BUSH APPOINTEE LOCATED....

BUSH APPOINTEE LOCATED. Well, that was easy. Who was the idiot who had to sign off on the "traitorous" decision to defund anti-terrorism efforts in New York and Washington? Says The Washington Post:

Tracy A. Henke, assistant secretary for grants and training, told reporters that the new funding distribution was the result of a better review process and does not indicate lesser risk for cities such as Washington or New York. Officials noted that Congress had cut the program by about $125 million in 2006, to $711 million, and that New York, Washington and other major cities still would receive the largest shares.

"We have to understand that there is risk throughout the nation," Henke said. "We worked very hard to make sure that there was fairness in the process."

Tracy A. Henke, assistant secretary for grants and training at Department of Homeland Security, was previously at the Department of Justice, where she was the deputy for Deborah Daniels, sister of former Office of Management and Budget director Mitch Daniels, and where, according to this 2005 New York Times report by Eric Lichtblau, she previously attempted to doctor a report showing higher rates of searches at traffic stops for black and Hispanic drivers:

In April, as the report was being completed, Mr. Greenfeld's office drafted a news release to announce the findings and submitted it for review to the office of Tracy A. Henke, who was then the acting assistant attorney general who oversaw the statistics branch.The planned announcement noted that the rate at which whites, blacks and Hispanics were stopped was "about the same," and that finding was left intact by Ms. Henke's office, according to a copy of the draft obtained by The New York Times.But the references in the draft to higher rates of searches and use of force for blacks and Hispanics were crossed out by hand, with a notation in the margin that read, "Do we need this?" A note affixed to the edited draft, which the officials said was written by Ms. Henke, read "Make the changes," and it was signed "Tracy." That led to a fierce dispute after Mr. Greenfeld refused to delete the references, officials said.Ms. Henke, who was nominated by Mr. Bush last month to a senior position at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a brief telephone interview that she did not recall the episode.

Failing upwards -- it's what the Bushies do best.

--Garance Franke-Ruta