Is there a connection? Why yes! There is!

Just yesterday we learned that Obama's Attorney General, the ethically-challenged Eric Holder, is appointing a special prosecutor to go after the CIA agents who saved American lives by using somewhat harsh interrogation techniques against Muslim terrorist detainees. Never mind that both Obama and Holder had made earlier promises that they would not pursue a vendetta against these operatives. That was then, and this is now ... and now the uber-left is demanding some sort of legal action against the Bush Administration for what they view as the horrors of the Bush years. After all, "we won," so why can't we prosecute the losers? The political bloodlust of the left must be assuaged!

In the midst of all of this I want to remind you of something. During the election last November a group of Black Panther goons stood outside of a polling place in downtown Philly. They were wearing paramilitary costumes and were carrying nightsticks. As white voters would approach this polling place these thugs would yell "You are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker!"

Well .. this happened to be against the law. One former civil rights lawyer and publisher of the liberal Village Voice called the episode "one of the most blatant forms of voter intimidation I've ever seen." So here comes the Justice Department. The BUSH Justice Department. At the beginning of January a civil lawsuit was filed against the New Black Panther Party and three of its goons for violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. None of the defendants would even file a response to the lawsuit. Perhaps they knew that they had nothing to worry about.

And so it came to be!

Just what do you think happened to this action against the Black Panthers? Why, it was dismissed! Eric Holder allowed these goons to walk. Lawsuit dismissed. One defendant was told that he could never carry a weapon within 100 feet of a polling place again .. the other three walked away.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Obama's Attorney General. He will permit Black Panther thugs to intimidate white U.S. Voters, but if you work for the CIA, and if you're charged with the responsibility of discovering information on future terrorist attacks against our people - if your job is to save American lives instead of intimidate white voters - you had better lawyer up. Eric Holder is coming after you with guns blazing.

Elections have consequences. Black Panthers walk. CIA operatives get put under investigation.

For Barack Obama, that is - but perhaps not necessarily for America.

I don't know many people who are thrilled with Obama's pick of Leon Panetta to head the CIA. The guy has less experience working in intelligence than our own Washington correspondent Jamie Dupree. Of course I strongly suspect that Dupree is actually working under cover as a journalist. You should see the armament he carries. Anyway ......

One of the first to really speak up was Dianne Feinstein. She got her feelings hurt that Obama didn't consult her before making the selection. Well, she's right. You do talk to the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee about your pick to head the CIA .. but that was quickly corrected with some obsequious fawning by Obama and Biden.

Other thoughts on Panetta run the gamut. Dick Morris thinks he's being sent to Langley to effectively emasculate our premier spy agency. The destruction of the CIA began under Jimmy Carter. Will it become a fait accompli under Obama? There is much liberal angst over this phony torture controversy. Is Panetta the payoff to the left?

Others are saying that Panetta's experiences in the Congress and the Clinton White House qualify him for this position. After all, as the president's Chief of Staff he was a "consumer" of intelligence information. By that reasoning, since I bought a new GM vehicle a few weeks ago I'm now qualified to run GM. Than again, who isn't?