This morning I saw a blog posting at MetroBlogging, Washington DC with a post titled, "Only in DC: Fire Mary Peters." The writer states, "Then I realized how much it would suck to come to work every day on the Metro to see ads that you should be fired."

I left the following message at the blog, which as of 3 PM still didn't get updated.

I think what really sucks is that another member of the Bush Administration not only breaks the law, but simultaneously puts all Americans in harms way.

The Mexican trucking program, the great big promise to NAFTA, allows for dangerous trucks to roam the highways of the United States. The trucks and their drivers are not held to the same standards as American drivers and trucks. Think about that ...Can you imagine driving next to a trailer that doesn't have anti-lock brakes on a cold slippery day like today? Can you believe that these drivers out of Mexico can potentially be driving for upwards of 20 hours by the time they begin barreling past you on the highway? What about being a professional US driver and having to get a CDL license, a Haz-mat license – in some cases, and pass numerous drug and alcohol tests ... now think of our Mexican brothers who are not required to do any of the above (and especially the pee tests ... as there are no labs for that in Mexico).  

You see, these trucks are not equipped with the braking systems that American trucks are REQUIRED to have. All professional drivers in the United States cannot work/drive for more than 11 hours before they are forced to take a break for a set amount of time; that's fine ... but what happens with a Mexican driver who traveled for 12- 15 hours before he got to the border -- then went another 11? I don't want to be near that driver when he is on hour 18 of his day; you shouldn't either.

This is just a smidgen of why Mary needs to be sacked. She made a mockery of her position, defied Congress' wish to scrap this dangerous program, and interpreted the law worse than Macbeth does math. Mary's actions (inactions) on this simply abandons all logic; she is not fit for her job ... she needs to go. 

There are so many issues involved with the Mexican Trucking program that Peters refuses to stop (even though the President passed a bill on 12/27/07 to do just that), whether it is the sub-standard vehicles, the inexperienced untrained drivers, or the hours of service issue that comes up time and again around this.

I am of the opinion that, while the writer of the other blog is mostly accurate in writing "Only in DC," getting Mary Peters should be a national issue.