Protecting Black Panthers - Is It Racism??

[thetragichippy]

The Obama administration ignores voter intimidation

Imagine if Ku Klux Klan members had stood menacingly in military uniforms, with nightsticks, in front of a polling place. Add to it that they had hurled racial threats and insults at voters who tried to enter.

Now suppose that the government, backed by a nationally televised video of the event, had won a court case against the Klansmen except for the perfunctory filing of a single, simple document - but that an incoming Republican administration had moved to voluntarily dismiss the already-won case.

Surely that would have been front-page news, with a number of firings at the Justice Department.

The flip side of this scenario is occurring right now. The culprits weren't Klansmen; they belonged to the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. One of the defendants, Jerry Jackson, is an elected member of Philadelphia's 14th Ward Democratic Committee and was a credentialed poll watcher for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party when the violations occurred. Rather conveniently, the Obama administration has asked that the cases against Mr. Jackson, two other defendants and the party be dropped.

The Voting Rights Act is very clear. It prohibits any "attempt to intimidate, threaten or coerce" any voter or those aiding voters.

The explanation for moving to dismiss the case is shocking. According to the Department of Justice: "These same Defendants have made no appearance and have filed no pleadings with the Court. Nor have they otherwise raised any other defenses to this action. Therefore, the United States has the right ... to dismiss voluntarily this action against the Defendants." In other words, because the defendants haven't tried to defend themselves, the Justice Department won't punish them.

By that logic, if a murderer doesn't respond to the charges, he should be let free. That's crazy.

The Obama Justice Department did take one action against one of the four defendants: It forbade him from again "displaying a weapon within 100 feet of any open polling location" in Philadelphia. Given that it already was illegal to display a weapon at a polling place and that he was not even enjoined from carrying a weapon at polling places outside of Philadelphia, it is hard to see what this order accomplished.

We asked the Justice Department if it was unable to provide any explanation for dropping the case. Justice press aide Alejandro Miyar merely said: "That is correct." Multiple times we asked both the department and the White House to comment on charges that the dismissals represented political bias. We received no substantive response.

Hans Von Spakovsky, a legal scholar at the Heritage Foundation and a former commissioner at the Federal Election Commission, tells us, "In my experience, I have never heard of the department refusing to take a default judgment... . If a Republican administration had done this, it would be front-page news and every civil rights group in the country would be screaming about it."

Consider that the behavior of the defendants was so bad that witness Bartle Bull, a former Robert F. Kennedy organizer who did extensive legal work on behalf of black voters in Mississippi, testified it was "the most blatant form of voter discrimination I have encountered in my life."

Eric Eversole, a former litigation attorney with the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, told us: "It is truly unprecedented for the Voting Section to voluntarily dismiss a case of such blatant intimidation. The video speaks for itself."

We couldn't agree more. After the 2000 Presidential election, Democrats complained about voter intimidation in Florida by pointing to a police car that had been two miles away from a polling place. The police didn't do anything to anyone, but their presence was deemed sufficient to vaguely intimidate people en route to the polls. In this case, the New Black Panther Party actually blocked access to a poll.

Unlike the Florida incident, this case involving the New Black Panthers screams out for tough justice. Instead, the Obama administration looks the other way. This all but invites racial violence at future elections!

[bullets13]

Can you source this, please?

[thetragichippy]

Wahington Post I think.............my bad

[bullets13]

no problem...

[Pirate88]

Here's video of it in Philly.

[baddog]

I would have walked right past that guy.

[bullets13]

I would have walked right past that guy.

far from intimidating, but who knows... is this for sure the guy who the article was about?

[Guest DickVitale]

You guys are always crying racism..... :.....Seriously though, what were they even out there for? Security for what? Did you read the "you tube" comments? Now THOSE cowards were racists..

[baddog]

You guys are always crying racism..... :.....Seriously though, what were they even out there for? Security for what? Did you read the "you tube" comments? Now THOSE cowards were racists..

Did you read all the comments, or did you just sift through and pick the ones that you wanted? I saw the ones you liked, and they are the only ones you will refer to. Who are these guys with the clubs Dickie, and why are they there?....no answer, I know.

What if you went to vote and a white guy came up to you with a billy club? I wonder what you would really do......no answer, I know.

[77]

Can you say double standard!  >

[baddog]

Yep, DV has left the building. What a surprise! It says a lot about character when he can't even answer some simple questions. He just pops in to get his reverse-racist agenda going.

Shall I repeat the questions? Are they too tricky for you?

Still waiting for an answer DV.....................crickets chirping.

[Guest DickVitale]

No it means that I have more important things to do than jacking around with you good ole boys from SE Texas....Be back later...BTW I DO NOT AGREE with what they were doing there, for the record...It is unnecessary....Go cut the grass....do something!! Its a beautiful day out!! 8)

[westend1]

Most liberals don't agree with that kind of garbage.  It's a small group.  I'm guessing most conservatives don't agree with their fringe elements either. 

