It is inevitable that modern attorneys general be the very worst officals of any given administration? It that an artifact of the lawfare that has become the norm in pursuing policy goals?
It is inevitable that modern attorneys general be the very worst officals of any given administration? It that an artifact of the lawfare that has become the norm in pursuing policy goals?
Mostly I’ve been too annoyed with the coverage to think about any larger meaning.
First, the headlines keep insisting that he’s resigning. Which isvtrue, but the headlines make it sound like he’s being forced out rather than leaving in an ordinary manner.
Second, at least one outlet (WaPo I believe) is making a big deal out of the fact that only two original cabinet members remain. Frankly it is a shock that any of them are still around, not a surprise that more aren’t. It’s as though either they’re not paying attention or they believe that none of the rest of us are.
The first Attorney General, Edmund Randolph, was the first cabinet member to be forced to resign in disgrace. I suppose that whether a lawyer’s talents lends itself to the character required of the position might be particularly difficult to ascertain. The tendency has been to eschew character for water carrying.
From Historian Stanley Elkins, Randolph “was rather a pitiable figure, possessed of some talents and surprisingly little malice, but subject to self-absorbed silliness and lapses of good sense.” In the movie to be played by John Cleese.
Yes, I thought of mentioning Randolph. It seems that extreme loyalty to the president as a primary qualification for AG goes back to the very beginnings of the Republic.
What exactly was so unusual or terrible about Holder? As far as I can tell, he’s a deep establishment figure who served at a time when the establishment went totally schizo. That he ended up divisive or whatever is simply because of his race, and the fact that his version of civil rights did not square with Rush Limbaugh’s.
When, Modulo, did you change your name from Michael Reynolds?
It’s amazing how wonderful Obama and Holder are that not one single person on the left can find one single thing that either of them haven’t done perfectly. All criticism is solely because the critics are racist. Brings to mind the Soviets throwing dissidents into mental institutes for being crazy enough to question the science of Marxism/Leninism.
It’s funny–I asked why he’s so terrible and yet there’s no response as to why. It’s only to blame the left for noticing that people hate him for being divisive on race. You guys don’t like black people! It’s not hard. The perverse privilege to be racist and to be indignant about being called a racist is no longer yours. Get used to it. Pick a side.
Seriously, Holder was awful on drone killings, drugs, and the financial sector, but is that why he’s so bad? Is that what drove the fury?
Obama and Holder are totally establishment figures. They are as conservative as you can get. That they’ve ended up being the enemies of half of the country is due to race and this half’s tenuous grasp of everything relating to reality and competence.
You’re saying that as though it were a good thing.
My point is less that he was terrible in some way his predecessors weren’t than that he was typical. Gonzalez, Ashcroft, Reno, Meese, Mitchell, just to name a few that come to mind.
Holder was the first Cabinet Official to be held in Criminal Contempt of Congress by the House, on not entirely party-line votes. The appearance is that Holder, as staunch defender of the establishment, was protecting a friend or two at the ATF. (MM: Any controversy involving the ATF or the IRS are going to blow-up on the right, regardless of the race of the people involved, see Janet Reno and Louis Lerner)
My biggest complaints were (a) refusal to defend the law (DOMA) as is the obligation of the chief legal officer of the United States, whether he likes the law or not, and (b) the bungled and confusing support for drug legalization, a deadly trap for the unwary.
I don’t think it was a good thing. Usually establishment figures get some recognition for being part of the establishment. What’s been startling about the Obama presidency is how endemic the lack of recognition is.
The ATF and IRS things are perfect examples. The IRS had issues with a brand-new classification of interest group. The classification was created by DC lawyers. Vast sums of money were involved. There was confusion. In the end, nothing happened. But through the lens of the right–worse than Nixon.
And the ATF–my god, government agents have crazy schemes to fight the unwinnable drug war. It’s a plot to take away your guns, or something!
The bottom line is if you come from Goldman Sachs to a political position and the other party thinks you’re a Black Panther-like radical figure, there’s absolutely you can say or do to convince them otherwise, because the thought itself is built out of bullshit and bigotry.
