When it comes to the Bush administration and civil rights, I’ve got bad news and worse news. The bad news is this president has been awful. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has prepared an exhaustive draft report (.pdf) on Bush’s record and determined that he “has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words.” The commissioners’ review report added:
Failing to build on common ground, the Bush administration missed opportunities to build consensus on key civil rights issues and has adopted policies that divide Americans.
The worse news is the final report of the commission won’t be formally released until after the election.
The United States Commission on Civil Rights voted on Friday to wait until after next month’s election to discuss a report critical of the Bush administration’s civil rights record. Republican members had objected to the report’s timing.
The report remains posted on the commission’s Web site (http://www.usccr.gov/), despite objections from Republican commissioners.
The report … finds fault with Mr. Bush’s funding requests for civil rights enforcement; his positions on voting rights, educational opportunity and affirmative action; and his actions against hate crimes.
Yeah, that’s certainly not something an bi-partisan government commission would want to tell voters about before they head to the polls. Better to keep it quiet and talk about it after the election.