In Change From Bush, Obama Administration To Champion Civil Rights
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That would be my headline, anyhow.
As part of this shift, the Obama administration is planning a major revival of high-impact civil rights enforcement against policies, in areas ranging from housing to hiring, where statistics show that minorities fare disproportionately poorly. President George W. Bush’s appointees had discouraged such tactics, preferring to focus on individual cases in which there is evidence of intentional discrimination.
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© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
Glenn Beck’s Mark Fuhrmanite head will explode about this
…not counting, of course, the rights of voters in Philadelphia to cast their ballots without armed thugs intimidating them…
J.
Oliver, why not call for massive reparations??
I think that’s something the entire country can get behind. No?
“…not counting, of course, the rights of voters in Philadelphia to cast their ballots without armed thugs intimidating them…
J.
”
…Yeah, and not to mention of course the rights of millions of voters being able to cast their ballots without neo-con vigilantes secretly going around purging citizens from voter rolls?
chow, show me a case where the Bush Justice Department WALKED AWAY FROM A CONVICTION on one of those cases, like the Obama Justice Department did with the Philadelphia Black Panthers, and you might have a case.
Lemme guess… you’re from one of those precincts that reported a 103% turnout last November, right?
J.
So … we’re now going to focus on cases where there is *NO* evidence?
We know that the Bush WH pressured Tom Ridge to inflate warning level for political gain:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090820/pl_afp/usattackspoliticsridge
Only a moron would believe every “terror update” we got from Cheney and Rove, and that every “Number Two” was a big-shot.
We also know Bush failed to capture OBL.
So, there are two facts for you. In addition to, yes, 9/11 happening in the first place despite warnings, there’s three for you to chew on.
WALKED AWAY FROM A CONVICTION on one of those cases
Maybe they didn’t want to establish the precedent of wasting government resources every time fox noise manufactured a conniption.
like the Obama Justice Department did with the Philadelphia Black Panthers,
Is it worth pointing out that at the time of the Philly Black Panthers incident, there WAS NO Obama Justice Department?
And what Wilbur said.
Wait, the right is now protesting that election was stolen? AND protesting the presence of people bearing arms at a public gathering? At the same time?
Just… awesome.
“Wait, the right is now protesting that election was stolen? AND protesting the presence of people bearing arms at a public gathering? At the same time? ”
….and more reason republican’s just don’t understand irony. I had a great laugh at that one.
And the weapon in this case was not an assault rifle but one asshole twiddling a short nighstick, who was told by the cops to leave and then left.
Crazy white man with a gun outside a Presidential speech? A freedom-loving, law-abiding citizen!
Crazy black man with a stick outside a polling place? A threat to democracy! AIIIEEEE!
Yes – it is best to judge people by the color of their skin, the shape of their genitals, or the way in which they want to have sex. After all, that’s what the whole Constitution is about, right?
Quaker, you might have missed it on MSNBC, but they cropped the video of the guy with the AR-15 knockoff — he was black.
The Philly case was WON — on a default — by the career prosecutors. Then the Obama political appointees told them to drop the case.
Wilbur, the video was all over YouTube BEFORE Fox picked it up, so that one falls apart on you. Sorry.
Jaim, you might have missed it, but Ridge has backed off on that — he says that his publisher hyped it. That came out when someone ran the dates in question and noticed “gee, there was no change in the terror alert status at that time.”
I got no problem with armed citizens at public gatherings. I got big problems with official Democratic poll watchers showing up with weapons, combat-style fatigues, calling voters “crackers” and announcing that Whitey better get used to being ruled by the black man.
If you don’t, that says far more about you than I ever needed to know.
J.
Jaim, http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-30-tom-ridge_N.htm
This is a perfect example of why people should use the word “know” a lot less frequently when discussing politics.
Wilbur, the video was all over YouTube BEFORE Fox picked it up, so that one falls apart on you. Sorry.
