Only A Foreshadowing

In the category of It's Going To Be A Long Two Years (till the next congressional election), we have Rush Limbaugh today claiming

I don't know about Chris Coons' voters being harassed, but I do know the New Black Panther Party is out in force in Philadelphia again.

A little detail, from TPM Muckraker

A member of the New Black Panther Party was spotted by a local Fox station today at the same polling location at which he was videotaped two years ago. His presence at that facility in 2008, along with a nightstick-wielding colleague, led to a controversial voter intimidation case that has dogged the Obama administration for over a year and a half.

Fox provided a photo of the individual and reported that he was seen outside the polling place "wearing a pin that indicated his party affiliation, along with a black hat, sunglasses and leather coat." The polling location, Guild House West, is located in a majority African-American neighborhood in northern Philadelphia.

The individual appears to be Jerry Jackson, who had a poll-watching certificate back in 2008 and was originally named in the civil voter intimidation case bought in the waning days of the Bush administration. The Obama administration did not pursue the case against Jackson or the national party, but did obtain an injunction against fellow NBPP member King Samir Shabazz, who carried a nightstick.

Charles Mirarchi of the City of Philadelphia confirmed to TPMMuckraker on Tuesday that Jackson holds a poll-watching certificate for 2010. <

Late update: Fred Voigt, a deputy city commissioner in Philadelphia, told TPMMuckraker that the District Attorney went out to the polling location and found nothing illegal. "There was one guy there, doing nothing. The DA was out there, the judge of elections," Voigt said. "There wasn't anything last time by the way, other than the film clip by the two performers. There wasn't even anything like that this time, there was a guy standing there doing nothing."

A man, a black hat, a poll watching certificate, and "The New Black Panther Party is out in force." Democratic victories will be fewer than Republican victories today but that won't stop leading Republicans from doing what they can to delegitimize the Democrats who do withstand the tide. Much of the activist right agrees "the people who support Obama have a vastly different view of this country, its past, its present, and its future, than the vast majority of the people of the country. We're being ruled and governed by a minority of people who have an active, ongoing, and increasing dislike for this country." Tea Party sympathizers or not, they will not be satiated by their gains in this election and their vitriol will only increase.

This should, however, satisfy such bold opinion leaders like David Broder or Jon Stewart, who will be glad to tell us that partisans on both sides are equally to blame.

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