I thought Doug had it right. He is pretty much like every other AG. Still don’t understand the fuss over F&F.
Steve
Complaints against Holder fall into three broad categories:
1. Highly selective enforcement of the laws of the land;
2. More aggressive than usual (and this is saying something) efforts to impede Congress from exercising its oversite functions; and
3. Going out of his way to be divisive on race issues all the while claiming to do the opposite.
As for charges of racism: they’re the last resort of scoundrels these days, and the first resort of Democrats. Which tells you just how repulsive Democrats are as human beings these days.
“3. Going out of his way to be divisive on race issues all the while claiming to do the opposite.
As for charges of racism: they’re the last resort of scoundrels these days”
These two cancel each other out.
Steve
Refusal to prosecute a single senior banker for what the FBI identified as “an epidemic” of fraud is why Holder ranks as possibly the worst AG in American history. One thousand convictions were obtained during the S&L crisis which was orders of magnitude smaller and where fewer tools for auccessful prosecution were available.
He was more interested in shaking the bank money trees, Ben.
No they don’t, Steve. Holder made a point of calling Americans cowards about race issues. He’s stated that a good deal of opposition to him and the President is solely due to racism, etc. They’re part and parcel of the same thing; namely doing everything possible to put their enemies in a situation where they would be constantly defending themselves against trivialities instead of addressing anything of substance, thereby relieving the Administration of the need to do same.
Not at all unlike the Soviet practice of calling dissidents insane or traitorous. But racism resonates much more with an American audience.
Ben, that was never going to happen. The writing was on the wall for that topic when we were told Turbo Timmay was the only person who could save the economy. If one of the key figures that allowed all of this to happen was to be put in charge of the “rescue” instead of thrown in jail … Well, you wouldn’t expect the AG to do anything when the boss had made it clear who was really calling the shots.
He was more interested in shaking the bank money trees, Ben.
Godddamn right he was. Had to protect the party donors and his old job as corporate attorney, otherwise he’d end up like Bill Black at some no-name university in the mid-west.
I would add to that the failure to prosecute the torture people. But, the last 2 or 3 AGs before Holder weren’t prosecuting bankers or torturers either. Not sure why he gets singled out as worst.
Steve
Maybe he doesn’t prosecute cases he cannot win. Maybe losing such prosecutions might be worse than not bringing a prosecution at all. Maybe Holder should not have brought all of those cases the DOJ lost. Maybe losing civil rights actions on election laws emboldens other states to pass those same laws. Does he get credit for intentions or outcomes?
You bring up an interesting point, PD. The Obama Administration has lost an extraordinary number of Supreme Court cases unanimously. Now it might be that the explanation for that is the president but at some point the AG bears responsibility, too. Thinking otherwise suggests a breach of fiduciary and professional responsibility.
Prosecuting high-up Bush people for torture would have been FANTASTIC. A concerned nation of aspiring Eichmanns, all busy trying to sound deep and mournful about the complicated legal positions re: torture at Gitmo and other places. Most likely, the Justice Department would have trouble keeping its prosecution from being convinced by the defense. It’s virtually impossible to imagine bullshit obedience not carrying the day, but who can tell?
Ice- I can refer you to any number of sites where you can read outright racism. I could, if it were ethical, forward the emails from my Tea Party email group. All professionals. According to them Obama is lazy, stupid, lusts after white women and is only in the job because he is black. All the racial stereotypes. Then come with me up to the small town where they openly say they can’t wait to see the n#gger out of office.
So there are plenty of valid reasons to criticize Obama and Holder. It is not racist to criticize them. However, there is no doubt it underlies a lot of the hatred.
Holder’s legacy will be a muddled one, as it will be streamed through two political filters having two very opposing outcomes. The claim made in President Obama’s comments yesterday, though, are particularly grating to me — the ones describing Holder as “The People’s Attorney,” as nothing could be further from the truth.
