Not long ago a very prominent conservative activist gave a talk to a private audience in which he explained one of the chief reasons conservatives wanted one of their own at the Justice department. The reason? To go after liberal and left-leaning political organizations with Justice’s muscle. (Sorry to be so cloak-n-dagger about the details – it’s a matter of shielding sources.)
Who’s in their cross-hairs? The usual suspects. Unions, the NAACP, NOW, etc. They see this as payback for the (largely fanciful) ‘persecution’ they believe they’ve been subjected to by the Reno Justice Department and the Clinton IRS. What was striking about this statement was less the intention expressed than the openness with which it was expressed.
(Ironically, liberals may end up being the victim of conservatives’ paranoia about the Reno Justice department. Got that? No? I’ll explain later.)
Anyway, here’s the first shot across the bow in the reliably lapdogian Washington Times. (The Times is where DC right-wingers go to try out new arguments before they take ’em to the bigs). The Times is reporting that “conservative critics” are saying the NAACP’s tax exempt status should be revoked because the organization is too tight with the Democratic party.
We’ll be hearing a lot more of this.
