If so could someone please tell Andrew Alexander, the WaPo’s ombundsman?

If someone takes the major step of giving up their job, so that they can speak out on an issue, I’d think that gives that person at least some measure of credibility, don’t you think?

So, shouldn’t you mention that when you’re raising questions about someone’s credibility. To the whole online world?

The controversy was elevated last month when J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department lawyer who had helped develop the case, wrote in the Washington Times that his superiors’ decision to reduce its scope was “motivated by a lawless hostility toward equal enforcement of the law.” Some in the department believe “the law should not be used against black wrongdoers because of the long history of slavery and segregation,” he wrote. Adams recently repeated these charges in public testimony before the commission.

Funny, but Alexander’s ombundsman article on the New Black Panther controversey (in which, to be fair, he does say the Post should be covering more aggressively) doesn’t mention that J. Christian Adams gave up his job, so that he could make his charges. It does call him a “former” DOJ lawyer, but that’s it.

I wonder why he forgot to mention that? (Turn “Cynic” switch to the ON position)

The Post should never base coverage decisions on ideology, nor should it feel obligated to order stories simply because of blogosphere chatter from the right or the left.

But in this case, coverage is justified because it’s a controversy that screams for clarity that The Post should provide. If Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and his department are not colorblind in enforcing civil rights laws, they should be nailed. If the Commission on Civil Rights’ investigation is purely partisan, that should be revealed. If Adams is pursuing a right-wing agenda, he should be exposed.

This, coupled with Abigail Therenstrom’s criticism of the conservatives on the Civil Rights Commission for their handling of the New Black Panther Party matter, now means that J. Christian Adams will have to defend himself even more vigorously. If I were him, I’d do two things:

1. Separate my actions from those of the Civil Rights Commissions
2. Point out that I gave up my job so that I could speak out.

Specifically, I’d shout Point #2 from the rooftops. I’d condense it into a quick soundbite that I can insert into any interview I get. Why? Something tells me that the MSM will take Therenstrom’s gift, use it to tar anything Adams and his colleagues say on the issue, and move on to other, more-Democratic-Party-friendly issues as fast as they freaking can.

Just to be clear, though: Did J. Christian Adams give up a steady job at the DOJ?