The Wrongdoing, the Cover-Up, and Executive Privilege (Black PantherGate)

Commentary ^ | 9/28/2010 | Jennifer Rubin

[mojito]

Like any administration snared in a Beltway scandal, the Obama team has two problems in the New Black Panther Party scandal: the wrongdoing and the cover-up.

The wrongdoing is not merely that the Obama administration dismissed a blatant case of voter intimidation. It is not merely that an NAACP attorney pressured the Obama team to dump the case. It is not merely that the Obama Justice Department explicitly told attorneys not to enforce Section 8 of the Voting Rights Act, which helps prevent voter fraud. It is that the Obama team believes that the civil rights laws run only one way and offer protection only to certain racial or ethnic groups. That’s not the law (or the Equal Protection Clause has no meaning), and it runs afoul of Americans’ basic sense of fairness. That is why the Obama administration denies that it holds such a view. They may be radicals, but they aren’t dumb.

The cover-up takes two forms. There are the false statements put out by the Justice Department and made under oath by the assistant attorney general for civil rights, Thomas Perez, first, denying that political appointees were involved in the case and, second, disclaiming the existence of hostility toward race-neutral enforcement of voting laws. But there is also the Nixonian abuse of executive privilege to prevent scrutiny of the Justice Department. It is this latter issue that has gotten too little attention.

The administration has refused to produce witnesses and documents, employing a spurious claim of “deliberative process” privilege.

[mojito]

The little scandal that gets a little bigger every day.

[ridesthemiles]

Is the whistle blower from last Friday still testifying?

If not, is he safe in a bunker with real Americans guarding him?

[Freddd]

Because the lamestream media keep trying to hide it.

[traditional1]

I’ve said it before; ALL laws that specifically cite race as a qualifier or disqualifier, are in violation of the 14th Amendment (Equal Protection). ANY set-asides, affirmative action rules, minority requirements, etc., should be found Un-Constitutional, and this B.S. of “for past wrong-doing” that happened 200 years ago is not an excuse. Same for “Reparations”, in any way, shape, or form. NO survivors are here to claim them, NO kin have been held as slaves (other than Taxpayers), and this crap is simply a way to buy votes and keep them on the Plantation, obviously.

[Triple]

This is a clear and simple violation of the oath of office - to faithfully execute the laws...

Violation of the oath of office makes one unfit to hold that office.

[mmercier]

the next poll will demonstrate what level of control the political apparatus has over the nbpp.

i personally believe the nbpp are a group of anarchist inner city individual contributors... answerable to none.

we will see.

[mojito]

If I have my facts right, Mr. Coates concluded his testimony on Friday.

He was transferred out of Washington, DC to North(?) Carolina, so there is a good chance he is surrounded by more patriotic Americans than he was in his previous post.

[RobRoy]

Poor zero is a bit like Hitler toward the end of WWII: Too many fronts keep popping up. It is interesting to discuss this but we must remember that, like WWII, this will come to an end with a victory and a defeat.

[jazusamo]

Excellent piece by Rubin, thanks for posting.

The scandal does get a little bigger every day because of these writers that reiterate the truth of this fiasco.

Coates named names and cited specific events and dates and Holder’s flunkies at DOJ can’t refute the truth.

[Mr. K]

IS THIS BEING CALLED “PANTHERGATE” YET????

[Oldpuppymax]

Unfortunately for the Hussein regime, the American PEOPLE know what happened. And when republicans—by the grace of God—reclaim the house, investigations should begin to POUR out of DC.

[Oldpuppymax]

Unfortunately for the Hussein regime, the American PEOPLE know what happened. And when republicans—by the grace of God—reclaim the house, investigations should begin to POUR out of DC.

[mojito]

I saw it referred to as “Panthergate” here on FR - perhaps by yourself(?), and thought it should stick, so I used it in my headline extension. The original did not refer to “Panthergate.”

[Verginius Rufus]

She implies that the MSM is starting to pay attention to the story. Since I don't watch the MSM, I wouldn't know--I thought only Fox was talking about it, and not very much.

The administration's chutzpah in saying Coates was "short on facts" when they were preventing additional facts from being disclosed is like Holder's mocking of the Bush administration's failure to prosecute terrorist defendants when it was his own law firm which caused endless delays preventing the trials from taking place before Bush left office.

Clinton set a pretty high level for arrogance but the Obama team is determined to outdo even Bill Clinton.

[jazusamo]

Here’s a piece I posted from PJM earlier written by Christian Adams and he talks about the media and Obama defenders and he notes that Coates’ testimony was covered by WaPo, CNN and the LA Times.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2597803/posts