Judicial Watch continues to document the New Black Panther Party scandal, which was first reported by conservative media and now has attracted mainstream coverage. (But not the Gray Lady, which may have a tough time explaining to her readers next year why House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith is issuing all those subpoenas. Imagine tuning into Mad Men for the first time after a couple of seasons; you see the dilemma — at some point, there’s no use trying to catch up.)
In the latest batch of disclosures, Judicial Watch tells us:
[I]t has obtained documents from the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) that provide new evidence that top political appointees at the DOJ were intimately involved in the decision to dismiss the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense (NBPP). These new documents, which include internal DOJ email correspondence, directly contradict sworn testimony by Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, who testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that no political leadership was involved in the decision. The new documents were obtained last week by Judicial Watch pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. Department of Justice (No.10-851)).
You mean Perez gave false testimony to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights? Oh yes:
The new documents include a series of emails between two political appointees: former Democratic election lawyer and current Deputy Associate Attorney General Sam Hirsch and Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli. Both DOJ officials were involved in detailed discussions regarding the NBPP decision. …
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas Perez testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that no political appointees were involved in the NBPP decision. Perez suggested that the dispute was merely “a case of career people disagreeing with career people.”
In fact, political appointee Sam Hirsch sent an April 30, 2009, email to Steven Rosenbaum (then-Acting Assistant Deputy Attorney General in the Civil Rights) thanking Rosenbaum for “doing everything you’re doing to make sure that this case is properly resolved.” The next day, the DOJ began to reverse course on its NBPP voter intimidation lawsuit.
We’re going to see where the e-mail trail leads. There will be several storylines. First, how far will the scandal go? The administration may try to “amputate” at the assistant attorney general level (Perez), but evidence already revealed suggests that the associate attorney general level (the #3 position) can’t escape. But of course, the key question will be whether Eric Holder himself will be shoved off the stage. (We are going to get that frank discussion on race he’s been pining for regardless.)
Second, we’ll see how much interference Democrats are willing to run for the White House. The administration’s toady commissioner Michael Yaki tried his best to derail the commission’s investigation but wound up only embarrassing himself as the evidence gushed forth. Will House Democrats be in the mood to follow that path — or is this a fine opportunity to display their “independence” from the White House?
And finally, we’ll find out how much the administration has learned and how beholden it is to liberal activists. The Obama team has two options: (1) admit fault, repudiate a race-specific view of civil rights enforcement (e.g., only whites can be defendants), come clean, and let heads roll; or (2) fight tooth and nail, keep stonewalling, and reassure the NAACP and other liberal civil rights groups that they will stick with the left-leaning party line (i.e., civil rights laws are there to protect only “traditional” victims).
This issue is not remotely the biggest headache the administration will have to face in the next two years, but it sure will be revealing. And quite entertaining, I suspect.
How is BO’s socialism being communicated to the public? I thought the MSN decided this was off message.
Gallup just came out with Obama 52-41, Politico has new polls with Obama up 9 in Penn, up 8 in Colorado.
There is not one single national poll that has McCain leading, not one.
Next.
Abe says,” Eighty-four percent of Americans oppose the government redistribution of wealth.”
Welfare,food stamps,medicaid,aid to dependent children,Corporate incentives/tax breaks,progressive income taxes, Government redistribution of wealth to itself etc etc/I’m glad we don’t have any of that stuff.
Of course, no one claims that McCain is “leading.” But just as a political matter, the margin of Obama’s apparent victory is quite important. That is why the great variance being reported in the different polls is of interest.
Six days is plenty of time to get your message across, especially on a playing field confined to no more than four or five states. Can we please hold off on the obituaries?
rbrandt Says:
October 28th, 2008 at 2:31 PM
Government subsidies (loans, bailouts, equity, whatever you want to call it) have been around forever. My conservative Republican Congressman Goodlatte was an architect to the most bloated farm bill in human history. $300+ billion to farmers who were already doing well, 85% going to agribusiness’ making over $1 – $2 million. Goodlatte did not vote for the financial bailout because he thought the government did not have the expertise to evaluate the financial obligations to be purchased and it may have unintended consequenses. How can you take him seriously when he does believe the government does have the expertise to mandate a set amount of ethanol and set price supports for a few crops.
What a joke, now we are all ’shocked, shocked’ the government is taking over more and more of American business. We are all socialists now just like our Congress.
