Arizona Immigration Law: A GOP Game to Swipe the November Election

By GottaLaff

In my previous post, I made the point that the recent outbursts of racism were all about voter intimidation.

Greg Palast agrees, but he says it way better than I did:

What moved GOP Governor Jan Brewer to sign the Soviet-style show-me-your-papers law is the exploding number of legal Hispanics, US citizens all, who are daring to vote -- and daring to vote Democratic by more than two-to-one. Unless this demographic locomotive is halted, Arizona Republicans know their party will soon be electoral toast. Or, if you like, tortillas.

This is not unlike the Republican attitude toward unions.

Hey Greg Palast, tell us something we do not know about Jan Brewer:

Brewer, then Secretary of State, had organized a racially loaded purge of the voter rolls that would have made Katherine Harris blush. Beginning after the 2004 election, under Brewer's command, no less than 100,000 voters, overwhelming Hispanics, were blocked from registering to vote. In 2005, the first year of the Great Brown-Out, one in three Phoenix residents found their registration applications rejected. [...]

Did she turn over even one name to the feds for prosecution?

No, not one.

After over 100 complaints, and a 2 year investigation, the prosecutor, David Iglesias, couldn't find one voter fraud case. Of course, Karl Rove saw to it that he was fired.

But what’s wrong with requiring folks to prove they’re American if the want to vote and live in America? The answer: because the vast majority of perfectly legal voters and residents who lack ID sufficient for Ms. Brewer and Mr. Pearce are citizens of color, citizens of poverty.

According to a study by prof. Matt Barreto, of Washington State University, minority citizens are half as likely as whites to have the government ID. The numbers are dreadfully worse when income is factored in.

Leave it to Palast.

Please go read his entire piece here.

Sheriff Arpaio Watch: Activist's Letter of Disgust to Eric Holder's DOJ Investigators

By GottaLaff

Additional footage from KPHO's fine job on this is available: http://www.kpho.com/news/21470567/det...

If you are a victim of Sheriff Arpaio's harassment or abuse or any of his deputies call the FBI at 602 279-5511.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona has been bringing prosecutions against political enemies, and now a judge. Why? Because he didn't like the way he ruled. No, I'm not kidding.

Sheriff Joe is bananas. And dangerous.

And now one activist is wondering why our own Justice Department has been so negligent:

Like a lot of anti-Arpaio activists in town, videographer Dennis Gilman has been helping the U.S. Department of Justice gather evidence of abuse of power and racial profiling by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. [...] But like many who've been patiently waiting for the feds to act, he's fed up with their dithering.

And so he wrote a letter. Here it is, in part. Please go read the whole thing, because I left out a lot:

Dear Department of Justice,

I cannot express how disappointed people I speak with are and how disillusioned I have become.

What once was hope that human rights would be a concern in this County has turned into a forgotten memory. [...]

How many more broken arms, women torn from their children, deaths in Arpaio's Jails will it take? Should we care? They are just poor people. They have no money or power. Many are used to the abuse. They will never cost you your careers. [...]

Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias states there is more than enough evidence. But what could he possibly know? [Laffy Note: See video]

What is it really going to take? How many more Judges need to be harassed? How many will dare question the Almighty Sheriff or any actions of his deputies for fear they will not be allowed to conduct normal court business? (Look it up. If you think I'm exaggerating I'll prove you wrong in a heartbeat). [...]

How many politicians do you think will speak up against the abuse when to do so surely means they will be investigated, indicted, harassed and have their lives turned into a living hell and their careers ruined at a minimum? How many more of us have to wind up in jail while you desert us here?

Who is in charge? The FBI, DOJ, Obama or Arpaio? [...]

I can tell you in no uncertain terms that many activists are abandoning any hope of conventional justice and turning to the Anarchist movement in alarming numbers in this area.I can no longer try to convince them they should work with you or the FBI.[...]

Arpaio's faithful followers have become more violent toward Day Laborers and those that speak out against Arpaio at the protests and on the streets. It's only a matter of time before blood will start spilling. [...]

Dennis Gilman

Truly unbelievable.

David Iglesias: "I can't believe this is happening in the United States."

H/t: Tiggrr1

Smear campaign success! Maddow/Iglesias VIDEO + Bank of America pulls ACORN funding

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: My pal Jason Leopold beat Rachel to the punch by 3 days, and had asked her producer to credit him in her on air report. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. His great post is here.

Let's be clear: ACORN itself reports attempts at voter fraud. None of those giving fake names on voter registration forms have voted. They have been turned in by ACORN. In addition, they get minimal funding, and the ratio of questionable employees to by-the-book employees is a yawner. Okay? Okay.

