Jim Crow and the DOJ

Imagine this comment about a "Georgia voter I.D. law pushed by Republicans" in that state's legislature:

George state Rep. Sue Burmeister, the sponsor of the bill, told [DOJ] staff that "if there are fewer black voters because of this bill, it will only be because there is less opportunity for fraud," and that "when black voters in her black precincts are not paid to vote, they do not go to the polls."

There was apparently discussion about this bill in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, according to a posting by Paul Kiel at TPMmuckraker. Career DOJ analysts and attorneys who recommended that the DOJ oppose its passage were formally criticized, and one was later charged with misconduct based on evidence from department-monitored (secretly, of course) emails. (And certain Important Peoples' emails just happen to go missing? Not on your life.) The one charged was later cleared, but the intimidation was all the more real.

Their real-crime? Overruling and (oh, my!) disagreeing with a young, Loyal Bushie attorney who supported it (thus obeying the political wishes of his overseers). Kiel says that at least three DOJ careerists have left the department, in the face of overt "political interference" in the pursuit of civil rights justice, and "a pattern of selective intimidation towards career staff." One was transferred to a "dead-end" position. (And poor Monica II feels that the Congressional Committees have prejudged her! Classic NeoCon projection.)

This is just the tip of the iceberg, of course. Kiel cites a Democratic congressman:

"Mr. Moore's allegations about political interference in the Civil Rights Division surrounding the Georgia memo, are very much in line with what we are learning daily about this Justice Department," Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) told TPMmuckraker. Nadler is the chairman of a House Judiciary subcommittee that held a hearing on the voting section last month. "A clear picture is developing of a department culture that seems to encourage politically-motivated, improper and lawless activity."

What happened to the Georgia bill? "A federal appeals court judge later barred implementation of the law, comparing it to a Jim Crow-era poll tax." Guess they haven't gotten to everyone yet, thankfully.

You know, I think maybe Clinton and Obama (and Edwards) need to find a way to work together as a united front as much as possible against the implacable, anti-American, anti-democratic tendencies of The Regime and its hench-lawyers. Things look good at this point for a Democratic victory in 2008, but there really isn't much room for error.