Guest Blogged by Alan Breslauer
The first part of “Bush League Justice“, a special four-day investigation by MSNBC’s Dan Abrams into the Bush administration’s politicization of the Justice Department, which Brad previewed yesterday, began with a look into the “department’s almost unrecognizable Civil Rights Division” (at left, 8:27).
According to Abrams, the Bush administration “has turned the Division against the very people it was designed to protect. Instead of pursuing discrimination cases on behalf of African Americans, the Bush Civil Rights Division has focused on supposed reverse discrimination cases against whites and religious discrimination cases against Christians.” Abrams points out that between 2001 and 2006, “not one voting discrimination case was brought on behalf of African Americans.”
The segment continues with Abrams questioning former DoJ attorneys David Becker and Alia Malek about the Bush administration “stack[ing] the deck against Democrats.” In one example given by Becker, congressional redistricting plans thought to favor Democrats would get “very, very, serious scrutiny” while redistrictings that favored Republicans would receive a “very hands off approach” even if, as was the case in Texas, the plan was unanimously found to discriminate against Hispanics by career Justice Department officials.
In addition to stacking the deck against Democrats, Abrams states that the Justice Department has been “hijacked” by the far right. After evidencing this claim with a couple of telling statistics, a somewhat exasperated Abrams continues, “They fundamentally changed what the Civil Rights Division does. It’s no longer there to protect African Americans. It is to go after reverse discrimination cases and also to try and promote religion in schools and other public places.”
Part 1 continues (at the 6:15 mark) with Abrams playing the “pretty amazing statement” by John Tanner, the current chief of the DoJ’s Voting Rights Section, about minorities not being disenfranchised by Photo ID laws because they “don’t become elderly the way white people do, they die first.” Unfortunately Abrams, like many in the mainstream media, failed to credit The BRAD BLOG for our original video and reporting of the incident.
Despite the slight we look forward to more excellent reporting on this long overdue topic throughout the week.
Who would have thought the “Bush League” meme only pops up after seven years! about 5 years overdue, eh.
Democracy is dead,
Fascism is flourishing,
and now the CMSM wants to do a post-facto documentary of how/why America became a Fascist State.
Where the hell were they (CMSM) before the horses escaped the barn ?????? Now they are on the ball heroes because they are thinking about locking the door of an empty barn ?
And just look what’s comin after the holidays
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004878.php
Hey, whats the problem … everyone become a republican and things will be swell … at least according to the right reverund wing nuts.
Hey Dredd, here’s some good speculation of republican motivation for ya. The boy toy thing never struck me as quite enough of a reason for this “moral pillar” fleeing. They’re shit runs in families!
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/12/hbc-90001889
Floridiot,..
If you like to keep abreast of the Alabama/Siegelman politically inspired malicious prosecution you might well appreciate this article. It peels the rove/canary/”my girls” the U.S. attorneys onion a few more layers deeper.
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/11/hbc-90001711
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Ancient has a good link above to the Mississippi/Lott/brother in law Scruggs/buy off a judge impropriety.
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/12/hbc-90001889
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One thing you can thank the arrogant little piss-head bush for,.. he has everyone in the Republican Party thinking they are arrogant little piss-heads who are above the Rule of Law too. Come November 2008 the general public will likely not respond too well to their shenanigans either.
Ancient #5
That article fits the mold. The preznit blush league mold.
The Bush League where incompetence reigns. I mean incompetence when it comes to American values. They are cunning when it comes to weaseling out of criminal penalties for their criminal behavior.
All they know is “amurkan values” which is nothing more than raw fascism.
Even a discusting secret court is too much for their fascist appetites.
Well thank God that they are looking out for oppressed white people and Christians, they are just a tiny minority population after all.
Oh wait, they’re not.
Wow, if that doesn’t signal their intentions and prejudices, I don’t know what will.
I should call my friend’s old German grandmother and ask her if any of this seems familiar.
She lived in Germany during the time of the third reicht (sp?) and even got to see Hitler speak at a rally. It was really interesting hearing her recollection of it all.