Charles Ogletree

Holder for Attorney General: Bad, But It Could Be Much Worse

by Hans Bader on November 25, 2008 · 5 comments

in Legal, Politics as Usual

President-elect Obama is poised to appoint Eric Holder as the next attorney general. I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, Holder blatantly lied during the Elian Gonzalez fiasco. And he schemed to bring about the infamous pardon by Bill Clinton of fugitive financier Marc Rich, to the dismay of federal prosecutors and disgust of even hard-core Clinton supporters and liberal lawmakers.

On the other hand, his being appointed reduces the likelihood that a wacko like Charles Ogletree, the Harvard law professor described in the press as Obama’s top advisor on criminal justice and racial issues, will be appointed attorney general. We wrote earlier about Ogletree’s claims that America is a racist country that brought on 9/11 through its stupidity.

Holder’s appointment would also forestall the appointment of Deval Patrick, an advocate of racial quotas, baseless lawsuits, and censorship, who some had predicted would be the next attorney general.

However, the Washington Post and Boston Globe have predicted that Patrick may be appointed by Obama to the Supreme Court. He could do far more harm on the Supreme Court than as attorney general.

Wacky Obama Adviser Slated for Attorney General?

by Hans Bader on November 12, 2008 · 5 comments

in Economy, Legal, Personal Liberty, Politics as Usual, Sanctimony

Earlier, I wrote about Obama’s possible appointment of Charles Ogletree, who believes that America is a racist country that is to blame for 9/11, to be assistant attorney general in charge of the Civil Rights Division.

Some commentators, like the award-winning journalist A. Barton Hinkle, wondered whether I wasn’t overstating Ogletree’s links to Obama (by calling him Obama’s “top adviser” on race), given his out-of-the-mainstream views.

Actually, it seems that I understated Ogletree’s links to Obama and possible role in the Obama Administration. As legal commentator Walter Olson notes, Ogletree is now being described as a possible Attorney General — not just Assistant Attorney General — by CBS News and Newsweek.

Moreover, Newsweek describes Ogletree as Obama’s “top criminal-justice adviser,” not just his adviser on race issues. (Neither CBS nor Newsweek discusses Ogletree’s well-documented controversial positions, such as claiming that Obama’s election was only possible because he is part white, and his long-time advocacy of race-based reparations. Among liberal journalists, unlike the general public, these positions may not seem out-of-the-ordinary. But Ogletree’s left-wing positions have attracted a great deal of criticism on talk radio, from broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh, which might help to explain why liberal lawmakers want to shut down talk radio using the misleadingly-named “Fairness Doctrine“).

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Nation of Islam’s Farrakhan: Obama Is “God-Given Leader”

by Hans Bader on November 10, 2008 · 2 comments

in Culture, Legal, Politics as Usual

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan says that President-elect Obama is a “God-given leader with extraordinary vision.” Farrakhan, who has drawn controversy for his racist and anti-semitic remarks (such as calling Judaism a “gutter religion” and saying that whites are satanic beings genetically engineered by an evil scientist during the Medieval Ages), “admitted he stayed quiet about his support for Mr Obama during the past few months out of fear his words would harm the Illinois senator’s bid for the White House.”

Ironically, Farrakhan has been more hopeful about what Obama’s election means for blacks than some of Obama’s own “inner circle,” like Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree. Ogletree, Obama’s top adviser on race, has minimized the racial significance of Obama’s election, saying that America remains a racist nation that will not vote for blacks, and that Obama’s election is possible only because he has white blood. (Contrary to Ogletree’s claim, Americans of all ideological persuasions have been voting for non-white candidates for decades).

Controversial Appointments & Cliffhangers

by Hans Bader on November 3, 2008 · 2 comments

in Economy, Legal, Personal Liberty, Politics as Usual

From the polls, it looks like Obama will be our next president.  So who will he be appointing to high office? 

