We live in a representative republic. The government is supposed to work for the people. Most of the time that is true, but occasionally, there are problems. When there is a problem, we have laws to protect the people who reveal it, and our government has an obligation to correct whatever problem has been uncovered.
Unfortunately, the system has not worked very well in the New Black Panthers voter intimidation case. If you haven't seen the video, you can search for it on YouTube.
This article is based on a Power Line article posted yesterday which included research by journalists at the Weekly Standard and at the National Review Online. The article deals with the testimony of Christopher Coates, the former head of the Department of Justice voting rights section. The question at hand is whether Christopher Coates had expressed his concern about the unequal enforcement of voting rights to Civil Rights head Thomas Perez. Mr. Coates said that his concerns about unequal enforcement were related to Perez at a briefing on May 13, 2010. However, Mr. Perez testified under oath that hostility toward race neutral enforcement of civil rights laws was news to him.
Power LIne reports:
"In addition, sources now tell The Weekly Standard that after 11 pm on September 23, the night before Coates was to testify before the Commission, the same individual, Jody Hunt, sent Coates a letter advising him again not to testify. Only 6 hours earlier Rep. Frank Wolf had sent [attorney general] Eric Holder a letter warning him that Coates was protected under federal whistleblower laws. Jen Rubin contacted the Justice Department for comment. Spokesman Tracy Schmaler's only reply: "The letter speaks for itself." She did not respond to a follow up question as to whether DOJ would take disciplinary action against Coates. Coates could not be reached for comment."
The mainstream media has carried only limited (if any) coverage of this story. That is a shame. If we are going to keep our elected (and appointed) officials honest, we need to have an honest and well balanced media. Right now we don't have that.
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