At this point, going after Jack “Six Teats” McMullen is kind of like shooting a gnat with an elephant gun. But what he said about politicization of the Attorney General’s office should not go without pushback. Because it’s a great example of a larger trend among Republicans: Pot/Kettle Syndrome. Also known as raging hypocrisy.
Late last week, the VT Democratic Party put out a news release pointing out multiple election-law violations by Republicans, and claiming that the Attorney General’s office had begun investigating them. Which, turns out, was a bit of an overstatement; the AG is looking into the charges to see if an investigation is warranted.
No matter. McMullen, the Republican candidate for AG, pounced.
“They’re bloodhounds when they’re asked to go after Republicans but they’re lap dogs when it concerns the Democrats,” McMullen said in an interview.
Okay, just stop right there.
First of all, as the AG’s office rightly pointed out, there is no investigation. They’re looking into the Dems’ charges, just as they do whenever they receive a complaint.
And second, good God almighty, the last time we had a Republican president, his Justice Department spent eight solid years chasing the chimera of voter fraud while ignoring real cases of vote suppression or voter intimidation. Remember that little scandal over the Bush Administration’s firing of eight U.S. attorneys because they weren’t partisan enough? Remember the completely false outrage over ACORN?
(And we need to remember, because the Republicans are still hammering away on this issue.)
Talk about politicizing justice. The Republican Party wrote the book on it. Compared to Alberto Gonzales and John Ashcroft, Bill Sorrell is a saint. And Jack McMullen should keep his mouth shut.