In Our View for Monday – April 11, 2005

• Lead poisoning : Cheney family and nepotism

Lead poisoning : Cheney family and nepotism

From The Times-Picayune, New Orleans April 1, 2005

Old paint isn’t the only substance that can expose children to high levels of lead; a new study suggests that airborne soil, laced with lead residue from auto emissions, is another source of the toxic metal.

To make matters worse, the study found exposure is more severe during the summer, when children are more likely to be outside.

Researchers, who looked at weather records, lead concentrations and blood tests, developed a computer model that predicted higher lead levels during hot, dry weather.…

Those findings should get the attention of public health officials. Lead poisoning is a serious health issue affecting 434,000 children between the ages of 1 and 5, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High lead levels can cause brain damage, lower IQs, learning disabilities and behavioral problems, among other ills.

Public health officials need to find ways to reduce children’s exposure. That might mean launching efforts to cover bare soil with mulch or grass in public areas and educating families about the need to do so in their own yards.

From the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gazette April 1, 2005

The nomination of Vice President Dick Cheney’s son-in-law as top lawyer at the Department of Homeland Security, coupled with the appointment of Cheney’s daughter to a senior State Department post, are a strain of nepotism not usually seen in American government.…

Last week President Bush nominated Philip J. Perry, Elizabeth Cheney’s husband, to be general counsel at Homeland Security.

…Elizabeth Cheney also feeds at the government trough. She is currently principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and coordinator for broader Middle East and North Africa initiatives. She was appointed to that post in February by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

At the same time, this effort to “take care of the vice president’s family” is way out of line with the concept that merit should be the principal criterion in U.S. government appointments. A lobbyist for a major Homeland Security contractor shouldn’t have a friendly insider at the department, and someone with no background in the subject shouldn’t be in charge of U.S. initiatives to improve relations with the Middle East and North Africa.