Unfortunately, President Obama Still Has Enough Time To Do Some Damage

On Thursday, The Washington Times reported that President Obama has appointed Debo Adegbile, a former attorney to Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of killing a policeman, to a six-year post on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

The article reminds us:

Mr. Adegbile worked at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund when he represented Abu-Jamal in the appeal of his conviction and death sentence for the notorious 1981 shooting death of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal’s sentence was reduced to life in prison.

The case prompted the Senate to reject Mr. Adegbile’s nomination in 2014 when Mr. Obama appointed him to lead the Justice Department’s office on civil rights. Some Democrats joined Republicans in voting down the selection at that time.

Liberals praised the latest nomination. The Center for American Progress cited Mr. Adegbile’s “work on employment, housing discrimination, criminal justice and voting rights.”

This is another example of how far left the Democratic party has moved. In 2014, it was unacceptable to confirm Mr. Adegbile’s nomination as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division. Now the appointment of Mr. Adegbile is being praised (note that he is being appointed to a position that does not require confirmation).

When What Goes Around Comes Around

Last year the Senate Democrats voted to change their rules (when Republicans discussed this, it was called the nuclear option) and allow the President’s nominees to be confirmed with a simple majority vote rather than the 60-vote threshold previously required to end the debate and actually vote. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but didn’t quite work out as planned.

Today’s Washington Examiner posted a story about the possible unintended consequences of exercising the nuclear option.

The article reports:

But Democrats overlooked a fatal flaw in the strategy: In a tough election year when Obama’s approval ratings are low, Democrats in tough races could defect on key nominees.

In March, that has already happened with two of the president’s choices for influential administration posts.

Earlier this month, several Senate Democrats joined Republicans in voting down Debo Adegbile, Obama’s choice to head the Justice Department‘s Civil Rights Division.

Conservatives aggressively opposed Adegbile’s nomination because of his legal work in defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer.

Eight Democrats ended up voting against confirmation — with Reid initially voting in favor and then switching his vote to no, to allow him to bring up the nomination again.

This did not go as planned. The next nominee to run into a problem was Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, a Harvard and Yale-educated former emergency room doctor, nominated for surgeon general. Conservative Democrats opposed the nomination because of Dr. Murthy’s stand on gun control (which he considers a health issue).

So it now makes no sense to blame the Republicans for blocking nominees (although the Democrats will probably continue to do that regardless of the facts). The fact that the Democrat Congressional support of President Obama is no longer reliable is due to two factors–President Obama’s approval ratings are in the 30’s and this is an election year. As more Americans wake up to the disaster that is President Obama’s Presidency, more Democrats will begin to distance themselves from the President and make decisions based on their own future well being. Get out the popcorn, it is going to be an interesting year.

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Things That Happen In An Election Year

Yesterday’s Washington Post reported that seven Senate Democrats voted with the Republicans to block the nomination of Debo P. Adegbile as chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Adegbile voluntarily took up the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, after Black Panther member Abu-Jamal was convicted of the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

The article reminds us that these votes were not about principle, they are about politics:

A senior aide to one of the senators who voted against the nominee said several senators’ offices were “very angry” at the White House for moving ahead with the nomination even though it could leave Democrats who are facing tough reelection races vulnerable to attack ads.

…Reid had spoken in defense of Adegbile and initially voted in favor but later switched his vote to no, making him the eighth Democrat to vote against the nominee. But Reid did so only to reserve his right as Senate leader to bring up the nomination again. Later Wednesday, aides couldn’t say whether that will happen.

Under President Obama, the Justice Department has become very politicized. Had the nomination of Debo P. Adegbile been allowed to proceed, the Justice Department would have become even more political. In the beginning of the Obama Administration, the direction of the Justice Department became clear when the New Black Panthers were not prosecuted for voter intimidation. In the past, the Justice Department has not been a political arm of the President’s political party. Hopefully, when we are free of the Obama Administration in 2016, the Justice Department will go back to being an impartial judge of the laws of America. We can probably expect the nomination of Debo P. Adegbile to appear again after the 2014 mid-term elections.

 

 

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An Unjust Administration Creating An Unjust Justice Department

Today Townhall.com  is reporting:

Last month Maureen Faulker, the widow of murdered Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, requested a chance to give testimony against President Obama’s nominee to head the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Her husband was killed in 1981 by former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of murder in 1982. Thirty years after the conviction, nominee Debo Adegbile voluntarily took up Abu-Jamal’s case and the cause in the name of race during his time as the head of NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley asked for Faulkner’s request to present testimony be granted, but Democrats have blocked her from doing so. The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote today on Adegbile’s nomination.

In January of this year, I posted a copy of the letter from the Fraternal Order of Police (rightwinggranny.com) regarding the appointment of Debo Adegbile. That letter explains why Mr. Adegbile is simply the wrong man for the job.

Mrs. Faulkner has written a letter to the Senate regarding the nomination. Her letter is posted at the Townhall.com link above. Please read the letter. If the Senate approves this nomination, it will be a slap in the face to all of the policemen in America. This appointment is a disgrace.

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Sending An Awful Message To Policemen Everywhere

Judicial Watch posted an article today about President Obama’s nomination of Debo Adegbile to be Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

Paul Mirengoff at Power Line reminds us:

Adegbile is best known for heading up the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s race-based assault on the integrity of a dead Philadelphia police office in a quest to get his murderer, Mumia Abu-Jamal, off of death row.

Judicial Watch posted the letter written to President Obama by the Fraternal Order of Police regarding the nomination:

FOPLetterThis nomination is an insult to every policeman who has ever served. Hopefully it will not stand.

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