WASHINGTON -- Interior Secretary James Watt, who in a speech once divided his countrymen into categories of 'liberals and Americans,' gave an interview recently in which he called environmentalists 'a left wing cult.'
In a February interview with the Forest Industry Affairs Letter, Watt was asked if he was flattered by the attention he was getting from environmentalists.
He said: 'I expected criticism, but I didn't expect it to be so personal. I thought they would focus on the issues. But I didn't understand the environmentalists. I thought they were concerned about the resources and the environment. They are not. They are political activists, a left wing cult which seeks to bring down the type of government I believe in.'
Later in that interview, Watt spoke about the difference between a politician, which he said he is not, and a Cabinet-level policy maker.
'The elected official doesn't want controversy,' he said. 'I'll never be an elected official. I want to bring about change, and I've done the best I can, the only way I know how ... Change implies controversy. Compromise is not in my vocabulary. I don't know what compromise is, and I'm not going to learn. Some people in this town can't deal with that. As a consequence, my usefulness will expire.'
