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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAhh, it is the Rumsfeld Proof: the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence
Well you have to look at the proof thats in the prosecution. Under the Bush administration, pornographers were prosecuted much more rigorously under existing law than they are under the Obama administration. So you draw your conclusion, Santorum said.
My conclusion is they have not put a priority on prosecuting these cases, and in doing so, they are exposing children to a tremendous amount of harm. And that to me says theyre putting the unenforcement [sic] of this law and putting children at risk as a result of that.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_03/rick_santorums_hobby_horse036127.php
http://www.mockpaperscissors.com
grantcart
(53,061 posts)Politico explains that Bush engaged in a few prosecutions in conservative areas to make it look like they were doing something, when they weren't.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25622.html
Prosecutions against Girls Gone Wild, for example, had to with not maintaining age records and trade violations (shipping unordered material) rather obscenity charges.
GGW is still in business making lots of money despite Bush's prosecution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls_Gone_Wild_(franchise)
Lint Head
(15,064 posts)JHB
(37,161 posts)For instance, by May 2001 his AG John Ashcroft had set strategic goals for the FBI:
1. Reduce "gun violence" and enforce drug laws
2. Support community-based policing programs
3. Enforce civil rights laws--but don't go overboard
4. Administer immigration laws effectively
5. Manage an expanding Federal prison inmate population
6. Speed cases through the judicial system
7. "Ensure excellence, intregrity and accountability" in the Justice Department
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/03/b39039.html , specifically:
http://www.americanprogress.org/kf/ashcroftmemo.pdf and
http://www.americanprogress.org/kf/strategicplan.pdf
Anybody notice the absence of anything resembling counterterrorism there?
Compare that with similar memos under Clinton, where it was made a "Tier 1 priority" about "Foreign intelligence, terrorist, and criminal activities that directly threaten the national or economic security...To succeed we must develop and implement a proactive, nationally directed program." It was the very first item on the list:
http://www.americanprogress.org/kf/fbi98.pdf and
http://www.americanprogress.org/kf/renomemo.pdf
So, of course, Bush's DOJ took FBI agents away from silly Clinton obsessions like that bin Laden guy, and sent them to do important things, like raiding a New Orleans bordello:
http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/2002_3552399/brothel-inquiry-a-hot-potato-some-suspect-prominen.html
or arresting infamous bong-merchant Tommy Chong.