Just in time for the elections.

the little nazi returns

Civil Rights Commission?
For this lefty?
Aren't there any John Birch Society members to be had in the pool of possible candidates?

The Red Baron flies again!

To rephrase myself, is this a violation of statuatory hiring procedures? Are the hirings valid if the "consultants" were approved anonymously by the commissioners? Why were the names not made available as part of the public record and what channels were used to bypass federal administrative policies?

This agency has a very proud and impressive history. It should make Americans very sad and very angry that it is has been turned into a politcal pawn and a means to channel money to Republican cronies.

By violating the spirit of the bylaws that stipulated that no more than four of the eight commissioners should come from any party, the Republicans have ensured that actual civil rights issues are never addressed by the Commission. By making ridiculous hiring decisions (their hires over the last 3-4 years would make the Monica Goodling blush), they have almost ensured that almost nobody was left to shine a light on the corrupt practic that they are engaging in.

Congressional oversight hearing, anyone? Please?

In the federal system, in the Executive Branch, there are several ways to go about hiring someone.

- Schedule C Appointee (the so-called political patronage jobs). White House determines who gets hired.

- Career Government Service (the ones that Monica Goodling corrupted at DOJ). Theoretically, civil service laws and careerists determine who gets hired.

- Detailees. Government agencies can borrow other government agency employees with expertise for a short period of time. The borrowing agency does not have to reimburse the lending agency.

- Volunteers. Government agencies can use "volunteers" for a short period of time. The White House does this with their Presidential and Vice Presidential advance staff.

- Consultants. Government can hire consultants or contractors to provide jobs of special expertise that the Agency has no internal competencies.

Alas, TPM has picked out the blatant abuse of the system here. Someone wants Hans on the payroll again to muck with civil rights issues around the 2008 election. But Hans apparently doesn't want to work for free, so they've got to put him on the high end of the government dole. Very noble, Hans.

Anyway, this is a total abuse of the system. The Commission has open "Schedule C" slots. That is where those types of appointments go - for positions that are "confidential" or "policy/advisory." Yet they're trying to sell us on the fact that Hans is some sort of expert on something the Commission needs?

What's even more galling is that the White House is not even involved... It would be easy for them to do the Schedule C... Instead the Commission is ginning up this one.

So what is an appropriate, adequate response to this? I am considering writing to all congressmen about this and my other election fairness concerns as well as to some of the key organizations out there to ask what, if anything can 'we' do to help make our elections as fair as possible and preventing the hijacking of our presidential election this year?

I thought we'd heard all we would till the next election cycle about Hans Vote Suppressky when his nomination to the FEC was blocked.

Unfortunately, it appears I was being optimistic.

Sen Obama, who opposed ole Hans for the FEC said of him:

"From 2001 to 2005, von Spakovsky served as an official at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division where he amassed a record of undermining voting rights, creating restrictions that would make it harder for poor and minority communities to vote, and putting partisan politics above upholding our civil rights. "

Gee, I wonder if he will hold a grudge?

Attention anyone listening at the DNC or Obama campaign:

Try to run with this angle:

"The Republicans are the enemies of freedom. The Republicans are the enemies of voting rights. The Republicans want to make it HARDER for Americans to vote. The Republicans want to take away your freedoms." This is an emotional issue, and we all know by know voters vote based on emotions, not reason. By attacking Republicans as enemies of freedom (by their history and current practice of voter suppression and by putting up obstacles to voting), the Dems can appeal to ALL voters of all parties, because freedom is a bipartisan (actually, a non-partisan) concept that we all believe in (even as we give away our freedoms in the creation of a police state, but that's another story...).

Unfuckingbelievable.

I wrote this a couple of years ago, and the world yawned. They might as well have appointed David Duke -- no one is lifting a finger to stop them.

Please make sure you get everyone you know (especially younger voters) to register and vote!

WINGNUT WELFARE!

I truly feel that I couldn't possibly be more cynical than I am now. This appointment is just a small blip on the BS screen. The fact that McPow is leading in some polls, Obama voting for the FISA/Immunity outrage, and so many other blatant slaps at the American citizenry is really starting to overwhelm me. I'm no quitter, so I'll continue to support real (hopefully) progressives in the upcoming elections. News like this, though, reminds me of this:

"Game over, man; Game over!"