Turns out the decision to drop the case went all the way up to the number 3 man at the Justice Department — Thomas J. Perrelli.

Mr. Perrelli was a Janet Reno flunky when Clinton was in the White House and, naturally, a Barack Obama donor.

In this particular case, the career lawyers at the Department of Justice pursued the matter, made all the calls, got a court judgment when the Black Panthers refused to show up, then the Department of Justice’s political appointees told the career guys to drop the whole case.

Democrats are in an uproar over new revelations that the Bush Administration’s political appointees in the Department of Justice overruled career lawyers in the Civil Rights Division who were in civil litigation against a group of white conservative activists engaged in voter intimidation tactics on Election Day.

More troubling, the Department of Justice had obtained a default judgment against the defendants and the political appointees ordered the career lawyers to go no further, despite having judgment in hand.

Democrat John Lewis (D-GA) is demanding an investigation saying not since civil rights activists were attacked by dogs in the sixties has the government so cavalierly disregarded the basic civil rights of its citizens.

Except that’s not the story at all.

Consequently, there is no outrage by Democrats.

The voter intimidation happened by Black Panthers who supported Barack Obama.

It was Barack Obama’s political appointees who shut down career lawyers going after the Black Panthers for voter intimidation.

And the mainstream media yawns.

Thankful, the Washington Times is on the story.