Good-bye, Mr. President: The Secret Resignation Letters

Author's Note: I've been working around the clock on my new book, "Fanatics, Fools and Alpha Males," which will be published in March by Miramax Books. In the spirit of the season, I'm sending you a succulent slice from the book. It's a collection of resignation letters written by disaffected members of the Bush administration who so disagreed with administration policies that they preferred the uncertainty of the unemployment line to toeing the party line.

I've also taken the liberty of including excerpts from what I imagine the first drafts of these letters might have looked like.

So thanks to these unsung heroes.

Mike Dombeck, Forest Service chief, resigned March 27, 2001, after four years on the job.

What he wrote in his resignation letter: "It was made clear in no uncertain terms that the administration wants to take the Forest Service in another direction ..."

What Mike Dombeck wrote in the first draft of his resignation letter: "It was made clear in no uncertain terms that the administration needs to kiss a little logging-industry ass, having gotten nearly $300,000 in donations during the 2000 election (10 times more than Al Gore). Mr. President, after all that bark-bussing and timber-tonguing, it's a wonder you didn't get splinters in your lip or a very painful STD (Sequoia Transmitted Disease).

Fact: Before the U.S. Forest Service approves a timber sale on federal land, loggers are currently required to study the impact on endangered animals and salmon runs. The Bush White House is pushing to overturn both of these requirements.

John Brown, Ph.D., was a Foreign Service officer for nearly 25 years, having served in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev and Belgrade. He resigned March 10, 2003.

What he wrote in his resignation letter: "I cannot in good conscience support President Bush's war plans against Iraq. The president has failed to: explain clearly why our brave men and women in uniform should be ready to sacrifice their lives in a war on Iraq at this time; to lay out the full ramifications of this war, including the extent of innocent civilian casualties; to specify the economic costs of the war for the ordinary Americans; to clarify how the war would help rid the world of terror; to take international public opinion against the war into serious consideration."

What John Brown wrote in the first draft of his resignation letter: Come to think of it, the above probably is his first draft. After 25 years as a diplomat, he had the good sense to mentally edit out words like "monumentally stupid" and "worst White House decision since the Bay of Pigs."

Fact: Since the start of the U.S. war in Iraq, 511 soldiers have been killed and 2,424 have been wounded.

Bruce Boler, an EPA state water quality specialist, resigned from his post Oct. 23, 2003, because his bosses at the EPA accepted the findings of a controversial study that concluded that Florida wetlands discharge more pollutants than they absorb.

What he wrote in his resignation letter: "... ultimately the politics of southwestern Florida have proven stronger than the science ..."

What Bruce Boler wrote in the first draft of his resignation letter: "This report, the people who wrote it and my superiors at the EPA are all obviously off their collective rocker. Next thing you know, they'll be telling us that auto emissions are actually reducing global warming. Congratulations, Mr. President, you've just given greedy Florida developers lucrative tax credits for improving water quality by, get this: replacing pristine natural wetlands with golf courses, strip malls and gas stations. I'm sure they'll be sure and reward your brother Jeb accordingly."

Fact: In January 2003, the White House recommended creating a new category of "isolated" waters that wouldn't be subject to the Clean Water Act. According to environmentalists, if the measure is adopted, hundreds of industries won't need permits to dump their potentially toxic sludge and waste into 20 percent of the nation's wetlands and 60 percent of streams that only flow intermittently.