The Superior Pompeil

Remember Brad Sherman, the Los Angeles Democrat congressman who gave a town hall meeting his version of the Sergeant Schultz routine regarding Eric The Red Holder dropping the open and shut voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party?  The same Brad Sherman whose seat should be plenty safe even in a GOP tsunami cycle as big as this one?

Well, maybe he's just paranoid, but he sure as the devil seems to know all about the Panthers now:

U.S. Representative Brad Sherman, California Democrat, has written a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding that Mr. Holder re-file "criminal" charges against the now-infamous New Black Panthers involved in a 2008 voter-intimidation incident in Philadelphia:

"It appears that a decision was made in May 2009 to not use the full force of the law with regard to those members of the New Black Panther party who engaged in racist and wrongful behavior at a Philadelphia polling place. It is my understanding that certain civil charges have been downgraded for the main perpetrator and dropped for the other individuals involved. I urge you to review the matter and pursue the criminal case that your department did not originally pursue."

(Actually, no criminal case ever was even preliminarily filed, but that's another matter.) Representative Sherman also wrote, in his July 19 letter, that he "would urge [the Justice] department to give higher priority and robust attention toward those cases of voter fraud and voter intimidation which are still within the relevant statute of limitations."

The Sherman letter appears to be the first time that a congressional Democrat has demanded prosecution of the Black Panthers involved in the case. On those grounds alone, it could be a significant break in the dam that Democrats so far have provided DoJ against a flood of inquiries about the matter.

I suppose there might be the possibility that Sherman was simply as clueless as he looks and really didn't know about the Panther case, much less its being dropped.  That actually makes more sense than his having an actual conscience - unless he really is hearing Republican footsteps, in which case the NBPP is the least of his, and his party's, worries.

***Dudes, Teacups knows he's toast:

The 90-minute disc features video highlights from his first term in office, including one of him grilling Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and another in which the Orlando Democrat preaches on the need to teach schoolchildren about the U.S. Constitution.

The DVD comes wrapped inside a mailer covered with promotional slogans: “Congressman Alan Grayson, Hard at Work for You,” “He works hard. He pays attention. He gets things done,” and “Video DVD Inside: Watch Congressman Grayson in Action!”

In many ways, it’s the perfect campaign video — with one key difference.

Thanks to perks given to all members of Congress, it’s not Grayson’s campaign but taxpayers who footed the nearly $73,000 bill to produce and mail the DVD to 100,000 homes in Grayson’s district of Lake, Marion, Orange and Osceola counties.

Wanna see what you central Florida suckers made the rest of us pay for?  Enjoy:

 Ed has more.  For my part, I agree with the oft-forwarded theory that Teacups ran for Congress never thinking he'd actually win, and when he did he knew he'd never last, so he's used this term of "getting things done" as a two-year audition for MSNBCCCP's already crowded lunatic lineup.

Hey, you don't think that it's Grayson's drapes that are going up in Olby's office, do ya?