DNC Calls for 'Immediate Firing' of DoJ Voting Chief in Wake of 'Outrageous Comments'...

[BradBlog]

Source: BRAD BLOG



DNC Calls for 'Immediate Firing' of DoJ Voting Chief in Wake of 'Outrageous Comments', 'Outright Attack on Voting Rights'
Says John 'Minorities Die First' Tanner's Recent Remarks 'Underscore the GOP's Utter Disregard for the Integrity of our Nation's Election System'
Statement Issued in Advance of Tomorrow's U.S. House Judicary Hearings Featuring Testimony from Embattled DoJ Voting Rights Chief...

In advance of tomorrow morning's House Judiciary Committee hearing to feature testimony by DoJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section chief, John "Minorities Die First" Tanner, DNC Chair Howard Dean and Donna Brazile of the DNC Voting Rights Institute have issued a statement calling for Tanner to be "immediately fired."

"In their latest scheme, the Republican Administration has manipulated the mission of the Department of Justice, firing US Attorneys who were unwilling to pursue phony 'voter fraud' cases, and politicized the Civil Rights Division," the statement (posted in full at the link below) reads.

The release goes on to decry the politicization of the Bush Department of Justice, and what is described their "outright assault" on the right to vote.

"Tanner's outrageous comments underscore the GOP's utter disregard for the integrity of our nation's election system and are an affront to the spirit of the Voting Rights Act," Dean and Brazile said, before declaring that the embattled Voting Rights section chief "should be fired immediately and replaced with someone who will work to make sure that all citizens are able to vote and have their vote counted."...

COMPLETE STORY, DNC PRESS RELEASE
VIDEO REMINDER OF TANNER'S COMMENTS:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5219

Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5219

[2 Much Tribulation]

1. Also bad, he was appealing to one group over another in terms of voting strength changes via law

changes, as if any manipulation that results in proportionate disfranchisement is ok, as long as it helps the right guy and hurts the wrong guy. Shows a propensity to want to manipulate voting rolls.

[Richard Steele]

11. Yes indeed. And, by the way:

Welcome to DU, 2 Much Tribulation! :hi:

[2 Much Tribulation]

32. Thank you for the welcome, and the agreement. it's welcome agreement! :) end

[lonestarnot]

25. Yes it does. And they've already demonstrated that they know how technologically.

[defendandprotect]

29. And, perhaps, they want to keep us from all noticing that our interests are the same no matter

who we are . . . !!!!

When one Democrat or African America or Latino or Jew is kept from voting, we are all harmed --

[2 Much Tribulation]

33. Could it be that one person/one vote sets out a simple and easy-to-understand JUST rule? nt

[barbtries]

2. what were the comments?

[babylonsister]

4. Check this out:

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/12/doj-voting-chief-poisoned-the-well-for-oh-04-probe/

[barbtries]

5. thank you

i couldn't believe, i guess, that "minorities die first" was an actual quote. how weak can that be. omigawd

[hisownpetard]

27. Babylon Sister - What would we do without you? Thanks for always providing us

with the information we need, when we need it. You're wonderful to do that!

[lonestarnot]

26. Here are the comments.

"Last week, Tanner told the National Latino Congreso that restrictive voter ID laws hurt elderly whites the most because minorities “die first” before becoming elderly."

[babylonsister]

3. Good. No mas! nt

[Chulanowa]

6. Some people...

Just need to be dragged into the street and punched in the face. Ten cents a swing, proceeds go towards providing bengay to the elderly boxers who hurt their knuckles on his head.

[roguevalley]

19. duzy of a remark LOL! very cool.

[ElboRuum]

41. Love the absurdism...

Your avatar is Gandhi.

That alone is worth a chuckle.

[elehhhhna]

7. Best. Retort. Ever. (from the linked page)

“Tanner bent over backwards to rule that black voters did not have a right to the same number of machines as white registered voters…” Yeah, i think the fraction he was looking for was about three-fifths.

Comment by nffcnnr — October 12, 2007 @ 1:41 pm

[Judi Lynn]

8. Thanks, also, for the alert on this hearing coming up tomorrow morning. n/t

[UrbScotty]

9. Of course, Obama beat them to the punch - by several days

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004507.php

[redqueen]

20. Hah... guess the DNC had no choice.

That might go a ways toward explaining the sudden appearance of a backbone.

