Southern Strategy, Alive and Well

From The Hill:

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have requested a hearing to investigate alleged racial bias within the Department of Justice, according to a letter sent Friday to committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

The request came in relation to a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party that was first prosecuted as a civil action in January 2009, then dismissed for two of the three defendants the following May. An injunction was issued for the last defendant.

House Judiciary Republicans also moved for further investigation on Thursday, urging President Obama in a letter to direct Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor for the case.

Remember, two of the last three RNC Chairmen admitted to using the Southern Strategy. The current RNC Chairman has said the GOP has been pursuing the strategy for "the last 40-plus years." Looks like it's sticking around.

Also, keep in mind that the New Black Panther story is completely made up.  So sayeth honest conservatives.

The Magnificent Mercy of Obama

Yay, let me sing the beatitudes:

Obama's Attorney General let Senator Stevens walk away from his felony convictions today because of prosecutorial misconduct.

The message?  Prosecutions will be conducted legally, or the prosecutors themselves will suffer far worse than a behind-closed-doors verbal beating.  These prosecutors, who had Stevens dead to rights, are now tarnished forever by the public knowledge that they let him get away because they failed to do their job legally.  Furthermore, the Alaskan judge in charge of the case of leaning towards an investigation of the DoJ lawyers.

Excellent.  I love seeing good precedents set.  The entire US Attorney apparatus will learn from this day.

DOJ Partisanship Continues

Two senior officials in the Bush Justice Department have just leaked the fact that the FBI is conducting a nationwide investigation into Acorn.  Why did they leak it, you might ask, instead of issuing a press release?  Because they are breaking the law by doing so, that's why.

Luckily a Democrat has finally decided to fight this when there was still a chance to do something about it.  Obama's campaign is pursuing legal options as we speak, not after they've already lost.

Fortunately for us there's a special prosecutor looking into the U.S. Attorney/Bogus Vote Fraud thing already, and this dovetails perfectly. The Obama campaign is fighting back preemptively, not when its too late to do anything.  About time!

In fact, David Iglesias, the most troubling of the nine political firings, said the following:

Iglesias, the most important of the 9 dismissed attorneys, says he's seen this all before, and is astounded that the current US attorneys are falling for this. It looks like a real strong possibility that the politicisation has succeeded.

People who would know are saying so, like the DOJ's ex voting right's chief:

Gerry Hebert described the investigation, word of which was leaked off the record to the Associated Press less than three weeks before the election, as "a continuation of injecting DOJ into what has clearly become a political issue."

He continued: "That's really not the proper role for the DOJ, and why their policies counsel otherwise."

...

Hebert, noting that he had been at DOJ during the administrations of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, added: "During the twenty-one years I was there, even though there were political appointees who I worked with, never did we inject partisan considerations into our law-enforcement responsibilities. That has clearly not been the case in recent years under this administration. And it's going to take a long time to cleanse the Department of Justice."

Politicisation succeeded!  Rove can put a check in that box!  If only that Permanent Republican Majority he hoped to use a politicized DOJ to enforce had materialized, huh?  Instead, he's helped create a new precedent - one of the many that a President Obama could use to make himself the most powerful President  in American history.  Obama the Monarch.  Reap what you have sown, Republicans, and weep bitter tears.

DOJ Partisanship and Voting Fraud

Because Josh Marshall brought the US Attorney's Scandal to light, leading to Alberto Gonzales' humiliation and resignation, I'll just leave this all to him.  

It's time again to remember the backstory of the US Attorney Firing scandal. The firings were one thing. But the story behind the firings, what led to them, is key to understanding the current 'vote fraud' scam being played by the Republicans and the media outlets that are going along with the scam.

Remember, the US Attorneys in question were all either Republicans or Republican-leaning independents. In every case, they were appointed by George W. Bush. In most of the cases their firing was tied to 'vote fraud' claims stemming from the 2004 election.

The pattern was very consistent. During the final weeks of the 2004 campaign Republican partisans started pressing claims of widespread voter fraud. In many, though not all cases, the examples they pointed to were not even allegations of voter fraud, but allegations of voter registration fraud: examples of people being registered more than once, non-existent people being registered, etc.

The Republicans making these claims argued that these problems with registration cards were opening the coming election up to widespread vote fraud. Logically, this makes no sense. And, more importantly, all evidence shows this has never happened, certainly not in any widespread sense. Every person who claims otherwise is either ignorant or speaking in bad faith.

Nonetheless, CNN and other national news outlets and especially local media outlets, either out of ignorance or bad faith, ran hard with these stories -- just as CNN is doing now.

After the election, there was a lot of pressure from Republicans in states like Nevada, Washington, New Mexico, etc. (not surprisingly, all key swing states) to have local US Attorneys prosecute these cases. The word came down from Washington, DC, particularly the political office at the White House that this was a top priority. And the local US Attorneys launched into it.

