Rachel Maddow pointed out a delightful parallel this morning: just like a political toady at the FDA refuses to listen to scientists who recommend over-the-counter sales of Plan B contraception and toes the right-wing party line instead, appointed hacks at the Justice Department ignore a staff review disparaging Georgia's Voter ID Poll Tax law and decide to support the return of Jim Crow.

A team of Justice Department lawyers and analysts who reviewed a Georgia voter-identification law recommended rejecting it because it was likely to discriminate against black voters, but they were overruled the next day by higher-ranking officials at Justice, according to department documents.

The Justice Department has characterized the "pre-clearance" of the controversial Georgia voter-identification program as a joint decision by career and political appointees in the Civil Rights Division. Republican proponents in Georgia have cited federal approval of the program as evidence that it would not discriminate against African Americans and other minorities.

Brilliant!