You’re right, Jay, I should have said “…wacko wingnuts manufacture a conniption” rather than fox news particularly. Pars pro toto.
Ridge has backed off on that
…making it clear that he was not (as you all were saying at the time) simply posturing as a maverick for 2012. Which makes what he does say in the book all the more damning. Like when he wonders, with regard to the terror alert status…
‘Is this about security or politics?’
I got no problem with armed citizens at public gatherings. I got big problems with official Democratic poll watchers showing up with
weaponsa stick, combat-style fatigues, calling voters “crackers” and announcing that Whitey better get used to being ruled by the black man.If you don’t, that says far more about you than I ever needed to know.
Right back at ya, laughing boy.
The Philly case was WON — on a default — by the career prosecutors. Then the Obama political appointees told them to drop the case.
Ah, Mr. Tea. Reciting reliably as always, I see. Here’s the corrective you should have come to expect by now:
You’re right, Quaker. I missed that update. If it’s true (and I have my doubts), it’s simple reaffirmation that one should never believe what the Obama administration says the first time.
Or the second time.
Or the third time.
It’s nice to see that justice was served, however:
The leader of the black nationalist group’s Philadelphia chapter, Minister King Samir Shabazz, is charged with brandishing a “deadly weapon,” a nightstick, outside of the polls.
As a result, he was punished with not being able to brandish a weapon within 100 ft. of a polling station in Philadelphia until after the 2012 elections.
THAT’LL teach him.
And as for the “stick,” what say we ask Rodney King for an opinion on their effectiveness?
J.
The Bushies left Obama with a problem: A DoJ that was a) horribly understaffed and b) blighted with Regent U. idiots (yes, Virginia, there are conservative law-school grads out that make the Federalist Society hacks look good) who couldn’t be easily axed as DoJ was so understaffed.
Solution: Go on a hiring spree, train in the competent new hires, and then fire the Regent idiots.
Quaker: A-yep. But it’s so much more fun to just be reflexively cynical and see conspiracies everywhere, even though those sorts of folk are far more easily led by the nose than any group.
Ha, Jay Tea serves up lies and blames it on the Obama administration. Classic!
You’re right, Quaker. I missed that update. If it’s true (and I have my doubts), it’s simple reaffirmation that one should never believe what the Obama administration says the first time.
Or the second time.
Or the third time.
Can we safely assume you have evidence that the Obama administration ever said anything different? All that “political appointee” crap started with the Washington Times quoting an unnamed source.
And as for the “stick,” what say we ask Rodney King for an opinion on their effectiveness?
We could likewise find many witnesses to the efficacy of firearms.
Sure, Quaker! Starting with, say, Sirhan Sirhan, whom Bill Ayers dedicated a book to.
Or to the efficacy of a 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont, for that matter.
And those firearms were not being wielded threateningly, like the nightstick was.
And here is the report I was recalling: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/29/career-lawyers-overruled-on-voting-case/?feat=home_cube_position1
Justice Department political appointees overruled career lawyers and ended a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense of wielding a nightstick and intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place last Election Day, according to documents and interviews.
The incident – which gained national attention when it was captured on videotape and distributed on YouTube – had prompted the government to sue the men, saying they violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by scaring would-be voters with the weapon, racial slurs and military-style uniforms.
Career lawyers pursued the case for months, including obtaining an affidavit from a prominent 1960s civil rights activist who witnessed the confrontation and described it as “the most blatant form of voter intimidation” that he had seen, even during the voting rights crisis in Mississippi a half-century ago.
The lawyers also had ascertained that one of the three men had gained access to the polling place by securing a credential as a Democratic poll watcher, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Washington Times.
The career Justice lawyers were on the verge of securing sanctions against the men earlier this month when their superiors ordered them to reverse course, according to interviews and documents. The court had already entered a default judgment against the men on April 20.
J.
And here is the report I was recalling:
The very same one I was recalling. Now where is the part where the Obama administration said appointees had overruled?
