Bush DOJ decided New Black Panthers no major case
UPDATE: Fox News guest Kirsten Powers made the mistake of thinking for herself. A must-see video:
Several of you have clamored for me to say something about the alleged voter intimidation case in Philadelphia, which involves a thuggish group who call themselves the “New Black Panthers.” (While I was no fan of the original Black Panthers, they don’t deserve to have their reputation further befouled by this group. The two groups are in no way related.)
I was loathe to comment since I know that no rational discussion will follow. How could it? It was clear from the beginning that this was not a case of voter intimidation against anyone who might vote for John McCain. As many observers noted on that day, no matter how badly those two New Black Panters were behaving (and the police were called and responded), it’s a HEAVILY DEMOCRATIC PRECINCT. As blogger Ben Smith noted way back then, “You don’t typically intimidate your own voters.”
But solid reporting from Media Matters and Adam Serwer of The American Prospect ought to put this nonsense to rest (it won’t, but it should). The charges against the New Black Panthers were downgraded by the Bush Department of Justice:
The decision not to file a criminal case occurred before Obama was even in office.
This means that the case was downgraded to a civil case 11 days before Obama was inaugurated, 26 days before Eric Holder became attorney general, and about nine months before Thomas Perez was confirmed as head of the Civil Rights Division.
From Media Matters:
# Adams has admitted that he does not have first-hand knowledge of the events, conversations, and decisions that he is citing to advance his accusations;
# The Bush administration’s Justice Department — not the Obama administration — made the decision not to pursue criminal charges against members of the New Black Panther Party for alleged voter intimidation at a polling center in Philadelphia in 2008;
# The Obama administration successfully obtained default judgment against Samir Shabazz, a member of the New Black Panther Party carrying a nightstick outside the Philadelphia polling center on Election Day 2008;
# The Bush administration DOJ chose not to pursue similar charges against members of the Minutemen, one of whom allegedly carried a weapon while harassing Hispanic voters in Arizona in 2006;
# No voters have come forward to claim that they were intimidated from voting on account of the New Black Panthers standing outside the polling center in 2008;
So, no matter how many times J. Christian Adams declares that the Obama administration refuses to protect the rights of white people — and no matter how many times Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh repeat it — it’s not true.
(See my first post of the day about facts before you respond.)
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335 comments Add your comment
Real American
July 12th, 2010
11:06 pm
So the baggers are mad because the Bush Administration made the decision that the charges did not have merit? LMAO
Billybob
July 12th, 2010
11:12 pm
Do you agree with the behavior of these guys Tucker?
Barry
July 12th, 2010
11:22 pm
Since someone asked for “witnesses” , Have at it ! This a Democrat “Civil Rights” attorney that worked for Bobby & Ted Kennedy . He worked in MS during the early civil rights era ! He defended blacks against “voter intimidation” . Lets` see what this democrat poll worker says about the intimidation you are claiming didn`t happen ? The Truth Shall Set You Free ! youtube.com/watch?v=9sDoYYQdGOA
Nice Deb
July 12th, 2010
11:24 pm
” …solid reporting from Media Matters and The American Prospect”???
You’ve got to be kidding me, lady. That tells me all I need to know about you, right there. Maybe if you had sharper discernment skills, you would have noticed by now, that the folks at Media Matters are shameless hacks who are paid to lie and obfuscate. And it’s never too difficult to pick up on.
The Bush Administration “downgraded” the case from criminal to civil, huh? As if that’s some kinda major GOTCHA? As if that excuses the Obama DOJ from dismissing the civil case, last May, when of course it’s always been reported as a civil case that was dropped…What is your point exactly? That it’s okay to stand in front of polling stations in paramilitary garb, brandishing weapons shouting epithets at voters, and intimidating them from voting? (Yes, there are eyewitnesses that have testified to that). It was a slam dunk case, and the Holder DOJ dropped it. The cute “downgraded to civil case” meme doesn’t fly.
Kevyn
July 12th, 2010
11:24 pm
Wow… Fox News Lies…THANKS CYNTHIA…for telling the truth!
Scout
July 12th, 2010
11:25 pm
The “Black Panthers” are nothing more than ex-felons, current felons and low level street thugs who should still be in lockdown in a maximum security prison somewhere. They are just one notch above Al-Qaeda.
