Bush to name new Agriculture secretary (Edward Schafer)

[OhioChick]

Source: Yahoo News

7 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday will nominate Edward Schafer, a former two-term Republican governor from North Dakota, to be his next secretary of agriculture, a senior administration official said.

Schafer, who chose not to run again in North Dakota in 2000, will replace Mike Johanns, who resigned as U.S. agriculture secretary last month to launch a bid for the Nebraska Senate seat being vacated by Republican Chuck Hagel at the end of next year.

Bush will make the announcement at 2 p.m. EDT in the Roosevelt Room.

Schafer, the grandson of Danish immigrants who farmed throughout their lives, gained extensive agricultural experience while serving as governor, from 1992 to 2000, of North Dakota where nearly 25 percent of its residents work as farmers and ranchers or are employed in farm-related jobs.

He was elected to his first term by a margin of 17 percent and was re-elected to a second term four years later by a margin of 32 percent, becoming the first Republican elected to a second term in the state's history.




Read more: http://fe15.news.sp1.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071031/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_agriculture_secretary

[aquart]

1. How appalling is he?

That seems to be the only question to ask about a Bush appointee.

[gratuitous]

3. The FIRST thing that crossed my mind

Schafer? Who he? It's just possible that he's not the most objectionable candidate on the planet for this job, but given the Bush administration track record, I'm afraid that's my default setting anymore.

[Ian David]

2. Edward Schafer believes that plants don't come from seeds, but sprout from the breath of God.

No, not really.

I made that up.

[Newsjock]

4. Former ND Gov. Ed Schafer (R): Plagiarist?

Remember that kid in your 8th grade class who wrote that awesome essay about the Civil War? Remember how the writing was just "too good to be true" -- for an 8th grader? The kid got busted. Plagiarism was the case. The teacher gave him an F. He had to do the whole paper over but could only get a "C" at best. Remember that kid?

Maybe that kid, in your class, was Former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer (R).

On the back of the December 2006 issue of the Dakota Beacon there's a cute little fluff piece "written" by former Governor Schafer (R) about a happy little submarine, entitled "USS Plunger."

... To make this easier for you, I'm going to do a side-by-side comparison of Schafer's Plunger piece and other peoples' work. Let's have a look:

... Ed Schafer's Dakota Beacon Article: The submarine had the "amazing speed" of seven knots surfaced, made possible by her 45-horsepower internal combustion engine. She also had an endurance of several hours submerged when running on rechargeable storage batteries.

Original source (at Free Republic): USS Holland had the "amazing speed" of seven knots surfaced, made possible by her 45-horsepower internal combustion engine. She also had an endurance of several hours submerged when running on rechargeable storage batteries.

Read more: http://www.bismarckdems.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=544&Itemid=159

[Neshanic]

5. Can you sign big checks to corporate farmers? You got the job.