RBrandt is right/get over it Abe
I don’t remember many a poll saying Bush would win on election day in 2000 or 2004, either. In 1988 Dukakis was headed to a landslide. Exit polling is also always particularly bad. I continue to believe the election most closely modeling this one was 1976 – and that one was also very close and much closer than the polls projected (and Ford would have won if it weren’t for all the press cheerleading, also like what’s happening in this election).
Not to mention writing off home loan interest – the largest ongoing welfare program in our history. Oh, but that one is okay, everything else is anti-american.
#2, I do not know where you got your info, but your first assertion is wrong.
Gallup has narrowed it to 50%/43% in the Registered voter poll. and it is only two points in the Likely voter poll. Do your homework.
Two points is well with in the margin of error.
http://www.gallup.com/Home.aspx
Earth to neocons: Obama has already locked up 272 EVs, and that does NOT include Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, Nevada, Florida, North Carolina or Indiana, where Obama is leading by 3-5. Hispanics now favor Obama by 81-19!
The bonus is that by focusing on the sinking ship McCain-Palin, neocons are abandoning the Senate to the Democrats. Never has a political party imploded so spectacularly as the 2008 GOP, which is still playing by the rules of 1988.
average of all tracking polls is 4 points . Obama in faltering . All polls that show the race above 5 points would have you believe that the dems have increased their id over republicans by about 4 points over historical averages. That doesn’t happen in 2 years let alone 4 years. Keep dreaming about the big poll advantages for Obama. Why is he campaigning in Iowa on Friday? seems strange to be with a big lead. McCain can pull it out. Also state polls vary more wildly than national polls
Wrong again, ugly lawyer. Rasmussen, Zobgy, and CNN/Time all have McCain leading in Indiana, and the RCP average is .3. Not three to five as you assert.
Maybe the libs are unfammiliar with decimal points.
nothing is locked up 7 days out.Keep dreaming. 1994 dems imploded worse.The funny thing about that election is that all these pollsters who have Obama way out ahead did not see that coming.
Man, I feel sorry for anyone who pays Ugly Labor Lawyer for their services. He/She is particularly uninformed, even for one whose profession exalts cluelessness.
Obama has “already locked up 272″ votes in the Electoral College?
Wow, I guess we really don’t need to bother with this election thing, do we?
Virginia could go either way, in addition to all the other states listed in #10. And it is still worthwhile for McCain to fight in New Hampshire, if for no other reason than to work for Sununu.
Admittedly, I think that fighting in Pennsylvania is a mistake at this stage of the game. So as of today I would argue that McCain still has a plausible — unlikely, but plausible — path to a 283-255 victory.
Copied this from hedgehogreport.com, on the Dem primaries:
Obama’s closes – actual results vs. polling results
New Hampshire
RESULT Clinton +2.6
RCP Average Obama +8.3
California
RESULT Clinton +9.6
RCP Average Obama +1.2
Massachusetts
RESULT Clinton +15.4
RCP Average Clinton +7.0
Pennsylvania
RESULT Clinton +9.2
RCP Average Clinton +6.1
Note (with a week or longer to go, as opposed to election eve, and before the full effect of the bitter clinger gaffe was registered, numerous PA polls had Obama far ahead).
But by all means place all your faith in junk state-level opinion polls.
Clearly Obama can’t close the deal. Or else he would be up 15-20 points right now.
The fact is that he moved to an 8-10 point lead because of the bank meltdown and instead of increasing the lead it has come back to 4-5 points.
So Obama’s momentum has been blunted but McCain has been stuck at around 45 points. You’ll know if something is really happening if McCain starts hitting 47 and 48 points in the majority of the tracking polls by the weekend.
Then anything can happen since the state polls are usually a week or so behind the tracking polls.
I’m glad you good people continue to believe that there is any way that McCain wins. I say keep believing!
Keep believing so that it will only hurt worse next Tuesday when the U.S. effects regime change in Washington D.C.!
Yes it’s going to sting. But it’s time to face the consequence of your failure to govern when you were given complete control of the government.Without this complete failure there would not have been a Barack Obama run for the White House.
In the meantime, I’d like to thank you for the entertainment that is the delusion that there is going to be a President McCain. You betcha!
The Dems have thousands of “ugly lawyers” positioned all over the battleground States. If you think Bush/Gore was ugly, just wait until these dogs get unleahed.
This thing may not be over until after Christmas.
