Posted on 12/07/2001 9:25:08 PM PST by kattracks
(CNSNews.com) - A simmering feud between the White House and the chairwoman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission boiled over Friday when she and four other members refused to seat or even recognize President Bush's new appointment to the commission.
The actions of Mary Frances Berry triggered an immediate call for her ouster.
Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) said Berry is using the commission not to advance the cause of civil rights, but to promote her extremist, political agenda.
"Recent actions only reinforce my belief that the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is chaired by a political activist masquerading as a leader on the very important national issue of civil rights," Barr stated in a letter to the White House.
"The chairwoman's outrageous actions with regard to your appointment of Mr. Peter Kirsanow are further proof of her desire to silence any voice other than her own. Neither the chairwoman nor any of the commissioners have been elected by the people of the United States, and thus hold no authority over those of us who have," Barr wrote.
The White House had no comment on the letter.
In refusing to seat Kirsanow as a member of the commission, Berry said it would now be up to the courts to make a ruling before she accepted the president's choice.
"We will abide by the court," Berry said at an open meeting of the commission after it voted 5-3 to reject Kirsanow.
Kevin Martin of Project 21, a black conservative group, witnessed the meeting.
"Peter came in and proceeded to take his chair and Mary Berry basically told him that he would not be sworn in. He came with his credentials and she would not swear him in. Peter then sat in the crowd and every time he tried to get recognized, he was told (by Berry) that we will not take statements from people in the audience," Martin told CNSNews.com.
Over the objections of Berry, the White House Thursday acted on its own to swear in Kirsanow as a member of the eight-member panel. Berry refuses to recognize the appointment and has accused the Bush administration of seeking to undermine the commission by altering its political balance.
The commission acts as a federal civil rights protector and investigates complaints of Americans who say they were denied their civil rights.
"The independence of this commission depends on us being able to interpret our statutes unless told otherwise by the court," Berry said at the meeting.
But, according to Martin, "If you had not seen Mary Berry's face and hands; and if she had them covered by white gloves and a white hood, you would have thought this was a [Ku Klux] Klan meeting." Berry and Kirsanow are both African-American.
The Civil Rights Commission did not return numerous phone calls seeking comment.
Martin concluded that, "We (Republicans) are the party with the big tent and not the Democrats."
Ms. Berry is the black bus driver who is telling a black man(Mr. Kirsanow) to give up his seat to a white woman(Ms. Wilson) and move to the back of the bus, even though Ms. Wilson's stop(appointment) has passed(Ms. Wilson's appointment expired on 11/29/01).
So what kind of milquetoast is this guy?
I would go so far as to say that the "black folks" we do not hear from are the ones that have way too much to do in life instead of worry about what the talking heads are telling them what to do.
Just my $0.02.
Oh and a side note, one of my Mom's good friends on the "left Coast" is a black guy that herd's ranches. He's one of the only "real" cowboy's that do what "cowboy's" are supposed to do within the "country/western" scene out there. I met the guy once, it was an honor.
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