Fox News has hyped phony New Black Panthers scandal at least 95 times
Six Fox News shows have discussed the phony New Black Panthers scandal during a total of 95 segments since Megyn Kelly's June 30 interview hyping the unsubstantiated allegations of right-wing activist J. Christian Adams. In all, these Fox shows have devoted more than eight hours of airtime to discussing the New Black Panthers.
Adams' accusations don't stand up to the facts
* Adams is a longtime right-wing activist who is known for filing an ethics complaint against Hugh Rodham that was subsequently dismissed. Adams served as a poll watcher for George W. Bush in Florida in 2004, and he reportedly volunteered for a Republican group that trains lawyers to fight "racially tinged battles over voting rights."
* Adams was hired at the Justice Department in 2005 by Bradley Schlozman, who was found by the Justice Department's inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility to have improperly considered political affiliation when hiring career attorneys -- the former head of the DOJ voting rights section reportedly said that Adams was "exhibit A of the type of people hired by Schlozman."
* Adams has admitted that he does not have firsthand knowledge of the events, conversations, and decisions that he is citing to advance his accusations.
* The Bush administration's Justice Department -- not the Obama administration -- made the decision not to pursue criminal charges against members of the New Black Panther Party for alleged voter intimidation at a polling center in Philadelphia in 2008.
* The Obama administration successfully obtained default judgment against King Samir Shabazz, a member of the New Black Panther Party who was carrying a nightstick outside the Philadelphia polling center.
* The Bush administration DOJ chose not to pursue similar charges against members of the Minutemen, one of whom allegedly carried a weapon while harassing Hispanic voters in Arizona in 2006.
* No voters have come forward to claim that they were intimidated and did not vote because of the New Black Panthers' presence outside the polling center.
* The Republican vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which is currently investigating the Justice Department's decision, has said that the case is "very small potatoes" and that it has been surrounded by "overheated rhetoric filled with insinuations and unsubstantiated charges." She has further stated that the investigation has not "served the interests of the Commission" and that the DOJ has given a "plausible argument" for not pursuing additional charges in the case.
Fox News has discussed phony scandal during at least 95 segments
Fox and the right-wing conservative Obama haters are trying to turn the non-scandal about voter intimadation into the new Willie Horton.
The Republican strategy to put the country in reverse back to the George Dubya Bush years is still murky, but one or two things have become clear they do not care about preventing another financial crisis or looking out for the average American - Sympathy for the Banker.
House Minority Leader John Boehner did a nice job today of reminding us that his party has an inviolate commitment to enriching the privileged:
They're not campaigning on it in earnest -- at least not yet -- but Republican leaders say that, given the power, they would like to do away with Wall Street reform much like they have already discussed repealing health care reform.
"I think it ought to be repealed," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, in response to a question from TPMDC, at his weekly press conference this morning.
One of his top lieutenants, Republican Conference Chair Mike Pence agrees. "We hope [the Senate vote] falters so we can start over," Pence told TPMDC yesterday. "I think the reason you're not hearing talk about efforts to repeal the permanent bailout authority is because the bill hasn't passed yet."
This isn't too remarkable -- this is the same guy who compared stronger financial accountability standards to using a nuclear weapon to kill an "ant" and who issued a call for a one-year moratorium on all new federal regulation. Simply put, Boehner and his colleagues don't believe the federal government should have the ability to regulate the bankers, hedge-fund managers, and Wall Street lobbyists who nearly destroyed the economy. Indeed, even with long-term unemployment hitting unprecedented highs, Boehner and co. reserve their sympathy for nation's most privileged people.