Deval Patrick, who avidly backed censorship and racial quotas, has been suggested for the Supreme Court.  Ed Whelan looks at his left-wing record of pushing racial quotas, which drew criticism from even from liberal judges and liberal Senators like Carol Moseley Braun, and suggests that other choices would be better. 

Patrick, who has also been suggested as a potential attorney general, has claimed that speech opposing halfway houses for substance abusers (defined as disabled by the Fair Housing Act) is as unprotected as using “baseball bats” to deny them access to housing.

Obama aides have suggested Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Secretary of Interior.  But legal commentator Walter Olson calls him “America’s most irresponsible public figure” for scaring parents into not getting their children vaccinated for diseases, and labeling those who disagree with him as traitors.  Even the liberal publication Slate describes Kennedy as “too partisan and kind of a nut.”

The ABA Journal predicts that Charles Ogletree will be in charge of civil rights at the Justice Department, despite his controversial remarks blaming America for 9/11 and calling America a racist country.

Let’s hope better-qualified people actually end up getting these jobs.

(McCain has his own truly stupid advisers, like Martin Feldstein, whose proposal to buy up all the bad loans in America has been aptly described as “the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard,” and cost him the support of the editor of the Arlington Sun-Gazette, one of the few moderate or conservative papers in the Washington, D.C. area.  But McCain’s advisers now appear to be moot).

In contrast to the presidential race, many Congressional races will apparently be cliffhangers this year, as previously “safe” Republican seats have become fiercely competitive.  The Democratic majority in the Congress will expand, perhaps including a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. 

From the latest polls, many Congressional races look like they are neck-and-neck and will be decided by a tiny margin.

Charles Ogletree Declared “Dim Bulb” for Calling America Racist

by Hans Bader on October 31, 2008 · 10 comments

in Legal, Personal Liberty, Sanctimony

The Washington Examiner today declared Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, a top adviser to Obama and likely future Assistant Attorney General, to be the “dim bulb” of the day for his racially-charged remarks branding America as a racist country:

“During an Oct. 25 panel discussion on race at Harvard, this top Barack Obama adviser said the U.S. should still be considered a racist nation even if the Illinois Senator is elected to the White House because Obama ‘happens to be biracial.’   So even if a majority of Americans vote for him, it won’t count.  WHY IT’S DIM:  Ogletree’s comments conjured up the discredited ‘one drop rule’ laws adopted by many Southern states during the Jim Crow era that were used to segregate the races.  CURE: Take Martin Luther King Jr.’s advice and judge people by their character, not their color.”  (Washington Examiner, Oct. 31, 2008, at page 15).

Even if you vote for Obama, you’re still probably a racist, according to Professor Ogletree. White America won’t vote for blacks, Ogletree argues, and Obama’s election is possible only because he’s partly white.  Even Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, in his endorsement of Obama, was more optimistic about race relations than Ogletree.

The ABA Journal predicts that Ogletree, who has long advocated race-based reparations, will be the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration.

Ogletree is controversial for his history of plagiarism and association with Al Sharpton. 

You’re Still A Racist, Obama Advisor Says

by Hans Bader on October 29, 2008 · 82 comments

in Legal, Sanctimony

Even if you vote for Obama, you’re still probably a racist, according to Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, in his remarks at recent events like a panel discussion at my alma mater.   Ogletree, Obama’s top advisor on race issues, explains that since Obama is “biracial,” his election won’t prove that racism has receded.  White America won’t vote for blacks, Ogletree argues, and Obama’s election is possible only because he’s partly white.  The ABA Journal predicts that Ogletree, who has long advocated race-based reparations, will be the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration.

Ogletree has blamed America for 9/11.  Legal commentator Walter Olson notes that Ogletree has attracted controversy over his association with Al Sharpton and history of plagiarism.

On October 31, the Washington Examiner declared Charles Ogletree a “dim bulb” for his racially-charged remarks.

Ironically, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has effusively praised Obama, had a different take on Obama’s white ancestry.