Keep spending all your time and money on the national ticket, pretty please? McCain and Palin need to just keep slogging in Penn and Colorado and leave the rest of the country to swing Dem. Keep spending money having to defend Montana, Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri. Oh, and send Palin to New Hampshire again to Sununu can lose another 5 points like after the last time she was up here. While you’re at it, keep reminding everybody of all the prominent Republicans who are abandoning the McCain ticket. every time you denounce Applebaum, for example, you remind people that McCain is losing his own fans.
Keep doing all of that so the Senate can become 60-40 Dem, at which point McCain is totally impotent even if he does win, which he won’t.
This is 1980 part deux, with John McCain playing the role of Jimmy Carter. Has nobody else noticed that Axelrod’s strategy is lifted directly from Reagan 80? And that the Republicans didn’t even notice until mid-October?
PS. Ugly Labor Lawyer is my homage to Jennifer Rubin, who is very ugly, and is a labor lawyer.
“Pride goes before a fall….
History’s Wisest Man
So, ugly lawyer, it doesn’t matter that you got your “facts” wrong. Nope, just gloss over that fact. Facts don’t mean anything anyway, right?
What CK MacLeod didn’t tell you is that Obama outperforms the RCP average by 3.3 points! This is an example of why you folks are going to lose badly next week….LYING!
If you want the complete report go to: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/persistent-myth-of-bradley-effect.html
There’s no Bradley Effect that is going to save you.
For a guy certain that he’s on the winning side, Ugly Labor Lawyer’s frantic efforts to advise his political opponents is a little…desperate. I can smell the beer sweat, damp polyester, and stale Drakkar from here.
You guys really need to work on your “inevitability of defeat” lines of persuasion.
Different name, same troll. Feed it not.
pmm, anything to Swiftboat your day!
Ugly Labor Lawyer sezs, “The Statue of Liberty is Kaput…Bart Simpson is sleeping with your wife, GI.”
pmm, by George I think you get it. Now run outside to defend McCain in formerly Republican Virginia, without which he has zero chance of winning, and where Obama leads by a steady 8 points. Don’t forget your poncho!
Obama has been obsessed his entire life with winning his absent father’s approval. That’s why the book was Dreams of My Father- not grandma or mom, but the run away daddy.
Obama had a vary painful childhood: abandoned by father, then step-father, then mother. Perpetually a stranger in a strange land.
Consider his decision to become “black”; not for him the biracialism of Tiger or Jeeter, but instead a search for identity in afrocentric politics, economics and religion.
Dad was too avowedly marxist for the Kenyan revolutionarie’s new government! Uncle Frank Davis was an actual old guard stalinist. Obama by his ow testimony gravitated to marxist professors and attended socialist conferences while at Columbia. We know nothing of his academic work at any of the three major schools he attended- why is that?
Community organizing is the outgrowth of explicit socialist political theorizing and has as its goal the activation of the proles for political power.
Chicago: Ayers/Dohrn maoists- Annenberg challenge- seed money for consciousness raising amongst youth- more socialist goals.
Wright’s Trinity Church- offspring of dr Cone- must google and read actual doctrines- shocking to any normal understanding of Christianity or any believer in racial harmony.
Obama is seeking the redistribution of wealth to avenge the 400 years of deprivation suffered by Africans in America.
The latest term for this is “educational debt”. The idea is that reerations will be collected in the form of massive infusions of educational aid.
Sit back and watch as the tide rolls in.
“Facts don’t mean anything anyway, right?”
One must have the strength of character to face the facts. The relevant facts are the state polls, not the national ones. We don’t elect by popular vote.
The facts are that Obama has closed the deal. For example, when was the last time any poll had McCain leading in Pennsylvania?
And if McCain is doing so well, why is he leading in Georgia by only 1 according to today’s poll from InAdv/PollPosition? Shouldn’t he be up by double digits? Nevada is gone; so is Coolrado, Virginia,
Yo ugly,
Now that we are finally learning just a little about Obama’s real intentions do you still really want him to win? I’m curious. I wouldn’t think anyone, not even a rabid democrat, would be interested in the CHANGE we now see coming. The pain this guy and his gang will inflict will know not which party you’re in.
And don’t bother saying it couldn’t be any worse then the last eight years — it certainly can!
“Colorado” rather…sorry I get so excited looking at all that wonder blue on the electoral map.
Oh my, McCain up by only 3 now in Arizona?
#30 Thanks for that healthy dose of racism, almost forgot who reads Commentary and why.