Mr Charlie
July 12th, 2010
11:27 pm
Let me ask you this CT, if a group of white Klansman carrying nightsticks were videotaped in front of a historically republican voting precinct, and Obama downgraded the charges a civil status, would you be OK with it?
Actually, I agree with you that it is not a big deal, but I also think it is not big deal to ask a voter to provide an ID when voting.
Go figure.
Mr Charlie
July 12th, 2010
11:29 pm
“The “Black Panthers” are nothing more than ex-felons, current felons and low level street thugs”
Otherwise known as Obama’s base voters.
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the LIAR Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 12th, 2010
11:40 pm
Look at this JOKER. NObama is SO ONE TERM. So much for a 7-0 record.
Obama is headed for a second term.
Using his “13 Keys” formula, American University history professor Allan Lichtman has predicted that President Barack Obama will be re-elected in 2012.While former Republican House speaker and possible presidential contender Newt Gingrich has predicted that Obama has just a 20 percent chance of winning in 2012, Lichtman said that “nothing that a candidate has said or done during a campaign, when the public discounts everything as political, has changed his prospects at the polls. Debates, advertising, television appearances, news coverage and campaign strategies — the usual grist for the punditry mills — count for virtually nothing on Election Day.”
In an interview with AOL News, Lichtman said he devised his formula after studying election outcomes from 1860 to 1980 and has correctly predicted the outcomes of the last seven presidential contests. “No other system has come close to that record,” he said.
“Politicians hate the keys because you can’t manipulate them,” Lichtman said. “It’s not campaigning that counts. It’s governing that counts.”
Using the formula he laid out in his book, “Keys to the White House,” Lichtman bases his prediction on 13 conditions, or keys. When five or fewer are false, the incumbent party candidate wins. When six or more are false, the other party candidate wins.
Lichtman considers passage of health care reform a positive key for Democrats, one of nine he said that favor the incumbent party and its president. He said Obama has four keys turned against him, two short of the “fatal six negative keys” that would doom a second term. In his rating, he assumes Democrats will lose seats in Congress this fall, the economy will remain sluggish and there will be no cataclysmic setbacks in Afghanistan.
Here’s how Lichtman breaks down the keys to Obama’s political future:
• KEY 1: Party mandate. After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than it did after the previous midterm elections. (FALSE)
• KEY 2: Contest. There is no serious contest for the incumbent-party nomination. (TRUE)
• KEY 3: Incumbency. The incumbent-party candidate is the sitting president. (TRUE)
• KEY 4: Third party. There is no significant third-party or independent campaign. (TRUE)
• KEY 5: Short-term economy. The economy is not in recession during the election campaign. (TRUE)
• KEY 6: Long-term economy. Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms. (FALSE)
• KEY 7: Policy change. The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy. (TRUE)
• KEY 8: Social unrest. There is no sustained social unrest during the term. (TRUE)
• KEY 9: Scandal. The administration is untainted by major scandal. (TRUE)
• KEY 10: Foreign/military failure. The administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs. (TRUE)
• KEY 11: Foreign/military success. The administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs. (FALSE)
• KEY 12: Incumbent charisma. The incumbent-party candidate is charismatic or a national hero. (FALSE)
• KEY 13: Challenger charisma: The challenging-party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero. (TRUE)
Scout
July 12th, 2010
11:48 pm
Mr Charlie :
LOL !
Scout
July 13th, 2010
12:10 am
Taps !
Laura
July 13th, 2010
12:13 am
I find this article so offensive. In 1972 I went to vote for Democratic nominee George McGovern for president. All the “keys” were locked on every democratic candidate in every voting booth. I called the Democratic headquarters and they laughed at me. They said “Upper Arlington Ohio is a 90% republican district, we don’t have time to worry about it”. I definately felt like I was harrassed even though it was a 90% Republican district. Despite practicing law in 3 states for 34 years, I did not bother to vote again until 2008, and I voted against the democrats.
J.R.
July 13th, 2010
12:15 am
I am currently negotiating for a pay-per-view pitting the KKK against the New Black Panthers. Let these ignorant morons fight it out to the death, and leave decent people alone.
Lil' Barry Bailout
July 13th, 2010
12:32 am
Your defense of the Obama administration for not pursuing the case is pathetic and predictable. We’re supposed to take the word of George Soros’s Media Matters over that of a career prosecutor.