[xxqqqzme]

44. that may be but the DNC statement

was released to have maximum impact w/ the scheduled hearings. It's in the timing - not necessarily who is first.

[ray of light]

10. terrific... (sarcasm tag)...The DNC finally decides to do it's job PROPERLY

after allowing 2000, 2002, and 2004 to be 'stolen' and over-suppressed, etc.

Sort of like using syrup of ipecac after the patient has already died.

[OnyxCollie]

15. Don't worry.

I'm sure they'll apologize for making outrageous demands.

[Redstone]

12. I watched the clip. I don't think he was being racist at all.

Flame away, if you will.

Redstone

[Name removed]

24. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.

[DFW]

13. Some day history will look back

And the Bush Lite presidency will be looked at as something
like an amalgam of the Harding administration and the McCarthy
era of the 1950s. Corruption went hand in hand with promoted
incompetence and outright institutionalized bigotry.

The thing that most amazes me is not the number of people
suddenly deciding to desert this sinking ship, but the number
that seem determined to either go down with it, or watch us
go down with it while they have secret plans for company
helicopters to pick them up from the deck before it slides under
the waves. They just sit there and tell us that white is black,
that day is night, and that false is true, and expect us to believe
it because some of their androids continue to do so.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Good grief

[mod mom]

16. They should have done this in 2005 over this letter:

Bush's Legacy on Voting Rights: A Story from Ohio
By Paul Kiel - October 12, 2007, 10:32AM
In June of 2005, John Tanner, the chief of the voting rights section, wrote Columbus, Ohio's election officials to publicly assure them that the Justice Department had found no evidence of intentional African-American voter disenfranchisement in the 2004 election.

Not only was that an unprecedented move, former Department lawyers say, but the letter is another, and particularly galling, example of Tanner using the force of the Department to further Republican aims -- in this case, to hamper future lawsuits or investigations concerning the problems in Columbus.

"It really looked like the Civil Rights Division was used to run interference for Republican election officials in Ohio," former voting rights section deputy chief Bob Kengle told me.

At issue was the experience of thousands of voters in Franklin County, Ohio, in the 2004 election. Voters in mostly African-American precincts were forced to wait hours in long lines to vote. An investigation by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) found that voters often waited as many as four to five hours, some as many as seven, deep into the night. The Washington Post reported that "bipartisan estimates say that 5,000 to 15,000 frustrated voters turned away without casting ballots." The culprit, of course, was a scarcity of voting machines in those districts, one that seemed to follow a suspicious trend: "27 of the 30 wards with the most machines per registered voter showed majorities for Bush" and "six of the seven wards with the fewest machines delivered large margins for Kerry."

-snip

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004438.php



An Open Letter to John Tanner, Chief, Voting Section, U.S. Department of Justice
July 2, 2005

An Open Letter to John Tanner, Chief, Voting Section, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Section in response to his June 29, 2005 letter to Nick A. Soulas, Jr., Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Civil Division, Franklin County:

Dear Mr. Tanner:

I was curious to find that you had “conducted an investigation into the November 2, 2004 general election in Franklin County, prompted by allegations that Franklin County systematically assigned fewer voting machines in polling places serving predominantly black communities as compared to its assignment of machines in predominantly white communities.”

Let me begin by suggesting the word “contrasted” would be more appropriate than “compared.” Indeed, the difference is literally black and white.

You praise the bipartisan nature of the Franklin County Board of Elections (BOE). But you fail to mention that the Director, Matt Damschroder, is the former Chair of the Franklin County Republican Party, and that J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio’s Secretary of State and the Co-Chair of the Bush-Cheney Re-election Committee appoints all board members as well as officers, and they serve at his pleasure. Blackwell’s actions throughout the election year were openly partisan and obviously unethical.

For example, I was at a meeting prior to the election where Mr. Damschroder informed a delegation of esteemed international election observers that he would have them arrested based on the orders of Blackwell if they crossed the 100-foot line outside the polls to observe closer to the voting site. Is that what you mean by “the spirit of cooperation?”

