Comments for Inspector General Finds Ideology Fueled Justice Dept. Hirings »
Posted By ybdogsct 11 months ago in NewsIn a new report released by the Justice Department, Inspector General Glenn Fine says that Bradley Schlozman, former top Justice Department official under Alberto Gonzales, made false statements to Congress and violated federal law in overseeing the agency's civil rights division.
The report says Schlozman politicized and mistreated his staff and tried to punish agency employees he believed were too liberal. The report cited an e-mail in which he noted it had been a while since he'd had to "scream with a bloodcurdling cry at some commie." At other times, the report said, Schlozman urged the hiring of "real Americans," by which he apparently meant conservatives, as opposed to liberals, whom he referred to as "libs" and "pinkos."
The investigation, conducted with the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility, found that Schlozberg did not tell the truth to Congress when he told Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in a June 2007 hearing that he did not consider political affiliations in hiring.
The federal government makes a distinction between "career" and "political" appointees, and it is a violation of civil service laws and Justice Department policy to hire career employees on the basis of political affiliation or allegiance. Yet Monica Goodling, who served as Gonzales' counselor and White House liaison, routinely asked career job applicants about their politics, a previous report concluded.
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tehranchik11 months ago
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hyperbola11 months ago
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We made an enormous mistake after the Iran-Contra scandal in not trying and jailing all those involved (Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Abrams, ...). This allowed an enormous number of criminals to make a "comeback" in the Bush administration. If we do not try and jail all the criminals in the Bush administration, we will have them back in the future.
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Klarissa11 months ago
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Please tell us what criteria Obama will use when he fires the present Justice department lawyers and appoints new ones.
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Will he consider whom they voted for? or what party they registered for? or will they forget to investigate the source of Obama's campaign funds from outside the US?-
FrauBlucherComment removed: Retracted by user4 Replies
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dunkirk11 months ago
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ROFLMAO, yeah such a scandal. 8 years of legal decrees based on political ideology and NOW you complain about all those idealogues being replaced and decrees being made based on the law and COnstitution. It has to be dark days for you REPUBLICANS.
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BB6411 months ago
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Have any of you actually left your mommy's basements this decade or read something other than liberal crap? The Attorney General is selected by the President of the United States. He then selects his staff. These are very political appointments and generally follow the leanings of the President. You didn't find Clinton tapping Ken Starr. You won't find BO asking Rudy Giuliani to serve as the AG. Find something else to carp on.
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FrauBlucherComment removed: Retracted by user
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fsev4111 months ago
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Once again BB, you missed a very important part of the article. There is a difference between career and political appointees. If a political appointee, such as Monica Goodling, hires career employees on the basis of their political beliefs she has violated federal law. Whoever appointed Monica Goodling then also shares the responsibility because they did not properly supervise her.
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As far as the local federal attorneys that were fired for political reasons GW probably had a legal right to do so but ethically it was absolutely wrong. But then ethics seem to take a backseat in the Bush administration.
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soniyashrmaComment removed: Hard Banned5 Replies
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Spadecaller11 months ago
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"A bigot is a person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles or identities differing from his or her own, and bigotry is the corresponding attitude or mindset. Bigot is often used as a pejorative term to describe a person who is obstinately devoted to prejudices, especially when these views are either challenged, or proven to be false or not universally applicable or acceptable."
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To some degree or another we are all infected with it; however there are some that are consumed by it. Schlozman is obviously one that is obsessed and consumed with his bigotry for liberals. Most of us are familiar with this kind of bigotry as it is well represented on Propeller.-
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Jeboba11 months ago
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The thought patterns and behavior of people like Schlozman are identical to that of the Nazi party. The Bush administration and the Republican party is rife with people like this. They MUST be purged from any and all leadership positions. This is NOT what our great country is all about!
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crespi11 months ago
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Real good point Jeboba.
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In those e-mails, if you substitute the word "Jew" for "Liberal" and the other hate terms used to describe liberals, some read almost WORD FOR WORD like old German Nazi inter-office correspondence.
IT'S NUREMBERG time...
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Progressive11 months ago
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This is typical of the arrogance rampant throughout the Bush administration. That a top Justice Department official assumed he could get away with brow-beating career appointees, who in all likelihood were well aware that their employment was not subject to his egregious cronyism, is incomprehensible.
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AnteUp11 months ago
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I heard this story on Countdown and Rachel Maddow's show this evening,
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and there was even an acronym these morons used to signify their type
of person..............."RTA" - I think it stood for "right thinking American".
I mean I'd just be crushed if these sterling examples of our DOJ
hadn't deemed me a RTA!
Can't our new majority PLEASE charge - try - and put just SOME
of these bas**rds in jail?? PLEASE?
Great submission, ybdogsct - thank you!
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Republicrat1844Comment removed: Retracted by user
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CHAM11 months ago
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I hope its not an epitaph. We need to bring the criminals to justice - all of them. Only when they have been tried by a jury of 12 good men and women can I feel closure with the Bush Administration.
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Don't forget, you can punish the Party that supported and enabled Bush. You don't have the power to bring Bush and bunch before a Judge, but you can never again vote for a Republican candidate. Encourage the few good Republicans to leave the party. Get rid of it.
A failure to punish crimes is a free pass to criminals. Did you hear that Obama? -
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antibrainwasher11 months ago
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I'll say it again, the illegal Terry Shivo special session and the intrusive and blatant disregard for law was the end of the republican revolution started by Reagan and championed by the fascist bigot warmonger, Newt Gingrige, through his media minions, the Coward anal cyst sporting Drug Lamebaugh, dAnn Coulter, Faux Noise, Roger Ailes through his master Rupurt Murdock, and in general, the elite rich, through their complete control of all news and entertainment media of america.
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This justice scandle is just one more symptom of blatant disregard for any moral decency from the greedy morally vacant casino capatilist/ republican /evangelical /christian conservative/ neocon zionist/ warmongering military industrialist capatilist/ union busting/ anti-intellectual/ anti-science/ murdering bigots who are still completely in charge and own everything in this military industrial casino capatilist state. -
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Charlson11 months ago
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When the Justice Department is subverted and infused with politic idealogy, then no wonder crimes and misdemeaners were common place in the Bush administration. They loaded the DOJ with their idealogical cronies and knew there would be no blowback when committing their various crimes against America.
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The Justice Department should be made independent of the executive branch of government. Hell, Cheney did it, so there is a precedent. -
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ningyo11 months ago
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so now i guess we can expect that obama will leave everyone at justice and state in their jobs--if its so wrong to fire people on politics or idealogy..as he is permitted..then he should just leave all that staff where they are with normal replacement and attrition of course...sure he will
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Jeboba11 months ago
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Every President in history has pretty much wiped the slate clean at Justice. I may be wrong, but I believe Clinton left more of them in place than any other. Obama has the same right to strip out the Justice department that Bush used when he came in. But it sounds like you are in favor of a double standard?
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The attorneys at the Justice department are fully aware that their job is most likely temporary so no need to feel sorry for them. The same goes for a lot of other agencies. The rank and file staffers are normally left alone.
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hamy11 months ago
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I am not shocked that Alberto Gonzales and the Bush administration did this. What a horror his presidency has truly been. I can't wait to see him in our collective rear view mirror. I also can't wait to be there at every speaking engagement Bush is hired to do wearing a black hood and an orange jumpsuit with blood all over me. He should be reminded every day of the people who are dead because of his moronic decisions.
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