#24 – Who said anything about the Bradley Effect? But, since you insist on bringing up that shocking, shockingly brilliant analysis from no, not really in the tank Nate Silver at 538 – if you look at his chart, take out the caucus states (it’s truly intellectually dishonest for Silver to include those), and remove states with very high African American populations dominating the Dem electorate, and/or where one candidate or both didn’t campaign at all or made at most a token effort, then the same variances as demonstrated in the post above tend to stand out.
In addition, if you are determined to stand by those numbers, then they still make the same argument about the influence of junk polls: The majority of the final results vary widely from the Pollster.com’s supposedly more reliable regression analysis of all polls going back to when Hector was a pup. Even the theoretical random error-checking function of grouping all polls and overweighting recent ones doesn’t prevent numerous polls from within the more ideologically uniform primary races from being off by double digits. In many cases wild-assed guesses from moderately well-informed pundits would have gotten closer.
Shorter Abe Greenwald: If you overlook all other polling and focus only on the one that assumes nothing has changed since 2004… McCain is still losing.
Shorter Abe Greenwald # 2: I assume, based on no evidence whatsoever, that America shares my hysterical belief that a slightly higher tax rate for rich people will be the downfall of American society as we know it. This is similar to my belief that Americans love the surge when in fact they continue to hate the surge.
#35 thanks for another reminder of neocon racism:
“remove states with very high African American populations”
T says:”Slightly higher tax rate for rich people” There are several dozen ways in which we are taxed by the Federal Government, income tax is but one. If you think anyone, and I mean anyone, will not pay higher taxes, you’re smoking dope.
In fact, it will be those that can least afford it who will suffer most. Taxes on gas, tobacco, estates (that means gramma’s house when it sells), etc. You can not count the ways in which more cash will be taken from abcolutely everyones wallet.
I am here in western PA and can tell you there is very little support for the Messiah here on the ground. We keep asking ourselves who are they polling? People in downtown Philly? McCain will win PA. Mark my words. The bitter clinger racist rednecks of PA will elect McCain.
McCain will win this thing because he wasn’t as far behind as the polls suggested to begin with! He was always within 5 of Obama. If he wasn’t, why does Obama feel the need to run a 30 minute ad on all networks (a second convention address?)? This is ridiculous! I say after that 30 minute extravaganza, his numbers plummet further and McCain pulls it out late with a win in Colorado!
I relish what will be the reaction if/when McCain wins.
Go ahead and toss all the “facts” at me from all of these polls/news reports from people who mostly admittedly are in the tank for Obama.
I still don’t know a person who is voting Obama and once in the booth things can change.
I can’t wait.
One more thought, it won’t be the republicans that cause the Messiah to lose. It will be the democrats that simply will refuse to vote for him. I know quite a few of them.
Marie, your spt on.
I know alot of Democrats, some family members (on my wifes side) who cannot stomach Obama.
As big as a mess the Republican party is in alot, alot, alot of Democrats feel sold out.
Frankly the only reason Obama has a chance at all is ACORN and foreign donations.
This ain’t 1988:
McCain Support Continues Downward Spiral
Obama Leads by 19 Among Those Who Have Already Voted
I’ll tell ya something else Marie, REGAN was a Democrat and we saw how that went.
Anyone who thinks that a large portion of your Democrat base, many of whom followed Regan, will vote for an undeniable Marxist is setting themselves up for a massive dissapointment.
Keep those numbers coming.
Not to sound redundant but I can’t wait.
Wow, DJI!
And, the margin of error (MOE) works this way (largely unreported in the MSM)
Take the TIPP poll:
Obama: 47.7%
McCain: 43.7%
MOE: plus or minus 3%
That means, the poll is saying with 95% confidence that Obama is between 43.7% and 50.7%, McCain is between 40.7% and 46.7%.
So, you can see that this result is well within the MOE – McCain could actually be ahead as there is substantial overlap of these ranges.
Additionally, almost all of the polls have been extremely volatile.
Bottom line, don’t get ‘pollitis’; there is only one that counts – the one taken on November 4.
Your race-baiting isn’t welcome here. Or is it just stupidity? The issue was an argument based on the mathematics of opinion research.
West, so they bused in a large portion of the inner city folks who typically vote Democrat anyhow, good to have them out of the way.
Keep reading those headlines, I bet you yourself no alot of people even in LA who wouldn’t vote Obama and won’t ever admit it.
Your banking on ACORN, I know it.
I’m glad to see the Nutcases expecting a McJerk win. You’ll only be more disappointed next week.
PREDICTION:
Obama 375EVs, 53%
House: 270D, 165R
Senate: 59D, 39R, 1I (Sanders), 1L (Likud/Lieberman)
CK MacLeod @35
I just showed where the context of the numbers you used. I merely provided all the states, not just a very selected few.
