Today, the Liberty Counsel released a "72-page report today detailing information on each of the nominations and appointments of President Barack Obama" with the aim of exposing just how "radical" this administration has been:
This report documents the beliefs, words, and actions of the radical group Obama has hand-picked to “change” our nation. The document provides information on more than 100 of Obama’s appointments and nominations. It includes more than 850 citations to articles, websites, and cases regarding these individuals and took weeks to compile.
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Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: “President Obama has nominated and appointed the most radical group of ideologues ever assembled by an American President. The list of individuals, their comments, and backgrounds demonstrates that President Obama uses a radical ideological litmus test to select his nominees, which clearly takes preference over experience or qualifications. Obama’s nominations are neither moderate nor merely left of center. They can best be described as radical. They are clearly out of touch with all but a radical fringe. Obama’s pattern of choosing radical ideologues raises serious concern about the competency of the government.”
The report itself [PDF] contains all of the standard right-wing attacks on people like Kevin Jennings, Chai Feldblum, Dawn Johnsen, and David Ogden (whom it claims "supports abortion on demand, child pornography, and the homosexual agenda") but also covers people like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and even Tom Daschle.
Oddly, for a report aimed at proving that President Obama has filled his administration with "radical ideologues," it dedicates an inordinate amount of space to covering arcane appointees who seemingly have no ideology at all:
Earl Devaney
o Appointed: Head of the White House's Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board – February, 2009.
o Former police officer, Secret Service Agent, Inspector General of Department of the Interior, and head of EPA’s Enforcement Division.
o Currently tasked with monitoring spending of the administration's $787 billion stimulus plan.
Why Liberty Counsel saw fit to include Devaney among the list of Obama's "radical" appointments is anyone's guess - and the same goes for John Laub and Stephen Smith:
John H. Laub
o Appointed: Director of the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice – October, 2009.
o Career academic, focusing on criminology, juvenile delinquency, and juvenile justice.Stephen James Smith
o Appointed: United States Marshal for the Southern District of Georgia – September, 2009.
For page after page, Liberty Counsel lists people like Kim N. Wallace ("Managing Director and head of the Washington Research Group at Barclays Capital") and Ashton Carter ("Former Chair of the International & Global Affairs faculty at the Kennedy School") as if it demonstrates that the Obama administration is filled with radicals when it does nothing of the sort.
Take, for instance, this listing:
Rosanna Malouf Peterson
o Appointed: United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington – October, 2009.
o First female judge on the bench for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
o Former president of the Federal Bar Association for Eastern Washington and the Woman Lawyers State Bar Association.
o Practiced general litigation, employment and education law, as well as criminal defense at several private law firms in Spokane.
Apparently, Peterson is one of those "radical ideologues" whose nomination "raises serious concern about the competency of the government" ... which is why her nomination was confirmed by the Senate 89-0 two days ago.
