Has anyone ever heard of Tomas de Torquemada, the fanatical leader of the Spanish Inquisition ? Well...he is back. He has been re-incarnated as Thomas Perez, the head of the Civil Rights Division in the Obama-Holder Department of Justice. Not surprisingly, he is a zealot who is stretching the responsibilities of the office to the breaking point.

Byron York reports over at the Washington Examiner:

Of all the transformations that have taken place in the Obama administration, perhaps none is so radical as that within the Civil Rights Division. Under Perez, it is bigger, richer and more aggressive than ever, with a far more expansive view of its authority than at any time in recent history.

Perez is playing a leading role in the Justice Department's lawsuit against Arizona's new immigration law. He is promising a huge increase in prosecution of alleged hate crimes. He vows to use "disparate impact theory" to pursue discrimination cases where there is no intent to discriminate but a difference in results, such as in test scores or mortgage lending, that Perez wants to change. He is even considering a crackdown on Web sites on the theory that the Internet is a "public accommodation" as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

To do all this, Perez has come up with some novel ideas. For example, in a recent lending discrimination case, he forced the defendant -- who settled the case without admitting any wrongdoing -- to pay not only the alleged victims but to funnel $1 million to unrelated "qualified organizations" to conduct social programs.

Perez is pushing just as hard on smaller issues. In a little-noticed move last year, he threatened several universities because they took part in an experimental program to allow students to use the Amazon Kindle for textbooks. At the time, the Kindle was not fully accessible to blind students, and under pressure from Perez the schools agreed not to offer the e-reader to any students until it was fully accessible to all

His office has been showered with money ever since Barack Obama took office; and he has boasted that the staffing levels have been soaring. We can never have enough Inquisitors. In his past life (not back when he was Torquemada, but when he worked for liberal lion Ted Kennedy) he pushed for in-state tuition and drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants (remember when this issue tripped up Hillary Clinton during the 2008 debates?). Perez's own words show what his focus will be:

" There are "our Muslim-American brothers and sisters subject to post-9/11 backlash" and "communities of color disproportionately affected by the subprime meltdown," and "LGBT brothers and sisters ... forced to confront discrimination" and "all too many children lacking quality education."

Well that is quite a portfolio of special interest groups. Granted, his division is charged with enforcing civil rights laws. But under his leadership (and that of Obama and Holder) his department will be supercharged to engage in the same type of ideological extremism that came to light regarding a figure such as Van Jones (I would not be surprised if Glenn Beck  tries to make Perez his next trophy).

As Perez continues his campaign of advocacy (more appropriate for left-wing advocacy groups, as York notes) he will bring disrepute on his office. After a while, Americans will tire of being called "racists" and his zealotry will boomerang. Americans will be more divided than ever before as Perez and company separates us into favored groups and disfavored groups.

Is this a job requirement for officials in the Obama administration? We certainly see a raft of new laws passed by Congress and signed by Obama that follow this agenda (ObamaCare; Fin Reg; the new Consumer Agency-all have provisions mandating preferences for minorities). What happened to the candidate who promised to unite us? That pose vanished once Obama moved into the Oval Office.

Businesses will tire of being slapped with lawsuit after lawsuit-and send jobs overseas. People will be tired of being slurred as being biased and will send their votes to people who take a more rational view of America. We have had enough guilt trips. That mentality might be pervasive on college campuses and left-wing salons but doesn't play well in Peoria.

After awhile (and I think this time is fast approaching) Americans will tire of being condemned as cowards when it comes discussing race . We will seek leaders who are proud to be Americans (unlike Michelle Obama, now spending taxpayer dollars at a deluxe resort in Marbella) and who do not view our nation as a land of benighted bigots.