Holder was in fact a faithful worker-bee of the president’s policies and ideology, with his six years of DOJ service being fully invested in dutifully, even skillfully, complying with the will of the President. Consequently, his work was selectively employed to constituencies favored by and thus favorable to the president, not the people at large, in resourcefully implementing, with any means possible, to see that the President’s domestic agenda was carried out. If it meant skirting his obligation to the Constitution and federal law, like not representing DOMA or his legal interpretation of the PPACA perimeters, federal immigration laws, civil rights, Welfare Reform Law, Voting Rights/ Voter ID Laws etc. it was done. If it meant eavesdropping on or attempting to control the press, so be it. If it meant stonewalling, handing over only a symbolic quantity of documents, rather than the quality ones repeatedly requested by the various Congressional hearings delving into multiple claims of wrongdoing (IRS, F & F, Benghazi etc.), then it was done. If it meant exploiting some events, like Ferguson or Travon Martin, while turning a blind eye to other equally disturbing ones, such as Chicago’s daily violence, other over-the-top cop-killings involving white victims or black cops, then that’s what he did — all with the MSM and infamous Jackson/Sharpton race hustlers in tow.
IMO, Holder has not used the opportunity of being the people’s first black to head the DOJ, along with the prestige of a black POTUS, to raise the bar on racial relations. Instead, both men have dug a deeper hole of understanding and fairness between races — pandering to and using race for their own political pursuits — resulting in more resentment, greater fissures between races, and little overall quality-of-life improvement for anyone. They have also spread this contentiousness to other demographics as well — greater gender and class divisiveness — more for the purposes of party growth at the expense of national cohesiveness.
Furthermore, any disgruntlement about Holder’s questionable legal calls and actions were treated by the almost failsafe remedy of pulling out the racial card. Such irresponsible, senseless diatribes, laced with resounding racial indignation, was his way of silencing other branches of government from interceding in the policies that he and Obama wanted to have go forth, undisturbed by any cross talk or dissent.
Also, F & F, unlike what Steve thinks, was a big deal, being an under-the-radar federally approved/funded gun-running venture, that ran amok, was exposed by an internal whistle blower, who was then discredited, as all Obama Whistle blowers have been. F & F investigations then went into a now-familiar passive-aggressive mode comprised of foot-dragging evidence, rationalizations that past administrations had similar faux pas, eventually ending up with Holder being held in contempt of court for not cooperating with Congress — legal proceedings which are now going forward, despite Obama’s presidential efforts to shield him through issuing an overriding EO, meant to keep Holder out of the F & F investigational fray
Generally, though, I don’t see Eric Holder as resigning in disgrace. I think he’s doing so because he has become an anchor around the president’s neck — being so highly unpopular with the midterms upon us — like a Chaney was to Bush. I don’t think his presence, however, will sink into the woodwork of time, as we will see him reemerge in some other powerful position.
Sadly, however, I see Eric Holder’s most remembered legacy as being one that was squandered. Because, instead of using the high stature he achieved, converting it to an inspirational endorsement for every mans’/womans’ fulfillment of life, dreams, and character cultivation — healing the nation as a whole — he misused it, has misread, even distorted events, and has zealously applied the DOJ’s authority to vent the animus apparently felt and carried around with him for a lifetime.
Steve, I just don’t believe you. Don’t forget that you and Michael and modulo and all the rest of the sycophants have been calling me a racist for the last seven years for not kissing Obama’s ass. As well as Jan, and drew, and so on. And whatever other opinions I might have about drew or Jan I don’t think they’re a pair of closet Klan members.
I’ve heard so much of that shit directed at people SOLELY for not being sufficiently worshipful of Dear Leader that I just don’t believe a goddamned thing people like you say on the issue anymore.
And yes, Steve, you and Reynolds have called me racist in the past categorical statements such as, “The only reason anyone would possibly object to ObamaCare is because they’re racist” was a statement Reynolds loved to bandy about and you loved to echo.
And you know the key thing about categorical statements is that they are CATEGORICAL.
