If you want to see a double standard at work, just take a look at Republican Attorney General Mike Cox.
He announced yesterday in media all across the state that he is charging Antonio Johnson, a former employee of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), with six felony forgery charges for allegedly submitting false voter registration forms to the city of Jackson. Cox claims that Johnson, 23 of Hamtramck, filled out, signed and submitted to the Jackson city clerk six voter applications using two Jackson residents' names without their permission between May 20 and June 2. If convicted, Johnson faces up to 14 years in prison for each of the six counts.
The question is why hasn't Cox brought charges against Leon Drolet - the former Republican state Representative, current Macomb County Commissioner and executive director of the so-called Michigan Taxpayers Alliance (MTA) - for his illegal activities in the misguided recall attempts against primarily Democratic lawmakers who voted to increase taxes to avoid a government shutdown and eliminate a $1.8 million budget deficit in October.
Drolet used - or at least those he was responsible for used - fraud and forgery – going so far as to copy names from phone books – to launch a successful recall against Speaker of the House Andy Dillon. The Department of State turned all evidence of forgery and fraud over to Cox and the Wayne County prosecutor’s office, yet we have not heard a thing from him.
This is part of the Grand Oil Party's war on ACORN, and this is happening for two reasons. They hate ACORN for daring to help make it easier for people to exercise their Constitutional right to vote, and the party that has made voter suppression an art form is setting up ACORN as a scapegoat for when they lose the White House next month by claiming the election was stolen.
As I have said before, ACORN hires people to collect voter registrations and pays them for each one. The crime of the people collecting registrations is padding their pay check, and they should be fired or charged with a misdemeanor, not imprisoned. The unofficial blog of the GOP is even going as far as claming Johnson is a convicted felon on parole. I'm not a 100 percent sure that is correct because there are a few Antonio Johnson's out there, but the one pictured from the MDOC offender tracker web site did some three years for addiction. It seems the idiot who runs that blog wants offenders thrown into prison forever with no chance of rehabilitation or a job when they get out.
That seems surprising when you consider how the GOP makes heroes of convicted felons, like Oliver North, convicted terrorist G. Gordon Liddy and Rush Limbaugh.
The GOP is even trying to tie Sen. Barack Obama to ACORN as they vilify the organization. This is an organization that has worked to improve the lives of low- and moderate-income people since 1970, and it's being unjustly smeared in the name of politics. It’s funny that Grampy McSame was the keynote speaker at an ACORN-sponsored Immigration Rally in Miami in 2006 where he praised ACORN, and now he is smearing them. Is there anything he will not do to get elected?
What we have seen against ACORN is the unprecedented politicization of the U.S. Justice Department and the attorney firings, and now the Michigan AG's office is being turned into a partisan attack mechanism.
12 comments:
"The question is why hasn't Cox brought charges against Leon Drolet ...executive director of the so-called Michigan Taxpayers Alliance (MTA) - for his illegal activities in the misguided recall attempts against primarily Democratic lawmakers who voted to increase taxes to avoid a government shutdown and eliminate a $1.8 million budget deficit in October.
Drolet used - or at least those he was responsible for used - fraud and forgery – going so far as to copy names from phone books – to launch a successful recall against Speaker of the House Andy Dillon."
CommGuru,
First, I am NOT the executive director of the "so-called Michigan Taxpayers Alliance" any more than Granholm is the "so-called Governor" or Antonio Jackson worked for "so-called Acorn". Why is the left so obsessed with calling everything they disagree with, "so-called"?
Second, what is with the silly phone-book story? We heard Mark Brewer allege it way back in May, but so far no evidence has ever been brought forward to back it up. Its just a story that a partisan hack said happened. Nothing resembling evidence. So the phone book story is just that. If it actually happened, I hope for swift prosecution of any forgers. They would have stolen from me!
Anyway, I DO know that there is evidence of fraud and forgery in the Dillon recall petition drive. I have turned over such evidence to the MI State Police. In fact, Dillon and Brewer's paid blockers perpetrated it.
Limbaugh has not been convicted of anything. You hurt our cause when you misstate the facts. Limbaugh offered to random drug tests for 18 months and to pay $30,000 to defray the costs so that he could put an end to the situation as well as to end his expenses for his attorney's. This has been stated by Limbaugh and by the prosecutor. Please tell the truth or you'll only give reason to the wingnuts and make them credible.
I stand by the statement that you are the director of the so-called Michigan Taxpayers Alliance; unless you have finally got a job in the private sector and resigned. Why is it so-called? Because I'm a taxpayer, and that fringe group does not speak for me and thousands of other taxpayers.
If you didn't use the phone book to forge names, what did you use? It's ironic that an investigation against Joe Sixpack gets fast tracked by Cox, but someone in authority responsible for directing forgery is still under investigation.
As for your baseless allegation of fraud on the Speaker's part; you know as well as I do that if there was anything to it there would already have been charges issued, a report issued or at least a press release with someone as partisan as Cox in the AG's office.
When you take a plea deal that's an admission of guilt is it not?
It wasn't a plea deal.
It certainly is. The charge of doctor shopping was to be dismissed in 18 months if Limbaugh continued to seek treatment from the doctor he has seen for the past two and one half years, antes up $30,000 and submits to random drug testing. It certainly meets the definition of a plea deal. If that was a regular person, they would be in jail just like Limdick has advocated for.
Not true...if you can pay folks off, it's merely a business deal.
Get with the program CG...:)
When you're right, you're right, KA. Justice is for the rich; the rest of us get the shaft.
You've got it wrong. You should look it up and read it. I just think it's wrong to mischaracterize things to make ourselves look better. We have the truth on our side, so we don't need to stretch the facts.
I don’t know how you can call it anything but a plea deal. You make a deal with the prosecutor. To me, that’s the very definition of a plea deal.
You didn't look it up. It doesn't matter anymore. I've made my decision on my vote for this year. Obama made it for me the past day or two. When he said that he wanted to take money from one group to spread around to another group that sealed it for me. Obama surprised me by admitting he's a socialist and that he's going to raise taxes. I'm disappointed but I'll vote for McCain. He is the moderate between the two. On here I know that I'm not welcome if I have a different point of view so I'll quit writing on here now.
I certainly did look it up, and I didn't make it it up. He made a deal with the prosecutors, which is the very definition of a plea deal. You had no intention of voting for anyone but McSame anyway, especially if you're basing your vote on something Obama never even said.
He's a socialist? Then so is George Bush, Grampy McSame and the rest of the Legislators who voted for the bailout bill. I don't give a dam if you stay or go, but I'm not going to let you get away with falsehoods. Obama is going to raise taxes on the people who have not been paying their fair share of taxes and have been getting the tax breaks for the past eight years. I have to pay my fair share, they should too.
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