United States Race-Baiting Commission

Shriveled up old race ho' Mary Frances Berry has again shown why her agency should be zeroed-out in the next budget cycle. In a move intentionally timed to come before the election, the US Civil Rights Commission will release a rreport on President Bush's record on civil rights. Past practice has been to hold these reports until after the election, as was done with the 2000 report on the Clinton record on civil rights.

But that isn't all. The report was completed by Berry and her staff without seeking or permitting any input by Republican members of the commission, and was presented to them in its final form on Wednesday. Agencies cited in the report have not been permitted to review, correct, or rebut report assertions, despite the fact that "affected agency review" is standard practice in Washington to ensure the accuracy of reports before they are released.

Among the points of indictment by the biased report are the No Child Left Behind Act's testing and accountability standards being applied to poor and minority children, support for school vouchers, and the reduction of rental subsidies (never mind the fact that minority home ownership is at its highest level in history). But this is the most shocking.

And, oh yes, the President is accused of being soft on civil rights for nominating a Hispanic (Miguel Estrada) and an African-American (Janice Rogers Brown) to the appellate bench. Never mind their ethnicity, these conservatives have a judicial philosophy that the report says will lead to the "eventual weakening of civil rights laws." So Mr. Bush is insensitive to civil rights if he doesn't appoint minorities but he's also insensitive if he does. That's about all you need to know about the objectivity of this political exercise.

Like I said, zero-out the agency in the next budget. It no longer serves a useful purpose.