But there was a problem. Most of these were ethical prosecutors. And when they looked into it there just wasn't anything there. Most of the stories weren't even true. And those that were, were obviously isolated and in most cases not done with malice. The number of people who could actually be prosecuted could be counted on one hand. Local Republicans got angry; Karl Rove got angry. And the US Attorneys got fired.

That's the real story of the US Attorney firing scandal. And what we're seeing today is textbook -- exactly the same as what we saw in 2004 and 2006. It's a scam. And the very recent history should be enough for news networks like CNN and others not to let themselves become complicit in this disgrace.

Well done, Josh.

Palin: Lawyered Up, and Ready to Obstruct Justice!

Sure enough, the lawyer hired for Palin by the McCain/Rove campaign has moved to block the independent investigation, leaving only Sarah Palin's three special appointees investigating the crime. Does that sound familiar to anyone? This is exactly what we want to change away from.

... Steve Branchflower, the lead investigator, began trying to arrange a deposition of the governor days before her veep selection. And despite claiming executive privilege to shield requested emails, up until that point Palin had promised full cooperation with the probe.

Now, however, she is refusing to submit to questioning by Branchflower unless he and the legislative committee that appointed him agree to relinquish control of the investigation and turn it over to a state review board made up of three Palin appointees.

Yesterday, Palin took the unusual step of having her lawyer, Thomas van Flein, file an ethics complaint against her with the state's Attorney General. This, she hopes, will lead the AG to give the investigation to the aforementioned state personnel board. Unless that happens, and Branchflower agrees to close down his investigation, she will refuse to testify.

These are lawbreakers, who believe they can simply do whatever they want with the power they are given. This is the culture of corruption that has systematically built itself inside the Republican Party, rearing its head once again.

The talk radio will continue saying, "Wow, what a stand up lady. She's started investigations of herself! What kind of politician would do such an honest thing?" That's my next Boortz call.

Attourney General Refuses to Prosecute Bush Admin Lawbreakers AGAIN

Big Surprise.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Tuesday rejected the idea of criminally prosecuting former Justice Department employees who improperly used political litmus tests in hiring decisions, saying he had already taken strong internal steps in response to a “painful” episode.

The Bush Administration thinks that they take oaths to the President. That's unbelievably unAmerican.

If the people tasked with prosecuting criminal acts refuse to do so, a special independent prosecutor may be the only option to retain America as a country ruled by law and not men.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday that the Department of Justice would not pursue criminal charges against former employees implicated in an internal investigation on politicized hiring practices.

“Where there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing, we vigorously investigate it,” Mukasey said in a speech at the American Bar Association. “And where there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime, we vigorously prosecute. But not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime.”

Good god. " Not every violation of the law is a crime." I gotta remember that.

DoJ Partisanship Reminder

Just a reminder on why that whole Department of Justice thing was important. Not only was the Bush Administration illegally hiring only "Loyal Bushies" to supposedly nonpartisan jobs in our blind justice system, but they were also illegally pressuring prosecutors to prosecute only Democrats, and to do so right before elections.

For the first five years after 9/11, when they were given increased power to pressure prosecutors via the Patriot Act, federal investigations skewed 79%-18% against Democrats. And yet, they've still been bagging Republicans left and right, from Tom Delay to Scooter Libby to Abramoff to Ted Stevens.

This went so far that people in the independent Department of Justice swore an oath to the President! Or, at the very least, they believed that they had taken an oath to President Bush, rather than to the Constitution.



It shouldn't have to be said, but the vast majority of employees of the Justice Department are supposed to be civil servants. They are the people's employees. The White House has its own lawyers, thank you very much. When the White House is allowed to exert too much influence on the DoJ, there cannot be true Justice for all, and that is unAmerican.

Thank you, Republicans, for making the future President Obama the most powerful President in the history of our great Republic. Limited Government, indeed!

We Do Not Torture

My God. This is from Harpers:

The exact circumstances surrounding the dealings between Haynes and Yoo that led to the development of this memorandum are unclear. However, it is clear that Haynes had previously authorized the use of the torture techniques, and had secured an order from Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld authorizing them.

Following the implementation of these techniques, more than 108 detainees died in detention. In a large number of these cases, the deaths have been ruled a homicide and connected to torture. These homicides were a forseeable consequence of the advice that Haynes and Yoo gave.

That's a lot of accidental murder for a country that does not torture.

Rehabilitating America as a brand will be one of Barack Obama's greatest tasks. Our moral authority is not important as some sort of platonic ideal we should strive to meet - its loss has real strategic consequences. In a Global Counterinsurgency, being the Shining City is by far your most powerful weapon.

Alberto Gonzales Wrap-up

It appears that there's been an agreement precluding recess appointments, so we can relax a bit about replacing the AG. Here's a wonderful rundown of the Gonzales moments of shame, but they don't even really hit on the numerous instances of perjury committed by the "nation's top cop," since those don't lend themselves to pithy video. Josh Marshall from Talking Points Media deserves almost complete credit for Gonzales' resignation, as the 8 fired US Attorneys would have never been a story without him.



