Obama Administration: Down with the Struggle?

It would seem that voter intimidation is a bad thing for all. Even for democrats. Unless one of their own does it, of course:

Justice Department political appointees overruled career lawyers and ended a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense of wielding a nightstick and intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place last Election Day, according to documents and interviews.

The incident - which gained national attention when it was captured on videotape and distributed on YouTube - had prompted the government to sue the men, saying they violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by scaring would-be voters with the weapon, racial slurs and military-style uniforms.

Career lawyers pursued the case for months, including obtaining an affidavit from a prominent 1960s civil rights activist who witnessed the confrontation and described it as "the most blatant form of voter intimidation" that he had seen, even during the voting rights crisis in Mississippi a half-century ago.

A Justice Department spokesman on Thursday confirmed that the agency had dropped the case, dismissing two of the men from the lawsuit with no penalty and winning an order against the third man that simply prohibits him from bringing a weapon to a polling place in future elections.

So, he's not allowed to bring a nightstick to the polling place anymore. I mean, how sensitive is that? Are you sure that's a culturally sensitive decision?

In all reality, one shouldn't be surprised that the Obama administration wouldn't want to prosecute a couple of goons for voter intimidation. After all, you never know when you're going to require a couple of brownshirts to do your bidding.