I'm such a cynic

On behalf of my people, let me be the first to commend President Bush for declaring the Northwest Hawaiian Islands a protected marine reserve. If you're saying to yourself, "Northwest Hawaiian Islands?" allow me to hip you to the fact that there are thousands of remote, tiny, and uninhabitable islands that comprise the Hawaiian archipelago. Roughly 1,400 of them are now a protected reserve for the preservation of exotic marine life unique to them. Hmm...

What triggers my bullshit detector about this is that what appears to be a grand sweeping gesture from the anti-environment president, is just too easy. He was essentially able to do something without doing anything at all. There's no oil there so there are no industrial interests in the area. The region is too remote an inaccesible to serve as a tourist destination, so there are no commercial interests in the area. The only objection to this is coming from a small indigenous faction of my brothers and sisters whose fishing rights will be impacted and even they will probably be quietlly, easily, and affordably bought out.

I apologize for my cynicism but this just strikes me as a down payment on an ANWR drilling permit.