-snip
http://freepress.org/columns/display/3/2005/1158

[truckin]

35. Not that I mind seeing this ignoramus get his but it is kinda sad

in a way. Officials who oversee our elections can get away with voter supression, buying machines that give crooks the best chance to perperpetrate election fraud undetected,and other dirty tricks; but only when they make a truly ignorant statement does anyone pay attention.

[pinto]

17. Good call. And a clear statement.

:kick:

[Botany]

18. And he still has a Job why?

DoJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section chief, John "Minorities Die First" Tanner

class act

[dickbearton]

21. Botany, you have to ask why...

Are you that dense? Why, because of the Criminal Bush and the
Corrupt GOP! These guys taint everything; they come in contact
with. When will people realize, the Criminal Bush has
corrupted all of government. Until the GOP is done away with,
this will continue.

[Botany]

23. I kinda know that .... living in Columbus, OH and watching the 2004 election

Boiled down it all comes down to using the DoJ and the U.S. Attorneys as
"button men" for political hits and then the NSA to spy on everybody.

[mod mom]

37. No botany-you're a "conspiracy theorist" remember? The Chair of the Franklin

Co Democratic Party said so under oath at Bob Ney's House Administration Hearing held in Columbus.

Here is the link, BUT FUNNY THING....the testimony has disappeared. imagine that!

http://cha.house.gov/hearings/Testimony.as

[still_one]

22. and what will the Democrats do when the administration thumbs their nose at them? /nt

[LWolf]

28. Good. n/t

[peacetalksforall]

30. If he already has a history of making crude, indelicate statements,

he'll probably do it again tomorrow.

[Kurovski]

31. Kick. (nt)

[bjobotts]

34. Blacks vote in the evening 'cause they just too lazy to get outta bed in the am like whites

Whites vote during the days and blcks vote more at night was also one of Tanner's comments with nothing to base it on...no studies just his opinion. What a bigot.
He also handled the investigation into Ohio's voting screw ups himself, with no helpers and would not share any information...just him and he found everything A-ok. Another loyal Bushie with no regard for fair elections.

[Hugin]

36. I'll second that!

Throw the book at him.

[Pacifist Patriot]

38. Can't wait until he explains his comment to Conyers' face.

[whistle]

39. This deserves my comment

... :wtf:... :wtf:... :wtf:... :wtf:

[0007]

40. c-span3 has it on now and it is pretty good.

[emlev]

42. Brad is also live-blogging it

Link to live blog.

[0007]

46. Thanks for the Brad blog. I enjoy how they take snopes apart on

the Pentagon 911 thingie.

[BradBlog]

43. LIVE BLOGGING TANNER HEARINGS HERE...

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5222

[happygoluckytoyou]

45. JOHN TANNER HERE---- PLEASE LET ME EXPLAIN

1) i am a republican, we get an automatic do-over whenever we say something
2) you didn't let my cleanup team in to reword my meaning before you published it
3) i believe in one man, one vote.... it's the other man that i don't want to vote
4) i believe that all men are cremated equal
5) good neighbors come in all colors: cream, white, off-white, eggshell white, beigh, tan, peaches and cream, pink, rosy, and white
6) i'm not prejudiced-- all minorities suck

----
OF COURSE... MY OPPONENTS WOULD SAY----


NOTE------- BECAUSE OF THE LARGE VOTER TURNOUT EXPECTED IN 2008... DEMOCRATS WILL BE VOTING ON NOVEMBER 4, REPUBLICANS ARE ASKED TO WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER 5

HOW ABOUT EDWARDS? THE GUY NONE OF THE GOP COULD BEAT..... HOW ABOUT GORE/EDWARDS?..... HOW ABOUT ANOTHER 4 YEARS OF BUSH?
SOMEHOW I WANT THE ONLY BUSH IN THE WHITEHOUSE TO BE FRED THOMPSONS WIFE

REMEMBER VOTE DEMOCRATIC AND VOTE OFTEN (JOHN SUGGESTS THAT BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE GET THEIR VOTER REGISTRATION AND IDENTIFICATIONS READY EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH)