(You can read more about homophobe Scott Bloch in these prior Blend posts. - promoted by pam)
It seems The Leader has decided to have a "Loyal Bushie" investigate Karl Rove's mixing of politics and official business. Expect to hear "we can't comment on an ongoing investigation" again whenever Rove's name is brought up.
In an article titled "Low-key office launches high-profile inquiry" today, the LA Times reports that the "independent" Office of Special Counsel is independently deciding to investigate the numerous incidents involving Rove. The purpose of the Office of Special Counsel is to investigate and prosecute violations of the Hatch Act, protect government whistle-blowers and prosecute cases of discrimination, etc within the federal government. So this would be the appropriate office to investigate these alleged violations of the Hatch Act by Karl Rove and his team.
But what's missing here is a little background on the cronies installed at the Office of Special Counsel. The head of the organization is a guy by the name of Scott J. Bloch, who originally left private practice to come aboard the Bush team to be chief counsel for the Office of Faith Based Initiatives. He was later appointed to be the head of OSC. Since taking office, it became his mission to clear the office of dedicated career investigators and lawyers and replace them with graduates of christian law schools - Loyal Bushies. It has been reported that many of these "consultants" and other employees of the office were hired outside of the rules for employing federal employees - violating some of the very rules his office is charged to enforce.
Shortly after being confirmed to the post, he re-interpreted policy of the office based on some obscure past executive orders and halted investigation and prosecution of cases of discrimination based on sexual orientation. This caused a stink in congress and they demanded explanation and a restoration of protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation within the federal government. He punted on the matter and, under threat of a PR nightmare, the White House reiterated their "commitment" to protecting from discrimination based on sexual orientation. His office then made a statement that they were restoring the original policies, but never effectively did.
In short, he was appointed to neuter the office so that cronyism and discrimination could run rampant in the Federal government and silence potential whistle-blowing by career federal employees until the end of Bush's term. Now he is independently deciding to investigate all of Rove's shenanigans. Expect a report out of his office with a stern warning to Rove on the day Bush leaves office. Hopefully more media will pick up on this story.
For more information, you can Google the name Scott J. Bloch. There's tons of it out there, but here's a compilation of documents (PDF) in a case against him that I found extremely helpful in researching his time in office. |