No sale.
The Idiot Messiah dropped the case because he sees it as payback against whitey. Racist.
ken
July 13th, 2010
12:43 am
Once again, you are lost.
The Media’s Deplorable Double Standard In The Black Panther Voter Intimidation Case « Nice Deb
July 13th, 2010
12:53 am
[...] meme has finally been established. Our friends at Media Matters have done themselves proud. And Cynthia Tucker, writing for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution enthusiastically dove [...]
Fox News’ Lies – Bush’s Department Of Justice Dropped Panther Case…Not Ther Obama DOJ! « The Fifth Column
July 13th, 2010
1:49 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution – Cynthia Tucker [...]
motts
July 13th, 2010
1:50 am
seem’s like we have a lot of parnoid folks on board,you got ppl talkin’ about how much fire power
they have,and that they are not afraid to use it,Big deal just don’t shoot yourselves in the foot,lol.
Now i think most of u folks have reached the age of reason,you do read articles competley before
you comment on them,right?
1st thing do not blame the actions of a few on the many,2nd thing fox news is out to jam obama,by
any means possible,3rd thing if you think the gop is gonna make your life any better,i got a “52″
hudson hornet to sell you for a dollar.”WHAT PARTY PUT THIS COUNTRY IN THE HOLE,think now
think real hard……………………………………have you figured it out yet? judge not a man by the color
of his skin,but rather by the contents character……MLK.
The nightshift
July 13th, 2010
1:53 am
“It was clear from the beginning that this was not a case of voter intimidation against anyone who might vote for John McCain. As many observers noted on that day, no matter how badly those two New Black Panters were behaving (and the police were called and responded), it’s a HEAVILY DEMOCRATIC PRECINCT. As blogger Ben Smith noted way back then, “You don’t typically intimidate your own voters.”
Cynthia is not a mind reader. To excuse this obvious intimidation by sayng that most of the voters are Democratic is quite simply absurd. What kind of thinking is that? If 1,000 people voted at that precinct and 5% of them were republicans should those 50 people be intimidated by these bullies? What a mind boggling statement. I thought Cynthia was all about protecting the rights of minority views. Apparently the republican minority in this precinct shouldn’t have these protections because Cynthia said it is a “heavily Democratic precinct”.
As for quoting media matters I can’t believe Cytnia would stoop to quoting this far left hate site. Unbelievable. This is nothing more than a vile, one sided hate site and Cynthia thinks they should be treated credibility? Unreal.
debra
July 13th, 2010
2:17 am
too bad you are not telling the whole story.. like the part where they DOJ under obamas regime did have them drop the civil case after it had been won by default. this is pitiful reporting…I take it you and the ever nasty Keith Obieman head rant at msnbc are an item… twisting the story to your own liking and then acting like there is a shred of fact here… sad but you may get a shot on a main stream tv show this way… no truth in journalism these days…
Vinny
July 13th, 2010
4:31 am
Enter your comments here
Mark A. Traina
July 13th, 2010
4:42 am
Progressives (Liberal’s) cry whenever some black person’s right are being violated and rightfully so. I just cannot understant why the same people aren”t pitching a BITCH when a black or hispanics committ crimes against a white people. Racism works in all directions. I was recently appalled to hear members of the Black Panther Organization saying, “We need to kill white people and their babies”. What if someone had said we need to kill black or hispanic people and their babies? Why do we have a Ms. Black America? What would happen if white people decided to have a Ms. White America? Or a Ms. Hispanic America. How about a WET Network or aHET Network? How racially dividing America in various sections based on race. Obviously, there should be no BET or Ms. Black America. For that matter we should all refer to ourselves as AMERICANS, not African or Hispanic Americans
MAY GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
MARK A. TRAINA (Italian American) But if we go to war with Italy, shame on them cause I am a PROUD AMERICAN
Mark A. Traina
July 13th, 2010
4:47 am
Progressives (Liberal’s) cry whenever some black person’s right are being violated and rightfully so. I just cannot understand why the same people aren”t pitching a BITCH when blacks or hispanics committ crimes against white people. Racism works in all directions. I was recently appalled to hear members of the Black Panther Organization saying, “We need to kill white people and their babies”. What if someone had said we need to kill black or hispanic people and their babies? Why do we have a Ms. Black America? What would happen if white people decided to have a Ms. White America? Or for that matter, a Ms. Hispanic America. How about a WET or HET Network? How about racially dividing America in various sections based on race.
