Unintimidating?

The Justice Dept. has dropped charges of voter intimidation against members of the New Black Panther Party, who stood outside a Philadelphia polling station last November dressed in paramilitary uniforms and brandishing night sticks.

Part of the incident was caught in the tape shown above.

The DoJ claims that the decision was made by a career official who "determined that the facts and the law did not support pursuing the claims against three of the defendants."

Imagine the uproar if members of the Minutemen were standing outside a polling place dressed in fatigues and waving nightsticks or if members of a neo-Conderate group were doing the same. There's little doubt that intimidation charges would be pursued vigorously in those cases.

Republican lawmakers are demanding a more complete explanation of the DoJ's decision. They should get one.