…did everyone see this NYT editorial about the administration’s secret plan to trash them? One of Dick Cheney’s former aides wants to open all the national parks to snowmobiling, off-roading, and other “recreational” activities. He also wants to sell religious literature there and strip any reference to evolution from park materials. And so on.

A couple of things about this…

First, the president needs to pay closer attention to what’s going on in his administration. Even if he supports this, there’s no real political gain to be had in such a plan. How many millions of Americans go to the Grand Canyon and love its pristine, unspoiled nature? And how many Americans really want to ride all-terrain vehicles in the Grand Canyon? I have to believe the first group is a lot larger than the second.

Second, Dick Cheney and the people who work for him have a very odd view of nature. Under his soft-spoken manner, Cheney is an extremist, and that soft-spoken manner only makes him more dangerous. My old colleague, Robert Sam Anson, is working on a book about Cheney’s role in the Bush presidency. Anson’s an old-school investigative journalist, and I can’t wait for the book.

Third, how many other wacko right-wing ideologues are tunneling around in the depths of the Bush administration, making mischief in areas of policy that no one’s paying any attention to while we’re at war?