Right-wing media try to revive the phony New Black Panther Party scandal
Right-wing media are citing the testimony of Justice Department attorney Christopher Coates before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to revive the phony New Black Panther Party scandal. But Coates reportedly became "a true member of the team" in the highly politicized Bush DOJ.
Right-wing media hype Coates' Civil Rights Commission testimony as a "bombshell"
Hans von Spakovsky: Coates testimony is a "bombshell." In a September 22 Pajamas Media blog post, Bush DOJ official Hans von Spakovsky called Coates' decision to testify before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights a "bombshell" that was "likely to be incredibly damaging to DOJ leadership and the Obama administration." [Pajamas Media, 9/22/10]
Wash. Times: "Justice's Panther pursuer to testify on case." In a Washington Times article headlined "Justice's Panther pursuer to testify on case,"
....Right-wing activists and Fox News promoted unsubstantiated allegations based on hearsay. Right-wing media figures -- led by GOP activist J. Christian Adams -- have relied on distorted evidence and hearsay to accuse the Obama Justice Department of racially charged "corruption" based on the decision not to pursue additional charges against members of the New Black Panther Party accused of intimidating voters outside a Philadelphia polling center in 2008, claiming that the decision was based on "hostility in the voting rights section to bringing cases on behalf of white victims for the benefit of national racial minorities." Fox News has discussed the phony scandal during more than 100 segments since June 30.
Unsubstantiated allegations against DOJ don't stand up to facts. Adams has acknowledged lacking firsthand knowledge of the events he has cited to support his claims, and the suggestion that the Civil Rights Division in the Obama DOJ is hostile to "bringing cases on behalf of white victims for the benefit of national racial minorities" falls apart given the fact that the Obama DOJ obtained judgment against one defendant in the New Black Panthers case and requested additional judgment against black leaders in Mississippi who were found to have discriminated against white voters.
Conservative Civil Rights Commission vice chair ridiculed commission's investigation. A July 16 Politico article reported that Abigail Thernstrom, a Republican who serves as vice chair of the Civil Rights Commission and who is an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said, "This doesn't have to do with the Black Panthers, this has to do with their fantasies about how they could use this issue to topple the [Obama] administration." Politico also quoted Thernstrom saying, "My fellow conservatives on the commission had this wild notion they could bring Eric Holder down and really damage the president."
So the summer of right-wing Republican race-baiting continues into the fall. Fox, Pajamas Media and the Washington Times do not have any actual evidence but they do have a few right-wing ideologues throwing around accusations in the name of their hateful cause. Ironic that guys like Coates are well off financially and are part of the right-wing welfare system that rewards ideologues with jobs and other perks. Now they complain they are but poor victims of discrimination.
Florida tea nut conservative Rick Scott - a known thief - is lying about Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink. A Republican who would be in jail if he wasn't wealthy and had the right connections is lying and buying his way into office. One wonders if he is related to California tea nut conservatives Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina.
