Republicans Still Attacking Obama Over ‘New Black Panthers’

[babylonsister]

:crazy:

http://washingtonindependent.com/47789/republicans-still-attacking-obama-over-new-black-panthers

Republicans Still Attacking Obama Over ‘New Black Panthers’
By David Weigel 7/8/09 5:01 PM


Eight months ago, on Election Day 2008, two members of the fringe “New Black Panther Party” stood outside of a Philadelphia polling place. They wore quasi-military garb and waved nightsticks, then they were shooed away by cops. A lawsuit was brought against them, and President Obama’s Justice Department later dismissed it. But Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), who represents a district that voted for Obama over Sen. John McCain, is not letting it go. He’s demanding congressional hearings into why the administration won’t investigate the Panthers.

Upon his installation as attorney general, Eric Holder declared, “We will protect the civil rights of our fellow citizens, all of our fellow citizens – in the workplace, in the housing market, in our educational institutions and in the voting booth, as well as in their day to day lives.” I believe that the House Judiciary Committee has an obligation to determine whether Mr. Holder’s deeds match his words, especially in light of the many unanswered questions posed by the Commission on Civil Rights and members of Congress.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to the Department of Justice is currently dominated by George W. Bush appointees like Peter Kirsanow, who excitedly blogged about a letter from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to the Department of Justice concerning the incredibly important case.

How flimsy is this story? Both Wolf and Kirsanow quote “civil rights activist Bartle Bull” to prove that the actions of two fringey activists, who made no perceptible impact on the election, represented “the most blatant form of voter intimidation I have encountered in my life in political campaigns in many states, even going back to the work I did in Mississippi in the 1960s.” But Bartle Bull has an ax to grind; he endorsed McCain for president (“Do you suppose that Obama, or talky Joe Biden, can land an A-4 at night on a flight deck of an aircraft carrier in heavy seas?”) and has run around hyping this story for eight months.

[OHdem10]

1. They are campaigning for next election. Doing everything they can

to bring Obama's numbers down. This will hurt Democratic Party, they
believe. Opens way for them to start a comeback.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to the DOJ is currently dominated by George W. Bush appointees"

That is the larger story within the story. Bush and his minions effectively dismantled the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department and the Wage and Hours Division of the Labor Department. It's well known and it been written about extensively about how complaints were routinely ignored or how selectively enforced towards certain political ends.

A lot of people in both of these areas should be let go for malfeasance and/or plain old poor job performance. Some of these positions are political appointees that can be let go with little or no difficulty and everyone understands that is the deal when they take the position. I believe that a great effort was undertaken by the Bush administration to be sure to put politicized types into civil service positions to ensure their longterm presence as veritable moles, undermining the real work for the people that needs to be done in those divisions.

I have no idea what steps have been taken to remedy the mission of those offices and to restore confidence that they will function as they were designed to on behalf of the citizens and not as non-functioning units of a Republican corportacracy.