Letters to the Editor
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It's too much.
Everyday it seems there is more reason to hate the son of a bitch.
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Ditto, Eve
It hurts to see honorable governmental institutions turned into slimy political machines. These people are supposed to pledge allegiance to our constitution and country, not a person or party. It's gotten so bad, I can't watch television news without screaming every time George W or one of his cronies appears on screen. It's going to be a long time before our country gets its self-respect back.
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So Peter McWilliams' death WASN'T political?
I always thought it was kind of funny that when Clinton's DOJ under Janet Reno decided to make an example out of medical marijuana growers in Los Angeles, the Libertarians who secretly grew the pot in Bel Air ended up in federal custody while the Democrats who openly sold that same pot in West Hollywood didn't get busted until Bush took over.
But whatever. So what if one of the Libertarians died in federal custody under Clinton while the Democrats had their lives saved by a forgiving liberal judge under Bush.
I agree that Bush has lowered those depths of infamy to even newer and lower depths.
Newer and lower depths. How long can this exploration of the depths go on?
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par for the course!
this administration has got to be the closest this nation has ever had to a dictatorship. Do they have any integrity at all, or do the ends justify the means at all times? There seems to be nothing they wont stoop to pass their "conservative" agenda. Barry Goldwater must be spinning in his grave
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USDOJ and 'voter fraud'
I was looking for an e-mail or an address for former USAtty Bud Collins to send him a letter of support and ended up at usdoj.gov. I searched the site for 'Bud Collins' and got 100 hits. A lot of positive press releases. They fired someone with a lot of good press.
On a lark I searched 'voter fraud' and got 49 hits. Some interesting items from here:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/speeches/speech10312006.htm
a roundtable hosted by AAG Kim just before the 2006 midterms, note the following:
1. Stated policy of DoJ is to be aggressive with voter fraud cases.
2. DoJ is sending record numbers of observers (any federal employee) and monitors (DoJ employees) with the ratio of monitors increasing from 1:30 to 1:2.
3. The closeness of a race is a factor DoJ considers in sending observers and monitors.
4. DoJ denies it is intimidating voters.
5. Since 2002, only 120+ cases in which 86 people were convicted.
6. DoJ prepares the lists of obs/mons in advance but only releases it day before election (so, IMO, the media can't follow them).
In a .pdf file, THE Bradley Scholzman reported to a subcommittee of the House of Representatives that DoJ was sending DoJ employees as monitors: 533 departmental personnel for the 2004 election. (Last para. of p.4)
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/speeches/VotingSpeechSchlozman.pdf
More from Schlozman:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/speeches/VRA-Schlozman.pdf
The Division's Voting Section has been 'systematically requesting voter registration lists' to review for minority language voters. [I bet they were scrubbing voters from those lists as well.]
He also stresses that this is an emphasis of Pres. Bush and John Tanner (who is he?)
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Horrified
For once during these dark times I am nearly speechless. The firing of 8 US Attorneys is nothing compared to what I just read in this article. Thank you, Salon for such an in depth and thorough piece, but I am mourning the massacre of a sacred institution. Checks and balances and our civil rights have been reduced to nothing but former dreams. WHY is there no independent counsel appointed to investigate these horrible allegations?
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We should have listened to Bush
In a photo-op with Congressional leaders on 12/18/2000, as broadcast on CNN and available in transcript on their website, a goofily-grinning GW managed to put the entire election controversy into a unique perspective.
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
http://www.konformist.com/2000/bush-dictator.htm
Every single political initiative brought about by Turd Blossom and his moronic protege have been for one thing and one thing only, a permanent republican majority.
Delay paved the way in Texas with an unprecedented re-drawing of congressional districts to ensure a net gain of republicans in Congress. Why would we not assume that Turd Blossom was the evil genius behind this coup?
If they're not stopped in this subversion of voting rights, then there will be no checks and balances against the fascism they all secretly covet.
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And So....?
You're all lobsters and this is a simmering pot. How's that working out for you and how long do you figure you'll angrily blog about it?
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How sad
Thanks to the Boston Globe and salon, another sad chapter from the bush years is exposed.
I am a civil rights attorney with 19 years of experience and have taught civil rights law and published articles on civil rights law issues. My resume is impressive, if I do say so myself.
Last year, I responded to job postings for the Civil Rights Division at DOJ. Then I read the Boston Globe's investigative piece and knew I had no chance. Yes, I know, the competition is intense and even in a democratic administration, I could easily have been rejected. But I can't help but wonder....... On the other hand, with what I know now, I would not want to work for them. It would have been torture on a daily basis. And what they have done with hiring procedures, etc. means that the division will remain as is for a very long time.
Like so many of you, I am disgusted by what the bushies have done, and dismayed at how long it has taken for them to be exposed. But,like most of you, I am well aware that it will take decades to undo the damage.
Meanwhile, I am trying not to enjoy the hearings and the exposure of these thugs too much. But I do find myself smiling more these days.
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Why we slept
I recall that even when it was besieged on other fronts, the Reagan administration was credited with strengthening the Civil Rights Division. Such evenhandedness left us expecting decent performances on the part of Democrat and Republican alike.
Ashcroft . . . he lost an election to a dead man. What did it make him?
Attorney general.
Jerry Elsea