Troubled community organizing group ACORN suffered another setback on Monday, when Bank of America announced it is pulling its funding of ACORN Housing.

In a statement, Bank of America said that is it "suspending current commitments to ACORN Housing and will not enter into any further agreements with ACORN or any of its affiliates" until it is satisfied that all issues related to the organization have been resolved.

Don't believe me? How about a former, unfairly fired U.S. Attorney:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Feds Probe Domenici for Obstruction of Justice In Iglesias Firing

By GottaLaff

Get out the popcorn. It's grand jury time!

A federal grand jury probe of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys during the Bush administration is focusing on the role played by recently retired Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and former senior Bush White House aides in the 2006 dismissal of David Iglesias as U.S. attorney for New Mexico, according to legal sources familiar with the inquiry.

The federal grand jury is investigating whether Domenici and other political figures attempted to improperly press Iglesias to bring a criminal prosecution against New Mexico Democrats just prior to the 2006 congressional midterm elections, according to legal sources close to the investigation and private attorneys representing officials who prosecutors want to question. Investigators appear to be scrutinizing Iglesias' firing in the context of whether he was fired in retaliation because Domenici and others believed that he would not manipulate the timing of prosecutions to help Republicans.

Eventually BushCo will pay for the horrific abuses they've committed. Between this, the Karl Rove subpoena, and documents that continue to be uncovered, we're finally on our way back to real justice. This is only the beginning...

U.S. Atty. David Iglesias: Congress’ probe into U.S. attorney scandal will last into the next administration.

By GottaLaff

I'm surprised to hear him say this. With every fiber of my being, I hope he's on to something:

Now, 22 months after his dismissal, [former New Mexico U.S. Atty. David] Iglesias said in a phone interview that the IG report vindicates his repeated assertion that he was fired for improper and possibly illegal reasons.

He also had a surprisingly upbeat assessment of where the U.S. attorney investigation will go next.

So far, neither Justice Dept. nor congressional investigators has gotten cooperation from the White House, especially former top Bush advisers Karl Rove and Harriet Miers. But Iglesias said that could change with the Justice Dept. naming a special prosecutor, acting Connecticut U.S. Atty. Nora Dannehy, to probe criminal misconduct in the firings.

“The special prosecutor has the ability to get White House documents,” Iglesias said. “If she has authority similar to what Patrick Fitzgerald [the special prosecutor in the Valerie Plame investigation] had, she’ll have a lot of power.”

Not only did Rove and Miers not answer questions from the inspector general, but the White House did not turn over documents on the attorney dismissals. But Iglesias said that by specifically citing what documents were not turned over, the IG was “signaling to the special prosecutor what evidence was still out there and what was necessary.”

Iglesias is also confident that Congress’ probe into the scandal will last into the next administration. [...]

Iglesias said he has kept in frequent contact with other dismissed U.S. attorneys since the IG report. “There’s been a lot of email chatter back and forth… we’re pretty high-spirited” he said. “The report made crystal clear that there is a small class of reasons that you cannot use to let go of a U.S. attorney.”

If the assessments of Iglesias are accurate, Alberto Gonzales and other former Justice Dept. officials may eventually face criminal charges.

Iglesias is a very bright man and understands this mess far better than I do. If he really believes this, then I just became a lot more optimistic.

Iglesias: Ashcroft "pushed out" for not supporting warrantless wiretaps

By GottaLaff

I'm listening, as I always do, to Thom Hartmann, and out he comes with news that David Iglesias believes that former Attorney General John Ashcroft was pushed out because he refused to sign off on warrantless wiretaps. I dug around and found that Think Progress has the rest:

Now, former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias — who was fired by the administration for refusing to file bogus voter fraud charges — tells the Dallas Morning News that Ashcroft’s refusal to support the warrantless wiretapping program actually led to him being “pushed out” of the Bush administration:

IGLESIAS: The one really intriguing question I’ve had was from a book buyer a few months ago who asked whether I thought John Ashcroft had been pushed out or not after he refused to sign off on the warrantless wiretaps. That’s something that a journalist has never asked me. The honest answer is, yes, that had Ashcroft done the wrong thing, the unconstitutional thing, and signed off on it, he’d probably still be the AG. But Ashcroft served honorably. He did the right thing, and he paid the price. He was asked to move on.

Our government at work.

When Ashcroft resigned from the Bush administration in November 2004, he claimed that he was leaving because he believed the Justice Department would be “well served by new leadership and fresh inspiration.” He was succeeded by Alberto Gonzales, who potentially lied to Congress in order to defend the wiretapping program.

Dennis Kucinich, do your stuff.