Guest Blogged by Alan Breslauer
The NY Times calls for the firing of John Tanner, the chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights voting section, because of the “offensive” and “bigoted” comments originally captured and reported by The BRAD BLOG:
The administration should, of course, fire Mr. Tanner. Congress should pass a bill to criminalize deceptive campaign practices. And it should reject a pending nominee to the Federal Election Commission, Hans von Spakovsky.
The Justice Department has a long history of protecting the voting rights of minorities. In the Bush administration, the department’s voting rights section has been taken over by ideologues most interested in denying the ballot to minorities, poor people and other groups likely to vote Democratic.
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There have been calls for Mr. Tanner to be removed, and he should be, but that is not enough. The Senate must refuse to confirm Mr. von Spakovsky, an anti-voting-rights advocate cut from the same cloth as Mr. Tanner, to the F.E.C. Based on his record, Mr. von Spakovsky would use the job to undermine the right to vote.
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This administration seems to believe that the right to vote is something only Democrats should care about. It is too important to be reduced to a partisan issue.
Also see The BRAD BLOG’s extensive coverage on Hans von Spakovsky.
Tanner has come under a great deal of fire, since, our original report of his assertions that while it was “a shame” that elderly voters were likely disenfranchised by his approval — on behalf of the DoJ, and against the advice of his staff — of a Georgia Photo ID poll restriction, minorities were somehow better served by it. His objectionable, and now-discredited, argument: “Minorities don’t become elderly the way white people do. They die first.”
Among those who have previously called for Tanner’s firing in some fashion: Sen. Barack Obama, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Sen. Ted Kennedy, along with many other officials and organizations.
These folks like Tanner have such impeccable logic, don’t they!
Dennis, You – Da – Man . . . . . Dennis Kucinich (D-With Balls) . . .
Anybody with half a conscience would be horrified at his crap. I know Halloween’s over but does it have to come down to trick or treat? Here’s your higher paying job, compliments of a bought and sold government.