Sex, Drugs, and Oil

by Steve Soto

Bush Administration Interior Department staff and senior managers overseeing the oil royalty program did coke and had sex with the oil company staff they were supposed to collect royalties from. Oil companies seemed to think of Interior female staff out of the Denver office as their own escort service.

Between 2002 and 2006, 19 oil marketers — nearly a third of the Denver office staff — received gifts and gratuities from oil and gas companies, including Chevron Corp., Shell, Hess Corp. and Denver-based Gary-Williams Energy Corp., the investigators found.

"Employees frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and natural gas company representatives" who referred to some of the government workers as the "MMS Chicks."

No one should be surprised at this. This is the logical outcome of Republican governance when Bush staffed Interior with industry hacks like Gale Norton and J. Stephen Griles.

And do you think John McCain would do things any differently when he and Palin roll out their expanded offshore oil drilling program?

Oh, that's right, Vicki Iseman's BFF and Drillbit Palin are real mavericks.