration needs to really only pay attention to what he announces on Fridays. Politicians know that if they have news that they're not proud of, it is best released on Friday when less people are paying attention and there is less opportunity to reply.

In Bush's case, the gutting of the Clean Water Act was announced on a Friday, as were the proposals to open Alaskan wilderness areas to oil exploration, allow coal-fired power plants to expand without installing anti-pollution controls, and the cancellation of some wetlands protection policies.

Now, again on a Friday, he announced the appointment of Charles Pickering to the federal judiciary, bypassing the advice and consent functions of the U.S. Senate. The arrogant attitude that he knows better than the American public or their elected representatives about absolutely everything continues.

WALLACE J. HENKELMAN