Justice's voting chief steps down amid controversyThe Bush Administration has turned every department of the government into a GOP power-hoarding tool. We’ve seen how they care about minority voting rights in Florida, Ohio and New Mexico. So this Tanner news comes as no surprise.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's voting rights chief stepped down Friday amid allegations that he'd used the position to aid a Republican strategy to suppress African-American votes.
John Tanner became the latest of about a dozen senior department officials, including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who've resigned in recent months in a scandal over the politicization of the Justice Department in the Bush administration.
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Tanner has been enmeshed for months in congressional investigations over his stewardship of the unit that was established to protect minority-voting rights. He drew increased focus this fall after he told a Latino group: "African-Americans don't become elderly the way white people do. They die."
In fact, news of problems at Justice’s Civil Rights division have percolated on liberal blogs for months; in November USA Today finally took notice with this piece about how Justice prosecuted the fewest number of hate crimes in 10 years. That news sparked a massive protest in November.
But back to Mr. Tanner. He’s apparently left his gig to
”...pursue (an) opportunity" to work in the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices.
Oh, great. I can’t foresee any problems with that, nosirree.