[PN-G bamatex]

No it means that I have more important things to do than jacking around with you good ole boys from SE Texas....Be back later...BTW I DO NOT AGREE with what they were doing there, for the record...It is unnecessary....Go cut the grass....do something!! Its a beautiful day out!! 8)

Excellent response, DickVitale. I can see that you've learned to dodge a question from the best.

[77]

Most liberals don't agree with that kind of garbage.   It's a small group.   I'm guessing most conservatives don't agree with their fringe elements either.   

Yes they dont agree but you will not hear any of them on tv or radio stand up against it  like you would if it were the other way around. Hence the double standard comment.

[westend1]

Same in both parties.

[77]

Same in both parties.

I agree but one party is more vocal and have a bigger platform.(hollywood and such)And if the right wing says anything it is skewed as racism.

[westend1]

Maybe.  But it seems that I hear 4 right wing shows for every 1 liberal.  The conservative message is out there.  Somebody needs to understand pretty quick what it is about that message which has run off lots of former conservatives.

[PN-G bamatex]

Maybe.  But it seems that I hear 4 right wing shows for every 1 liberal.   The conservative message is out there.  Somebody needs to understand pretty quick what it is about that message which has run off lots of former conservatives.

That's because you're not counting the rest of the media.

[tvc184]

Maybe.  But it seems that I hear 4 right wing shows for every 1 liberal.   The conservative message is out there.  Somebody needs to understand pretty quick what it is about that message which has run off lots of former conservatives.

It is not 4 to 1 or even close. CNN, CBS, MSNBC are almost exclusively liberal in their viewpoint and more power to them. Radio talk shows are overwhelmingly conservative but it is run by the free enterprise system. How come liberal shows fail? No shock there...... no one is listening.

No conservative has been run off of anything. Not agreeing with far right wing kooks didn't turn them into liberals. Far from it. They might go underground or they might stop watching/listening to some of the shows but their political views haven't changed. Conservatives that don't like the higher taxes, do like a strong military, hate many social engineering and welfare programs, don't like socialized medicine are not all of a sudden for those things because they may be made at Rush Limbaugh for a statement that he made or because McCain is a moderate at best. Nope, they haven't run off. They're simply waiting for someone else to latch their wagon to or waiting for Reagan to be reincarnated.

[BearBryant]

Maybe.  But it seems that I hear 4 right wing shows for every 1 liberal.   The conservative message is out there.  Somebody needs to understand pretty quick what it is about that message which has run off lots of former conservatives.

It is not 4 to 1 or even close. CNN, CBS, MSNBC are almost exclusively liberal in their viewpoint and more power to them. Radio talk shows are overwhelmingly conservative but it is run by the free enterprise system. How come liberal shows fail? No shock there...... no one is listening.

No conservative has been run off of anything. Not agreeing with far right wing kooks didn't turn them into liberals. Far from it. They might go underground or they might stop watching/listening to some of the shows but their political views haven't changed. Conservatives that don't like the higher taxes, do like a strong military, hate many social engineering and welfare programs, don't like socialized medicine are not all of a sudden for those things because they may be made at Rush Limbaugh for a statement that he made or because McCain is a moderate at best. Nope, they haven't run off. They're simply waiting for someone else to latch their wagon to or waiting for Reagan to be reincarnated.

Excellent post. 

[PURPLE 4EVER]

one of the bottom lines in all of this is...

If you are a white male YOU ARE GETTING HOSED!

If a white male were doing this he would be in prison.

Can't wait till the white male is in the minority so we can get some of the affirmitative action pie.

Hopefully those idiots won't do this again.

If they do they really need to be prosecuted.

[Guest DickVitale]

BLACK MALES were hosed (figuratively and literally for YEARS!!) Karma is a @#%$# isnt it?.. You SE Texans are UNBELIEVABLE!!  : :....The nerve of some of you baffles me.

[AggiesAreWe]

BLACK MALES were hosed (figuratively and literally for YEARS!!) Karma is a @#%$# isnt it?.. You SE Texans are UNBELIEVABLE!!  : :....The nerve of some of you baffles me.

There you go with that "you" comment. DV, those "yous" you speak of are everywhere, including the great city of Houston.

[baddog]

BLACK MALES were hosed (figuratively and literally for YEARS!!) Karma is a @#%$# isnt it?.. You SE Texans are UNBELIEVABLE!!  : :....The nerve of some of you baffles me.

Well I think you just answered the thread topic question. Too bad you don't live in the here and now. Oh, that's right, you live in Houston and in the dark ages, and you dare thumb your nose at the good people of SE Texas? Remember, Beaumont and Port Arthur are in SE Texas.