In that video, our Attorney General refuses to give congressional testimony about the Hospital visit without giving a legal reasoning for refusal. He's physically in the seat, but he's still in flagrant contempt - you can fail to recall something or cite privilege, but you're not allowed to simply refuse to answer. Also, in questioning by the Republican Arlen Specter, Alberto's childish responses are so deserving of ridicule that he's openly laughed at by the Republican staffers.

Despite the absolute beating taken by this man, I'm still surprised he was allowed to resign. The Democrats should be able to insure an independent replacement, and that can only mean trouble for an Administration with such demonstrated contempt for the rule of law and the strictures of our Constitution.

Schumer to Congress!

Emergency! Pro-Forma Session time! GOGOGOGO!

Angry at Gonzales? You Must be a Republican!

Here's yet another example of Fox News screenshot bias. I report, you decide:


After all, if you slam a Bush royalist like this, you must be a Democrat.



It's time to impeach Gonzales. His testimony is routinely perjurious. If we don't impeach, the precedent is set.

DOJ's Political Motivation Ruins Prosecutions

As if we didn't know this was coming:

Defense lawyers in a growing number of cases are raising questions about the motives of government lawyers who have brought charges against their clients. In court papers, they are citing the furor over the U.S. attorney dismissals as evidence that their cases may have been infected by politics.

Justice officials say those concerns are unfounded and constitute desperate measures by desperate defendants. But the affair has given defendants and their lawyers some new energy, which is complicating life for the prosecutors. […]

There has long been a presumption that, because they represented the Justice Department, prosecutors had no political agenda and their word could be trusted. But some legal experts say the controversy threatens to undermine their credibility.

This is why Justice must be blind. When the White House starts interferring with prosecutors, the entire system is called into question.

Another Convention Overthrown

The Attack Ad that the Republicans are running against one of the Republican District Attorneys - a man who is now a private citizen, not running for anything or even selling any books. Still, they're using campaign money to attack him.

Here's the audio of that 60 second spot.

The ferocity of that attack lets us know exactly which of the prosecutors they fear the most.

What's wrong with the people that run our government? In the past we didn't need to worry about the conventions of our government being used to subvert the Republic.

Prosecutor Purge Roundup

Back when Josh first started covering the Gonzales Prosecutor Purge, there was a story wherein the FBI agent in command of the San Diego field office told the paper that he was sure the firing of his local prosecutor - Lam - would jeopardize ongoing GOP corruption investigations and that politics was definitely involved. After that way-too-candid interview, his DC keepers shut him up.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An FBI agent was warned to keep quiet about the dismissal of a U.S. attorney after he told a newspaper her firing would hurt the agency's ongoing investigations and speculated politics was involved, a U.S. Senate panel heard on Tuesday.

FBI Director Robert Mueller defended the handling of the incident, saying: "I do not believe it's appropriate for our special agents in charge to comment to the media on personnel decisions that are made by the Department of Justice."

"I profoundly disagree," replied Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, who told the panel of the warning to the agent. "He (the agent) was simply saying that it would affect cases that were ongoing. And I think he's entitled to his opinion."

This, alone, would be bad. But we've had dramatic further developments over the recent days. Gonzales had to "clarify" his remarks about not being involved in deliberations. For those of us who are not politicians, "clarifying" your remarks in this context means "changing what I said so you don't think I intentionally lied to you." Instead of "not being involved in deliberations," he went to at least one 60 minute meeting to "sign off on the final list" of people chosen to be fired. Are we to believe that he signed off on the list and then sat around for the next 59 minutes? He is a lawyer, I guess, so he could bill by the full hour. Or, are we to believe that during this hour long meeting he signed off on the list without any discussion of the reason for their dismissals? The fact is that this is a documented lie from our chief law enforcement officer - a seeming contradiction in terms, but par for the course in this administration. Oaths be damned.

They are using the power of the law to pummell the opposition party, trying to cement one party rule so as to be unchecked and uncheckable. I believe that as we investigate, we will find an ever expanding network of this type of behavior - it seems to motivate everything. For instance, we have the statement from John DiIulio, the former White House head of faith-based policy, to Suskind:

There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. ... I heard many, many staff discussions but not three meaningful, substantive policy discussions. There were no actual policy white papers on domestic issues.

I am convinced we will continue to find that the entire monolith of the federal government has been turned into an extension of the GOP, transforming us into a country with an Official Party. That's no longer a democracy ladies and gentlemen. Always remember, you can lose the Republic on the installment plan as easily as in a coup d'etat.

Bush Presser

I just got finished watching today's Bush Presser. He's fighting to the death on this one not because it's fertile ground over which to fight, but because so much rests on this blinding shield of ignorance he's insisting on maintaining. They're going to the mats over Gonzales' Purge because if they allow an intrusive investigation here, they'll set a precedent. Fortunately for the Democrats, defending the right to politicize the execution of once-blind justice in this country is not exactly a position which will win the White House any converts. If a General's job is to pick the ground over which you fight, this Attorney General has failed in a serious way. Thank god for crony incompetence.

To maintain form, he ends the presser with: "thank you for your answers." Ouch.