After seven years of this shit I don’t believe in anything Dems say anymore unless there’s incontrovertible evidence to back it up. Like the existence of the Khorosan Group, lol.
Steve you could say the same thing about certain members of any racial background. Racism is equal opportunity. It’s just that there currently is particular political advantage in focusing on whites who hold that view about blacks. Anyone who cannot perceive that is not particularly perceptive or of substance.
Ice,
Everybody (not just you) is called a racist should they say anything negative about Obama’s or Holder’s policies, leadership qualities, competence, or ability to follow the law. Somehow, it’s been impossible to view a liberal black’s performance solely on what you think of these qualities, without ethnicity first entering the picture should such ratings be anything but acceptable to wonderful.
This, however, seems to be mainly a democratic trait, as ethnic republicans do not get a similar racial pass. In fact a black republican is even more severely judged for not joining in with the brotherhood of black democrats, accompanied by demeaning names that ironically (and hypocritically) fail to meet a democrats definition of racist. Instead such ridicule is somehow rationalized as deserved, according to the creed of the liberal left, who have indiscriminately stamped ideological black outsiders to be nothing more than traitors to the black community and their long standing, unhealed list of grievances.
I also find it interesting that all you rich cultured white folk are surrounded (socially) by Klansmen, when I’m not. I’ve got friends who are self-described rednecks and evangelicals and tea partiers and combinations thereof and yet I’m not bombarded with all those nigger cracks. Well, not from white people. I can hear blacks call each other nigger every day by just hanging out in front of my house.
And wait, I just remembered someone else! There was that one friend, but I quit her back in 2008. She kept complaining about how awful the GD Ns were all the time, and that whenever they got elected they’d screw everything up yadda yadda. Of course, she was a life-long Democrat from Philly, and was quite open about her desires for complete confiscation of wealth and whatnot. Also an ardent Hillary! supporter. Once Obama secured the nomination, though, she started accusing me of being a Nazi, literally called me a Nazi on several occasions, because I wouldn’t worship the nigger, which is what she still called him in private. So I guess I have heard it around.
But I pity you poor rich white folk, surrounded by people wearing that other kind of hoodie. It must be terribly frightening. Fear the hoodie!
Jan, there are several funny aspects to it.
First, the best way to understand Obama is to completely ignore who his father is. Take that away and it’s clear who he is: an upper-middle-class white kid, the son of a radical leftist, who went to nothing but private schools and then a collection of the best universities in America. When it comes right down to it, he’s born and bred elite white man.
But throw his father’s background and he gets even more going for him, because now he’s also black. Of course, the blackest thing about him, from an American cultural standpoint, is his white mother, as most if not all American blacks have at least one honky in the woodpile. So Obama is the dream of the liberal monied and cultural elites: a black man who isn’t black at all. No wonder they creamed themselves over the crease of his pants. He’s one of them AND one of the oppressed all at the same time!
Which gets to the second amusing point: Obama really did get promoted and eventually elected President because he was a black man (no one with a resume that thin could get that far without some exotic hook), and culturally Obama isn’t black at all. It’s a fine joke on American blacks that the only president they’ll likely ever get isn’t one of them at all. (They’re going to be swallowed whole by the tidal wave of Hispanics in general and Mexicans in particular.)
But this also helps explain the reaction of some people that Obama must be a Muslim. It’s because deep down these people just can’t except that their co-ethnic elites hate their fucking guts and would just assume put all of them in gas chambers. Obama is no different than Hillary or Reid or Pelosi or warren Buffett or Leo di caprio or those fine folks who write for the Times or the ivy league professors that taught them. Or, for that matter, Boehner, McConnell, the Koch brothers or those worthies at the Weekly Standard and such. It’s much easier and more comforting to believe that that the guy with the funny name and strange looks is just a closet Muslim. Much less depressing than the truth, too.
One final thing, and then I’m going back to reading about the Rwandan/Congolese wars of the last twenty years*:
Steve states that one can object to the policies of Obama and holder without resort to racism. Can anyone remember Steve ever allowing for any criticism of Obama at all? Within a week or so he will be telling everyone how wonderful Obama’s ISIS and Khorosan policies are.
