Bradley Schlozman, the head of the civil rights division of the Justice Department under Bush, didn't want to hire "affirmative action" attorneys who spoke in "ebonics" or were in the words of voting section chief John Tanner, "black and bitter," like "Mary Francis Berry," former chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He didn't want to hire "lefties" or "big libs" who he saw as "adherents to Mao's little red book." He wanted to hire "ideological comrades" and "real Americans" who, according to the report, wouldn't be "opposed to his agenda." He didn't want to hire effective lawyers devoted to protecting civil rights, he wanted to hire wingnuts.
All of these details, which resemble a user diary at Redstate rather than the words of legal professionals, are contained in the report released by the Inspector General hired to investigate whether or not the Justice Department violated civil service laws under Schlozman, and whether he made false statements to Congress when he denied that there were political considerations made in hiring processes or the transferring and assigning of cases.. The report is conclusive that Schlozman did consider political affiliations in such matters, but that he will not be charged with anything because, in the words of DoJ spokesperson Patricia A. Riley, their focus was on "prosecutable false statements." How they could have concluded that Schlozman violated the law but also that he shouldn't be prosecuted is beyond me.
By 2007, the noxious, anti-civil rights atmosphere at the civil rights division had driven out almost all of the black attorneys employed there. There were two black lawyers left in the civil rights division and none had been hired to replace those that had left. Can you blame? Any black lawyer in the voting rights section of the civil rights division wouldn't just have to deal with the racist commentary of Schlozman and his ilk, they would be charged with pursuing Schlozman's agenda, the suppression of minority voters most likely to vote Democratic, which often means black folks.
This is the division of the Justice Department charged with guarding the franchise. These men and women have a most important responsibility, to ensure that equal access and opportunity are preserved for Americans of all kinds, particularly the right to vote. Under Schlozman, the civil rights division of the DoJ refused its mandate and instead set about restricting those rights in ways Scholzman felt would help the Republican party. Schlozman felt that our most inalienable rights as Americans were subject to partisan sanction, which is to say he didn't feel they were inalienable at all.
I recognize that Palinism is somewhat unfairly named, because it's obvious that she is merely the most visible symbol of a political philosophy, begun under Bush, that puts ideological litmus tests above all other factors, such as professionalism, integrity, and even competence. The voting rights section of the civil rights division at the Justice Department is a casualty of Palinism, and despite whatever hatred of Bush prevails on the right it at the moment, it is this, the underlying philosophy of his presidency, that defines them now.
-- A. Serwer