Also: I believe the Times made another error in this story (but I could be wrong). I don’t think there was a default judgment entered on April 20. I believe that was the date the DOJ asked the judge to extend the deadline to file for a default judgment.
Starting with, say, Sirhan Sirhan, whom Bill Ayers dedicated a book to.
Is Bill Ayres the new Chappaquidick?
G*ddamn it!
By the way, Mr. Tea, do you suppose the “career attorneys” who were overruled were some of the “good Americans” hired by Brad Scholzman?
The whole idea of a crooked Chicago politician like Obama and an ethically challenged crooked lawyer like Holder upholding the concept of the rule of law and uniform administration of justice strains credibility well past the breaking point.
On a completly other note I see Obama has slipped below 50% approval. He is losing the middle who are waking up to the fact that we have a incompetant socialist in the Whitehouse.
C’mon AO. If you’re going to troll, at least put a little effort into it.
we have a incompetant socialist in the Whitehouse.
Well, I’d have to agree with you there, AO – Obama is quite incompetent as a socialist. Quite probably because he isn’t one.
And as noted many, many times, the credibility of the Justice Department was strained past the breaking point loooong before Obama was sworn in.
As a side note – is the Regent U law school even accredited???
LOl,
Obama is the poster boy for the transformation of the ownership of the means of production from private hands to public ones SQ.
Is Bill Ayres the new Chappaquidick?
Well, they’re gonna need a new one. Without it, the Republican party has lost half of their platform.
C’mon AO. If you’re going to troll, at least put a little effort into it.
AO is a computer program, we’ll have to wait for the patch to come out before he can be a more effective troll.
“Obama is the poster boy for the transformation of the ownership of the means of production from private hands to public ones SQ.”
The bank bail-outs began under Bush. I guess when a black guy does it it’s called socialism.
Quaker, if you can’t read plain English, lemme reprint what I quoted before:
Justice Department political appointees overruled career lawyers…
I can understand how you’d miss it. It was buried in the first seven words of the article…
J.
I love it when people who obviously can’t read accuse other people of not being able to read.
Scroll up, Jay, and read where Quaker quotes the Justice dept. spokesman flatly contradicting what your anonymously-sourced Moonie Times article says.
Who to believe… who to believe…..
I don’t know who’s right, actually, but your assumption that the Wa Times is infallible is pretty charming.
Jaim,
What Bush started Obama has ran with. Bush is no saint and did several things that were not in our best interest. But he is a piker compared to Obama.
He is losing the middle who are waking up to the fact that we have a incompetant socialist in the Whitehouse.
Socialist? He isn’t even a liberal.
Socialist, nazi, make up your minds!
Pfft, you bumpkins wouldn’t know a socialist if one nationalized your potato farm, turned it into a collective and made you sing songs about the glory of the motherland.
…socialist… [mutters to self in Russian]
Socialist, nazi, make up your minds!
gumby, take a wild, wild guess how the phrase “National Socialists” would be translated into German, then abbreviated.
J.
As I remember it, plenty of people were calling it socialism from the start. I know I was, at least.
I can understand how you’d miss it. It was buried in the first seven words of the article…
Mr. Tea, you made the assertion that the Obama administration changed their story. Please show where the original version you cited was sourced to the Obama administration.
Simple enough?
And as long as we’re recycling our previous comments, I think this one is worth reusing:
By the way, Mr. Tea, do you suppose the “career attorneys” who were overruled were some of the “good Americans” hired by Brad Schlozman?
[Fixed the spelling]
No matter how many ways you try to float that “Nazis were leftists” meme it still won’t be true.
Jay, could you take a poli sci 100 course and come back later? Thanks.
gumby, take a wild, wild guess how the phrase “National Socialists” would be translated into German, then abbreviated.
My German (high and low) is a bit rusty, but I’m going to guess: “meinorityHatingReichWingnuttensteinGlennBeckensburgerDennis,” for the translation, which would be abbreviated “foxNews.”