Obviously, there should be no BET or Ms. Black America. For that matter we should all refer to ourselves as AMERICANS, not African or Hispanic Americans
MAY GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
MARK A. TRAINA (Italian American) But if we go to war with Italy, shame on them cause I am a PROUD AMERICAN! I bleed Red, White and Blue through and through! (504) 231-3056
A CONSERVATIVE
July 13th, 2010
5:03 am
.. CYNTHIA….As USUAL….YOU ARE LYING….THROUGH TOUR TEETH…
Pandora
July 13th, 2010
6:02 am
Tucker has to use media matters because the AJC won’t cover it. interesting that the Soros mouthpiece is Tucker’s authority.
Jeff
July 13th, 2010
6:42 am
Ms Tucker, when you start taking theses situations as seriously as you do when 3 Klan members show up on a 50 acre farm in south Georgia, I’ll be back to the table to discuss racial issues with you. But you’re going to have to go first. No more coming to the table to ONLY discuss white racists. And yes, you refusal to equally address racism has an affect on my relationships with AA’s in my life. So you are hurting racial relations.
Jimmy62
July 13th, 2010
6:55 am
Downgrading is a little different than dropping completely. If Bush downgraded it, it’s probably because a new President was about to take over, and it wasn’t politically tenable at the time.
However, the most interesting point here is not who downgraded the case (a different animal than dropping it), but that Cynthia is willing to defend people caught on film carrying nightsticks outside a polling precinct. Who cares if it’s a 70% Democrat area? Does that mean it’s ok to intimidate the other 30%? Cynthia, you live in a strange, whacked out world where everything must be looked at through a racial or partisan lens,
Ragnar Danneskjöld
July 13th, 2010
7:00 am
Dear Ms. Tucker, I am late to the party but your post is curiously silent on the core issue: do you think the video depicts illegal voter discrimination? I respectfully think it does, and that it rises to the level of criminality. Curious about your thoughts, whether you think similarly activity by the KKK in a white majority precinct would constitute illegal voter discrimination.
Granny Godzilla
July 13th, 2010
7:03 am
Pardon me, but may I clamor now?
Hells Bells I could clamor all day
Harry Reid
July 13th, 2010
7:04 am
Glad Obama doesn’t have a Negro dialect when he is helping me raise money! Can’t wait to send a Muslim in space!
Granny Godzilla
July 13th, 2010
7:06 am
I heard everybody in the Obama administration got a key ring with the Diebold Source Coding on it…..
cris
July 13th, 2010
7:07 am
Cynthia wrote”“You don’t typically intimidate your own voters.”. This would make sense if we did not know that ever time there is a riot or civil unrest, the black community burns down and loots their own nieghborhoods.
Ragnar Danneskjöld
July 13th, 2010
7:13 am
Apologies to all, in my pre-coffee stupor @ 7:00 I wrote “discrimination” when I was thinking “intimidation.”
ken
July 13th, 2010
7:18 am
100,000 jobs LOST today in the gulf because we have an administration that is LOST.
Norm
July 13th, 2010
7:44 am
Totally peaceful Tea Party folks are called dangerous racists by democrats. The Obama adninistration turn a blind eye to black on white hate speech, which looks like racism to me. I was verbally assaulted in the steam room before the Obama election for saying I did not like Obama or McCain. I was bold enough to say only a racist would say not voting for Obama was racist. When lambasted about Bush on almost a daily basis, I told them I didn’t like Bush but I thought Gore was slightly worse and Kerry was way worse. I even explained that if I knew if there was going to be a republican congress I would have voted for Gore because neither party in full control can be trusted. My wife convinced me to not to renew my gym membership. I can only imagine what would happen at the gym if I truthfully answered a question about what I think of Obama administration so far. I would steadfastly say race has nothing to do with it unless Obama is making decisions for racial reasons, but I would still fear physical violence. If being black or white comes ahead of being American, then politicians and the folks who elect them, cannot represent everyone fairly. If Bush had behaved anywhere near as badly as Obama, Pelosi and Reid, I suspect the Tea Parties would look like Sunday School picnics in comparison to liberal hate group reaction. It seems to me democrats are nearly always unhappy about something and cannot even win with grace and dignity. Sore losers can be explained by human nature but sore winners is a difficult concept to explain. The only explanation I can think of is malcontents are never happy. My wife is so dismayed by the treatment I, a 70 year old white man, got at the gym, that she is afraid to ask for a republican ballot at a black mega-church where we vote. I keep telling her that being angry and argumentave is a far cry from physical violence.