Now you want to discount the very poll results that YOU introduced in the first place?
You folks are entertaining with your fight against reality. Oh look, now someone is suggesting that Obama will now lose because he will address the nation unfiltered before the election! Wow!
I’m now predicting a very narrow win for Obama in Georgia. Total Obama electoral votes +350.
Oh The Blue!
Twisting people’s names around (“McJerk” “Barack Osama”) is a sign of really low class.
#51 — Do you live in Georgia? How many years have you spent there?
Obama has about the same chance of winning Georgia as McCain has of winning (say) Oregon.
Democrat,…..Obviously not a “Reagan” Democrat of which there are thousands upon thousands who could no more vote Obama than they could Hugo Chavez.
And I love predictions, I predict that with ACORNS army of the dead on the foreign donations that poured in to the Obama campaign that he will be closer than he otherwise would have.
I don’t underestimate the American people in seeing exactly what is before them and they rarely dissapoint.
“I don’t underestimate the American people in seeing exactly what is before them and they rarely disappoint.”
Wow. Maybe there are really are “two Americas” after all, because I certainly don’t recognize the one described in that sentence!
Just think. If we could find a way to eliminate the disorderly need for people to vote and think for themselves our democracy would be perfect.
If any Nutcases are banking on the typical Republican vote suppression tactics working this year, you’d better think again. Oh, and say your prayers, Saxby Chambliss!
As one of Soros’ lead trolls it is my responsibility to monitor and thwart the efforts of conservative blogs that might be effective in derailing Obama’s run for the Presidency.
I must say “Contentions” was one that gave me quite a scare. It was heavily populated by some highly effective, intelligent, conservative posters who, I must admit, knew their way around an adjective, and a verb. But I digress.
What I mean to say is…well…comparing what I see now, to what was…we’ve (I work with a team) been extremely effective! Don’t get me wrong there’s still a few of the old core around. CK, J.E., Jonas, and a few others, but, nothing like before. I think even Democrat’s heart is no longer in tormenting you.
BTW, Dem, I’ve talked to my people and they like your work. I’m not promising anything, but, if a large amount of cash should suddenly…
Chambliss is a weak incumbent, but he’ll still pull through in the end, even if by only a couple of points or so.
Same for Florida, by the way. A few days ago, the Florida A&M University’s marching band led 1,000 students and faculty to the county courthouse in Tallahassee, to cast early votes. Nutcases, you’d better get ready for the mother of all black turnouts this year. If you do the math, you’ll see that there’s no way in hell McJerk is going to survive.
Here’s another story about Flordia A&M. Read it and weep, Nutcases!
Voter suppression? So long as you don’t vote under your twenty aliases, I’m flexible.
Nutcases, say your prayers!
Oops, wrong link. Say these prayers instead!
51
SweetSweetKarma
Try disengaging your emotions from you happy talk, and we might find the basis of a discussion here.
I provided a chart comparing RCP averages to actual results for four selected primary states that featured heavily contested primaries, including 3 battlegrounds.
You presumed I was referring to a supposed “Bradley Effect,” and then responded with an intellectually dishonest or perhaps merely incompetent effort by the revered Nate Silver which purported to disprove a Bradley Effect by accumulating data for primary states that, averaged together apeared to show an overall overperformance for Obama compared to his poll numbers. This pseudo-analysis was obviously questionable on its face, for several reasons, some of which I mentioned. In short, the comparison was not of apples to oranges, but of a basket of apples to a basket of oranges, candies, cinderblocks, and odd notions.
Here’s some more typical Republican racism on display at one of McJerk’s rallies. And, of course, the State of Florida is busy trying to suppress the non-white vote. It’s what southerners and Republicans do.
Democrat obviously has too much time on his/her hands…
Here is more color on the extension of Florida early voting hours. Buh-bye, McJerk!
Just curious, Democrat –
Now that McCain has called for Senator Stevens to step down, when will Obama call for Charlie Rangel to resign?
Beats me, Bob. When do youi think?
“I must say “Contentions” was one that gave me quite a scare. It was heavily populated by some highly effective, intelligent, conservative posters “– Diyogee
Rookie mistake, Diyogee. If you want to pass yourself off as a leftist troll, you’ve can’t veer off into wingnut land. No self-respecting liberal would put “effective” and “intelligent” in front of “conservative posters.” Remember, we are a reality based people.