Saint Whitman

Christie Todd Whitman is one of those people who are treated as saints by the media for some odd reason. She may be in a world of trouble, though this sounds like one of those issues Strip Search Sammy will take care of when he has the chance. Still, the fact that this wasn't a major scandal is as astounding as... well.. all of those other things that should've been major scandals but weren't.

NEW YORK - A federal judge blasted former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman on Thursday for reassuring New Yorkers soon after the Sept. 11 attacks that it was safe to return to their homes and offices while toxic dust was polluting the neighborhood.

U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts refused to grant Whitman immunity against a class-action lawsuit brought in 2004 by residents, students and workers in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn who said they were exposed to hazardous materials from the collapse of the World Trade Center.

"No reasonable person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned by our laws," the judge said.

She called Whitman's actions "conscience-shocking," saying the EPA chief knew that the fall of the twin towers released tons of hazardous materials into the air.

"Consicence shocking" being the legal standard applied in another case as the hurdle allowing public figures to be held personally liable.