Eric,

Are you going to keep showing videos of Democratic Members of the House at town hall meetings without mentioning that Rep. Elton Gallegly doesn't have these types of meetings?

I feel confident that almost any politician that was constantly being recorded would say things that would generate negative coverage. But that isn't enough of a reason to avoid meeting with the public in town hall meetings and taking their questions.

It's more than just general negative coverage--it shows either disdain for voters or negligence in their jobs. It's not like these were slips of the tongue--did you watch the Stark one?

i don't feel like Gallegly needs to hear my voice--he's performing quite well as far as I'm concerned. If he was out of control, I'd feel differently.

Eric:

Interestingly, DOJ e-mail updates are not on the good Congressman's "must-read" list of publications.

He can add those updates now, and very easily, by conveniently going to the following URL: [https://service.govdelivery.com/service/multi_subscribe.html?code=USDOJ&custom_id=997].

If Congressman Sherman had been on the DOJ mailing list, he could have followed developments regarding the original DOJ complaint, which was filed in 2008, by J.Christian Adams, Robert Popper, Christopher Coates, and Grace Becker, all attorneys in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, on behalf of then Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

A PDF copy of the Complaint, entitled, “..The United States of America, vs. the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, an unincorporated association, MALIK ZULU SHABAZZ, MINISTER KING SAMIR SHABAZZ, aka MAURICE HEATH and JERRY JACKSON, Complaint No. 09-0065, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,” can be found at the URL listed above.

The Complaint is fascinating reading. A few of the more interesting facts contained in the complaint are:

1. The AG sought injunctive and declaratory relief against Shabazz, and the New Black Panther Party, et al, pursuant to Section 11 (b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended 42 USC 1973, 1973i (b) (2000).

2. Defendants’ Malik Shabazz, Samir Shabazz (aka Maurice Heath), and Jerry Jackson, were residents of (Washington D.C., for Malik) and (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Heath and Jackson). All were senior officials and leaders in the so-called, “New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.”

3. All three engaged in coercion, threats, intimidation, and attempted coercion, threats, and intimidation of voters, and those aiding voters, in violation of Section 11 (b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42, USC 1973i (b).

4. On November 4, 2008, the day of the Presidential Election, all three Defendants were deployed at the entrance of a Polling Station located at 1221 Fairmont Street in Philadelphia, in military uniforms, combat boots, and one (Samir Shabazz) brandishing a deadly weapon (hand-held baton with contoured grip and wrist band). Shabazz repeatedly pointed the weapon at individuals, menacingly tapping its other hand, or menacingly tapped it elsewhere.

5. Defendants stood side-by-side, approximately 8 to 15 feet outside of the polling place all day long. And throughout their deployment, they made statements containing racial threats, and made menacing and intimidating gestures, statements and movements, directed at voters, both black and white voters, and persons present to aid voters.

6. Defendants avowedly endorse and support racially-motivated violence. Defendant Samir Shabazz has made statements attributed to him in various newspapers supporting violence against non-blacks and Jews. Defendant New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense is a black supremacist organization, which uses military style uniforms, has auxiliary groups such as Panther Youth, and is explicitly hostile toward non-black and Jewish individuals in both rhetoric and practice. And has an active presence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

With damming facts like these contained in the original DOJ complaint filed in 2008, and the subsequent decision by the Obama Administration’s DOJ to narrow the case last year, by dropping the government’s case against the New Black Panther Party, and two of the defendants (i.e. Malik Shabazz and Jerry Jackson) and only focusing on the baton-holder (Samir Shabazz), the results of the upcoming internal probe by the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the United States Civil Rights Commission will be fascinating.

I urge Congressman Sherman, the members of Ventura County’s Congressional Delegation Congressman Gallegly and Congresswoman Capps, all the other members of Congress with oversight authority over the DOJ, and most importantly, the American people, to keep their eyes and ears open as developments proceed ahead during DOJ’s internal investigations and the probe by the Commission on Civil Rights.

In particular, on how well Eric Holder, President Obama's hand-picked Attorney General, lives up to DOJ's mission statement, which is to: “To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.”

NostraDemus

NostraDemus, thank you for presenting those facts from the case. Clearly, these guys should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. What disgusting behavior.

There goes Brian again, ranting about Gallegly not holding town hall meetings. Methinks Brian needs to get a hobby or a girlfriend. This is starting to get a little weird.

Mike,

I am happily married. Why all of the personal attacks instead of staying focused on issues?

Nostrademus,

It was the Bush Adminstration that first downgraded the case.