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DOJ Kept Tanner Working On Voting Rights -- Even After Racist Comments
Yesterday we picked out a shocking excerpt from the DOJ report on politicized hiring, in which then-Voting Rights chief John Tanner told Brad Schlozman over email in 2004 that he liked his coffee "Mary Frances Berry style -- black and bitter." Berry, an African-American, was at the time the chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights, which works, among other things, to protect Americans' right to vote.
As we noted, this wasn't the first known case of Tanner making racially insensitive remarks. He left the voting-rights section soon after sparking a furor by saying that voter ID laws discriminate against the elderly, and therefore not against African-Americans, because African-Americans die younger.
But it turns out that Tanner didn't stop working on voting issues for DOJ -- he just found a new perch from which to do it. After a short stint with the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, he showed up again last April working on election-related issues for the Alabama Law Institute, and still being paid by the Justice Department under a federal program, the Associated Press reported at the time. (Thanks to reader Ally for the catch.)
What exactly has Tanner been working on? Says AP:
At the institute, his work will include writing about getting Justice Department approval of city annexations and new boundaries for political districts, such as legislative districts.
In other words, DOJ's response to the outrage provoked by Tanner's racist comments was to ... send him to Alabama to help with the racially charged work of redrawing political districts. Great idea!
Is the department still paying Tanner's salary today? DOJ's press office didn't immediately get back to us on that, claiming it didn't have access to the information right away.
But it looks like the answer is yes. According to that AP story from April:
[Tanner] is participating in the federal government's program to loan personnel to other government agencies. The Justice Department is paying Tanner's salary and benefits to be in Alabama through next spring.
We reached Tanner at the Law Institute. When we said we were from TPM, he told us he'd call us back, but hasn't yet.
Josh
Zachary
Bush: ‘I Take My Justice Dept. Appointees Like Joe the Plumber - White and Bitter’
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=5589
January 14, 2009 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for reporting this. Totally disgusting.
January 14, 2009 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
"There's Something About Mary," at Salon, gives some essential background to Tanner's unfortunate jest. Excerpt:
"Off the record, people who know her [Mary Frances Berry] well describe her as a vitriolic brawler who doesn't know when to stop fighting, and who turns on anyone who disagrees with her -- even African-Americans with civil rights records equal to or more impressive than her own. More than one African-American politician and journalist have suffered a tongue lashing from Berry and been called an "Uncle Tom" just because they didn't share her agenda."
Check out the full story at: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/10/12/berry/
January 14, 2009 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Reminds me of this statement by Schlozman (page 24/70 of IG Report:
As part of the same e-mail exchange, on July 16, 2003, Schlozman wrote, “My tentative plans are to gerrymander all of those crazy libs rights out of the section.”
January 14, 2009 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't see the necessity of speculating about all this. Bush and Cheney have both said they're going to write books after leaving office. I'm sure between the two tomes all the facts will be laid bare. Like Joe the Plumber says, there are too many journalists reporting on these issues. They shouldn't even be allowed in Washington D.C. Whatever happened to the good old days when you went to a movie theater and watched newsreels about politicians doing their jobs? If it was good enough for our grandparents it should be good enough for us. I swear this country has been on one long, downhill slide since that damned Ed Murrow fella burst on the scene. That and satellites. Never shoulda sent them boys up in space. Things ain't been right since.........
January 14, 2009 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
You have to credit the Schloz (or as I like to think of him, Alvin Chipmunk) and Tanner for the great entertainment they provided in their televised hearings.
Sure they're a couple of racist thugs, and sure the Schloz lied through his teeth to Leahy, but hey...can't we all just get along?
Let Brad go, breaking a couple of laws is no big deal unless you're guilty of being black while walking and the cops find some weed...
January 14, 2009 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have met a lot of people like Schlozman, who become big talkers - because their party is in power - and they want to "stick it to the other guys."
Tanner is worse - scary that he did not realize how horribly offensive his comments are, and that he really believes VoterID laws are OK - "because Minorities die sooner." So that makes it all ok??
Great TPMTV - especially to see Rep. Ellison question Tanner.
January 14, 2009 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok - apparently Schlozman IS just as bad as Tanner.
"According to Cutlar, Schlozman said that Attorney A was "a Democrat in hiding and is not going to hide in my Appellate Section." Cutlar also told us that Schlozman said that Attorney A "wrote in Ebonics," "was an idiot," and "was an affirmative action thing." ... Attorney A graduated magna cum laude from a top law school..."
Horrible people.
January 14, 2009 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I swear to God, people, please don't judge all of us DOJ trial attorneys by the activities of a few select political appointees. Please please please.
January 14, 2009 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
this is incredibly disturbing
January 14, 2009 6:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
LIke Ronald Reagan, GW made it a practice to appoint agency heads who were hostile to the mission of agencies they led. GW, or more accurately his cronies, took it a step further by trying to pack the agencies with career employees (who are supposed to be judged solely upon their qualifications) who shared their right wing philosophy. Tons of highly qualified applicants were not hired because they were deemed too liberal, while tons of unqualified applicants were taken on solely on account of their views. The government lost out on a lot of really good people. The damage will be felt for years.
January 14, 2009 8:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've seen Berry and she looks like she's in pretty good shape for an older women; she's very lean and mean. Berry should just whip Tanners' fat ass.
January 15, 2009 9:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
The headline for this article is wrong. It's not "even" after racist comments, it's because of racist comments. The whole point of putting a bunch of anti-american subversives at DoJ was to undermine the rule of law, so anyone as clearly qualified to do so as Tanner would obviously be kept on somehow.
January 15, 2009 9:38 AM | Reply | Permalink