Judge Slams Ex-EPA Chief Over Sept. 11 - Yahoo! News

Judge Slams Ex-EPA Chief Over Sept. 11 - Yahoo! News:

The judge let the lawsuit proceed against the EPA and Whitman, permitting the plaintiffs to try to prove that the agency and its administrator endangered their health.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and reimbursement for cleanup costs and asks the court to order that a medical monitoring fund be set up to track the health of those exposed to trade center dust.

In her ruling, Batts noted that the EPA and Whitman said repeatedly — beginning just two days after the attack — that the air appeared safe to breathe. The EPA's internal watchdog later found that the agency, at the urging of White House officials, gave misleading assurances.

Quoting a ruling in an earlier case, the judge said a public official cannot be held personally liable for putting the public in harm's way unless the conduct was so egregious as 'to shock the contemporary conscience.' Given her role in protecting the health and environment for Americans, Whitman's reassurances after Sept. 11 were 'without question conscience-shocking,' Batts said.

Well, one has to have a conscience in order to have it shocked. As far as I can tell, the people who make up this administration (as well as the leadership in the House and Senate, and most likely the two latest Supremes) don't have consciences. If they did, their own shame would drive them to self-destruction. How else can they live with themselves?