* Reading about those wars makes for an interesting tonic for all the US domestic diversity/racism bullshit. Get back to me, Steve, when all those nasty white people try to exterminate all those awful blacks with a bunch of machetes. You’ll be able to tell who’s who by the shapes of their skulls, LMAO!
This is just an adjunct piece reiterating my opinion on the importance of F & F, rather than adhering to Steve’s opinion that it didn’t merit the attention some are giving it. However, according to Sharyl Attkisson, someone who I think has deservedly earned the title of “intrepid” reporter, such an assumption is simply incorrect. Attkisson, though, is one of those reporters who has separated herself from herd reporting, going against the grain of MSM bosses in order to seek non-partisan clarity and truth regarding uncomfortable issues of the day.
Such restriction of information by Holder and the Obama Administration was also noted by a joint letter recently written by some 47 IGs. It was called an ‘unprecedented” move by so many in this position of legal oversight — one that was also underreported in the fabulous MSM.
Ice- I have never called you racist. I have never called anyone on the internet racist. Feel free to find an example. You won’t.
Drew- Sure. And if you know or live with and/or work with black people in an urban setting, it sure gets complicated. You will meet some of the finest people you will ever want to know. You will also meet people, more than a few, who seem determined to live up (down?) to the worst of all possible stereotypes. So I can certainly see where some of those attitudes develop. I can also see, as you point out, that there is often political advantage in catering to and nurturing those hostilities. I agree with you that people call others racist way too often, and it is usually done by the left. However, I think you are naive if you think that means it does not exist.
I will confess that it has been a bit shocking to hear it from people with professional degrees. It didn’t seem especially shocking from my brother who works at WalMart, though he hasnt said a thing my sister got married. Or the older folks in coal country. Or, occasionally, at the pistol range. I had thought that since there is no rational reason to hate people because of their color, it was mostly a legacy thing or economic. It really made me reassess my prejudices and priors when I heard it from educated people.
Steve
Whether you agree with them or not, here we clearly see that the Editors of NR are racists and incapable of leveling anything but race based criticism of EH.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388913/eric-holders-rap-sheet-editors
Whether you agree with them or not, here we clearly see that the Editors of NR are racists and incapable of leveling anything but race based criticism of EH.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388913/eric-holders-rap-sheet-editors
As for the state of racial realities and commentary, here we find a blunt observation of how “educated people” engage in racist reporting, though not what you might think.
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/27/the-media-embargo-on-the-b-word/
No agendas, you understand.
Lord, how I wish our society could get past all this crap. I’m so tired of it. Bored with it, to tell the truth.
I’d bet you guys are, too. Drew, Steve, Michael and I are all about the same age.
It’s been 50 years since the Civil Rights Act was passed.
I don’t have the energy to be a racist, but I will admit to being a lot more careful around black people, based on experiences, not imagination. A qualification here, not old black people, not little kids, not the worker at the store in his apron, but young, loud groups wearing low slung pants walking in the middle of the street. Now these described groups ARE black, as I’ve never seen an equivalent group of white kids, unless they are a sports team headed home from practice wearing uniforms. They cause me no concern. So tell me why I shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate based on experience and observation. If you don’t know what I’m talking about maybe you don’t live in my neighborhood and the only black people you know are on the T.V.
Jesse Jackson has expressed much the same thought, GS.
GS- I suspect you are also cautious around groups of white young men who are loud, drinking, and walking down the middle of the street. IOW, what you are doing is rational. Most assaults in our country are by young males.
Steve
As a woman, I’d have more fear of the white kids than the black kids. If I were a man, I think I’d fear the black kids more, because a white man would represent an authority figure.
Black kids seem to have more respect for older women than white kids do. Probably because so many were raised by their grandmothers and aunties.
One way to garner respect from black kids of either sex is to show older black women respect in their presence. That’ll win hearts every time.
Monroe, LA, where I live now, is 63% black.
http://youtu.be/NdiRhzTsSnk