Cynthia is Sexy!!
July 13th, 2010
7:57 am
The New Black Panthers Party…Same game, different name. Im sure their meetings are quite the eye opener.
hahaha!!!
July 13th, 2010
7:59 am
A new list of the 10 most welcoming cities to live in has just been released and each one has a black population that is essentially non-existent. Thoughts Cynthia? LOL!!!
Granny Godzilla
July 13th, 2010
8:01 am
Norm
Sorry you were verbally hassled.
At least your home and cars were not vandalized as mine were. Repeatedly.
I just kept cleaning up the mess and getting new Obama signs.
Dismayed? Yes I was. Afraid? Hell no.
just pathetic
July 13th, 2010
8:01 am
So using Cynthia’s pathetic spin, it should be just fine for a group of Klansmen to hang out in front of a polling place in the next election while holding nooses.
amiee
July 13th, 2010
8:02 am
CT,
Since anyone that criticizes Obama is a racist, doesn’t that mean you and your fellow liberal sheep in the media are racist for criticizing Mr. Steele?
the implosion continues!!!
July 13th, 2010
8:05 am
Shocking!!! New evidence is coming out that Obama stole the primary win from Clinton. And the evidence is being complied by a Lib!!! It’s also coming out that Franken criminally stole his election as well with illegal votes from prisoners. Not that this surprises anyone, but it’ll be interesting to see if any ko.oks like Cynthia or her fellow sheep in the media touch these stories with a 10 foot pole.
Granny Godzilla
July 13th, 2010
8:08 am
Mr Implosion sir…
Evidence? Links? Data?
casual observer
July 13th, 2010
8:09 am
Solid reporting by media matters? Give me a break! Obviously no voter intimidation?! If there are men dressed in Black suits carrying clubs outside a voter precinct and you contend there isn’t any voter intimidation? You are an idiot. There is no rational conversation that can go on in your world. How the heck do you continue to have a job?
thetruthwillsetyoufree
July 13th, 2010
8:10 am
Cynthia, thanks to you the AJC is doing fantastic on its subscriptions, isn’t it? When are the “execs” over there going to wise up and hire real journalists for their newspaper.
dirk
July 13th, 2010
8:11 am
ever notice how the majority of blacks in this country are in the southeast, yet the southeast is as red as you get? While the rest of the black population is spread thin throughout the rest of the country. You want to make this entire nation red? Let’s send all the blacks in the southeast to all the liberal blue states and let them live beside them and work with them for just a year’s time and then rotate them to another state. Before you know it, the entire nation will be red since they will finally know first hand what it is like to experience what we are forced to endure and suffer through on a daily basis.
Granny Godzilla
July 13th, 2010
8:13 am
Mr Implosion sir
Nevermind
I looked it up.
Tin foil hat time.
miguel
July 13th, 2010
8:17 am
Why would the Bush administration prosecute them when they were leaving office in 2 months? Who in their right mind thinks that would have given them any time to do anything they would have needed to do? Its obvious CT knows absolutely nothing about anything, especially how the courts work, but the liberal writer at Media Matters is just as clueless.
MiltonMan
July 13th, 2010
8:20 am
Obozo’s wife now ranting to the NAACP about tea party members being racists. Dear Lord, I pray that you bring November here alot faster. Amen.
comet
July 13th, 2010
8:20 am
Someone stole my thunder above, but seriously, why do Obama defenders routinely point to comparisons to Bush? How can you invest years of your life screaming at the top of your lungs that Bush was an idiot in every facet of his leadership, and then say “well hey, Bush did it too so it’s all good?” I thought Obama was the “Chosen One” and Bush was Satin? Why would the Chosen One want to repeat the “evilness” of Bush?
MiltonMan
July 13th, 2010
8:22 am
dirk, Fulton, Clayton & DeKalb are blue and perhaps the worst ran counties in this state. Clayton has crappy schools, DeKalb has to go overseas to find teachers to teach math/science & Fulton is only relevant because of North Fulton.