Not surprising...
From Washington Post:
The report will trace the effort to 2002, early in the Bush administration, when key advisers to then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft moved to exert more control over the program to hire rookie lawyers and summer interns, according to two people familiar with the probe.
Well, we know that Ashcroft praised Bush of appointing J. Robert Flores in OJJDP. I decided to look into more of Flores' bio. We do know that Flores is a devout born again Christian.But who is Flores? What is his background prior to OJJDP? According to the OJJDP website, he seems to have been a crusader against Internet child pornography and exploitation. But, I see no obvious experience in juvenile justice or delinquency prevention.
Here is the full OJJDP bio on Flores, and here is a relevant excerpt:
From Washington Post:
The report will trace the effort to 2002, early in the Bush administration, when key advisers to then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft moved to exert more control over the program to hire rookie lawyers and summer interns, according to two people familiar with the probe.
Well, we know that Ashcroft praised Bush of appointing J. Robert Flores in OJJDP. I decided to look into more of Flores' bio. We do know that Flores is a devout born again Christian.But who is Flores? What is his background prior to OJJDP? According to the OJJDP website, he seems to have been a crusader against Internet child pornography and exploitation. But, I see no obvious experience in juvenile justice or delinquency prevention.
Here is the full OJJDP bio on Flores, and here is a relevant excerpt:
A longtime advocate for children, J. Robert Flores has led a distinguished career in juvenile and criminal justice. Currently the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, a position he assumed in April 2002, Mr. Flores previously served in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on issues related to child exploitation and obscenity.
Mr. Flores is an experienced lawyer and former prosecutor with expertise in Internet crime, child abuse and exploitation, and juvenile justice issues. In his role as OJJDP Administrator, he has spearheaded efforts to increase and improve Federal interagency cooperation, serving as Vice Chairman of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. In keeping with the President’s management initiatives to make the Federal government more efficient, Mr. Flores has initiated three pilot programs to address youth gangs, reduce child prostitution, and improve the juvenile justice system. Under his leadership, OJJDP has expanded its efforts to respond to the online exploitation of children and significantly increased the involvement of faith-based and community organizations in its programming. [Emphasis added.]
If you put the pieces to the puzzle to why the DOJ is corrupted and why certain key individuals are put in positions in the DOJ is simply promote and implant faith-based community initiatives. And in return, their individuals are given certain personal perks. In the case of Flores, enjoyment of golf on the taxpaper's money on business trips was his personal perks.
Here is an article in 2004 on MSNBC website:
Bypassing Congress, where his Faith-Based Initiatives bill stalled in the Senate, Bush issued two executive orders embedding offices for faith-based initiatives in agencies across the government: in the departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Justice, Education and Agriculture and in the Agency for International Development.
The administration has also made a practice of appointing conservative religious activists to regulatory and oversight boards that operate without public scrutiny.
In order words, Bush allowed these agencies in WH to appoint conservative religious activists to control these agencies. That is why Ralph Reed had so much power in the White House. Bush signed this executive order in 2001, 9 days after he was sworn in as President in his first term.
From the White House website:
Mr. Flores is an experienced lawyer and former prosecutor with expertise in Internet crime, child abuse and exploitation, and juvenile justice issues. In his role as OJJDP Administrator, he has spearheaded efforts to increase and improve Federal interagency cooperation, serving as Vice Chairman of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. In keeping with the President’s management initiatives to make the Federal government more efficient, Mr. Flores has initiated three pilot programs to address youth gangs, reduce child prostitution, and improve the juvenile justice system. Under his leadership, OJJDP has expanded its efforts to respond to the online exploitation of children and significantly increased the involvement of faith-based and community organizations in its programming. [Emphasis added.]
If you put the pieces to the puzzle to why the DOJ is corrupted and why certain key individuals are put in positions in the DOJ is simply promote and implant faith-based community initiatives. And in return, their individuals are given certain personal perks. In the case of Flores, enjoyment of golf on the taxpaper's money on business trips was his personal perks.
Here is an article in 2004 on MSNBC website:
Bypassing Congress, where his Faith-Based Initiatives bill stalled in the Senate, Bush issued two executive orders embedding offices for faith-based initiatives in agencies across the government: in the departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Justice, Education and Agriculture and in the Agency for International Development.
The administration has also made a practice of appointing conservative religious activists to regulatory and oversight boards that operate without public scrutiny.
In order words, Bush allowed these agencies in WH to appoint conservative religious activists to control these agencies. That is why Ralph Reed had so much power in the White House. Bush signed this executive order in 2001, 9 days after he was sworn in as President in his first term.
From the White House website:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On January 29, 2001, President George W. Bush signed the first two Executive Orders of his Administration, creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) and similar offices within five Federal agencies. The President's goal was to eliminate government barriers inhibiting partnerships with faith-based and grassroots charities and to strengthen the work of America's armies of compassion in tackling society's toughest problems.
Innovation #3: Implementing the FBCI through cabinet agencies
Innovation #3: Implementing the FBCI through cabinet agencies
Rather than establishing the FBCI as a simple communications strategy or stand-alone program, President Bush embedded the Initiative within Federal agencies that administer human service programs. The result has been new and strengthened partnerships that further each agency's mission on issues ranging from economic development in distressed neighborhoods (U.S. Department of Commerce), education outcomes (U.S. Department of Education), crime reduction (U.S. Department of Justice), employment opportunity (U.S. Department of Labor), homelessness (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), substance abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), and food security (U.S. Department of Agriculture).
Innovation #4: Building Mutually-Reinforcing Clusters of Service
Many social ills are so intertwined they cannot be resolved by addressing just one isolated problem. Reflecting on this reality, FBCI programs often form a "cluster" of efforts directed at interconnected issues. One signature domestic application of the FBCI is a justice cluster of initiatives aimed at decreasing crime among adults, improving life outcomes for ex-offenders, and preventing criminal behavior by at-risk youth. President Bush announced the Prisoner Reentry Initiative (led by DOL and DOJ), the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program (led by HHS), and related efforts in State of the Union addresses, and his Administration has supported their implementation with hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding. These, and related initiatives, place special focus on recruitment of mentors from religious organizations and other community groups to provide life coaching and support to adults and youth.
