Check out
these images of a guy who looks just like John Roberts helping to obstruct the recount in Florida in 2000. Think the media will look into this one?
http://www.newsdissector.org/blog
Did the Nominee Help Obstruct a Recount?
As Judge John Roberts inches closer and closer to confirmation as Chief Justice, what little debate there has been about his suitability to serve has focused on his opinions--or, more precisely the lack of them--on a variety of issues. We know about his legal training and "achievements"--or lack thereof-- but not his role as a White House political operative.
Specifically, what role did Roberts play in the Bush campaign in Florida where 175,000 votes went uncounted? Was he part of the obstruction of the recount in Miami in 2000 carried out by a small brigade of militant GOP protesters organized by the just indicted House GOP minority leader Tom Delay who was known for "bare knuckles" politics that often "skirted the ethical edge" according to the Associated Press.
We know that Roberts, who has been pictured as a reasonable, moderate tempered and restrained jurist was in Florida in 2000 as part of the GOP hit squad that set out to get President Bush elected at all costs.
That decisive protest run by intensely partisan GOP staffers and Congressional aides was ordered by hard right-wing Republican Congressman John Sweeney to "shut it down" according to the Miami Herald's reporter. There were reports that UN Ambassador John Bolton was in the mob.
Was Roberts there too? If he was, if he was part of that action faction/affinity group then his image as a man of detached and scholarly calm needs a second look. If he wasn't, what exactly did he do in a campaign characterized by disenfranchisement and dirty tricks?
Here's some pictures of John Roberts looking judicial:
And another one,again, John Roberts!
Now look at these 2 pictures of the GOP mob in Miami--is that John Roberts?
Sure looks like him, or could this enthusiastic participant possibly be a "double," a twin, or just a look alike?
The image was taken from video shot inside the Miami Dade County building when GOP activists, led by propagandist Jim Wilkinson, later the head of the Coalition Media Center in Doha during the war, and media at the GOP convention in New York, stormed the recount to stop it with a disruptive protest charging "voter fraud. " (They claimed but could not prove, that the Miami election commisioners were stealing votes for Al Gore who most observers believe actually won the election--had all votes been counted!)
This sorid story with the video appears in "Counting on Democracy," the film I directed on the 2000 election.
www.globalvision.org
Democrats later denouced the noisy demo as possibly illegal and certainly over the ethical edge because it intimidated county officials who later stopped the recount that had Al Gore ahead .
Remember: the final official margin of victory in Florida was only 537 votes.
QUESTIONS
Was John Roberts there? Is this him? Or, Like in the case of Saddam Hussein, did he have a "double?" If not, did he approve of the tactic? Was he ever asked? Did he ever speak out about it or against it? How does he feel about that Supreme Court decision by a Republican majority that stood the 14th amendment, (a measure designed to protect minorities) on its head claiming Republicans were discriminated against and thus with convoluted legal "logic" gave the White House to a fellow Republican? And then said the decision should not be a precedent.
Was his nomination payback for the key work he did in the political trenches in Florida? Part of the reason that we don't know all these details is that the press did not tell us. Was Roberts' name ever mentioned in the acres of "reporting" about that "election?" Not that I saw and I paid alot of attention, compiling a book (with Roland Schatz) about the media coverage of the debacle in 2000 that will be disputed forever. The book is called "Mediaocracy: Hail To the Thief." (Inovatio) It details the role our media played in assuring we didn't know what was happening. It argues that the media undermines our democracy rather then strengthening it. (I recently wrote a Miami Herald reporter to ask about whether Roberts was in Miami that day, but had no response. Typical!)
So its not suprisng that there have been few media investigations into John G Roberts as a partisan activist in an effort to undermine an important recount. Do we really know the mind of that stealth ideologue dresssed in that black robe? Being cordial and having a photogenic family is not a qualification for running the highest court in the land FOR LIFE!
Henry Kissinger went to Harvard too!
Most of us still don't fully grasp how Bush "won" an election he lost.
Other questions:
As a clerk for the late Justice Rehnquist, was he aware of the evidence showing that his mentor, before becoming a Judge, had reportedly been personally involved in an ugly incident discriminating against minority voters?
How does he believe that the Court can protect the rights of voters threatened by discrimination, illegal "purges" of felons and the like?
Wouldn't you like to know more about his theories and partisan PRACTICES on this key issue for our democracy?
Roberts was a key GOP player in 2000 in Florida one of the dirtiest elections in our history.
THE 800 POUND GORILLAS
The Miami Herald has acknowledged, "The role of U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts in the 2000 election aftermath in Florida was larger than has been reported."
"U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts played a broader behind-the-scenes role for the Republican camp in the aftermath of the 2000 election than previously reported -- as legal consultant, lawsuit editor and prep coach for arguments before the nation's highest court, according to the man who drafted him for the job."
"Ted Cruz, a domestic policy advisor for President Bush and who is now Texas' solicitor general, said Roberts was one of the first names he thought of while he and another attorney drafted the Republican legal dream team of litigation ''lions'' and ''800-pound gorillas,'' which ultimately consisted of 400 attorneys in Florida."
This went beyond just providing legal advice to Gov. Jeb Bush in the weeks following the November 2000.
Noted the Herald earlier: "Roberts, at the time a private attorney in Washington, D.C., came to Tallahassee to advise the state's Republican administration as it was trying to prevent a Democratic end-run that the GOP feared might give the election to Al Gore, sources told The Herald."
Why has this issue been downplayed? Why was this Gorilla's role forgotten?
A Liberal blog offers other sources:
According to the Dallas Mornng News, "Although his name did not appear on the briefs, three sources who were personally aware of Judge Roberts' role said he gave Republican Gov. Jeb Bush critical advice on how the Florida Legislature could constitutionally name George W. Bush the winner at a time when Republicans feared that if the recount were to continue the courts might force a different choice. "
Said Representative Robert Wexler (D-FL), "...President Bush's nomination of Judge Roberts threw salt on the wounds of the thousands of Floridians whose voting rights were disenfranchised during the 2000 election. Judge Roberts worked to ensure that George Bush would become president--regardless of what the courts might decide."
Blogger Jerry Bowles at Best of the Blogs writes, ....."John G. Roberts Jr. was the 800-pound gorilla at the center of the 2000 Florida recount battle that led to Bush's selection by the Supreme Court. Payback? We insinuate. You decide."
Writes the Miami Herald, "Roberts' perceived partisanship during the recount has been enough for some Democrats to suggest that his nomination should be rejected by the U.S. Senate."
Isn't this an issue that deserves more investigation? Senators, your turn.
Please forward this report to friends any politicians who care.