Patterico's Pontifications

8/4/2014

Eric Holder: Activist Attorney General And Proud Of It

Filed under: General — Dana @ 5:16 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Attorney General Eric Holder was recently interviewed and discussed race and activism, among other things:

He is … critical of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts’ famous formula — “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race” — troubles him.

“There are still [racial] issues we as a society are working our way through,” Holder said. “And the lack of desire to do that, I think, undermines the ability that I think is inherent in the American people to make progress. But it also does not prepare us for demographic changes, the likes of which this country has never seen.”

He added: “The justice system is part of the larger society and to the extent there are racial issues we are still grappling with, it is not a shock that you are going to see them in the justice system… [There is] a whole range of ways the justice system, if it is run properly, can make this country the country it wants to be.”

Further in the interview, the accusation made by conservatives that Holder is an activist, was addressed. As he put it, it’s the result of his digging into “policies [with] disproportionate impact on communities of color.”

“If you want to call me an activist attorney general, I will proudly accept that label,” he said. “Any attorney general who is not an activist is not doing his or her job. The responsibility of the attorney general is to change things [and] bring us closer to the ideals expressed in our founding documents.”

Later, he defiantly added that critics who say his department includes an “activist civil rights division and this is an activist attorney general — I’d say I agree with you 1000 percent and [I am] proud of it.”

And of course, the infamous nation of cowards accusation he made against, well, all of us, also came up. He made the accusation because he believed the collective ‘we’ do not wish to have a serious dialogue about racial disparities and outcomes in our nation. Of course, he did not clarify that said discussion can only have one acceptable outcome:

Disparate racial outcomes “are not only shameful and unacceptable – they impede our ability to see that justice is done,” Holder said. “And they perpetuate cycles of poverty, crime and incarceration that trap individuals, destroy communities and decimate minority neighborhoods.”

Ironically, the interview took place in Philadelphia… you know, where the Black Panthers staked out the polling station intimidating voters… and the subsequent charges against the New Black Panther Party were dismissed. By the Attorney General.

–Dana

24 Responses to “Eric Holder: Activist Attorney General And Proud Of It”

  1. The only cowards in his calculus are people like Eric Holder, those that wish to demagogue the issue as opposed to honest discussion.

    JD (8fa684)

  2. As said, he is not interested in an honest discussion, he is interested in people agreeing with him. One cannot have a discussion with someone who thinks they know what’s best, when they don’t.
    One can have a more fruitful discussion with the Lord God Almighty than with AG Holder, as He actually does know what’s best.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  3. He’s always willing to have an honest discussion with you racist scum.

    Kevin M (b357ee)

  4. “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”

    There is always a flip side.

    Kevin M (b357ee)

  5. Tar/feathers…some assembly required.

    Gazzer (e04ef7)

  6. “closer to the ideals expressed in our founding documents”

    Somehow I suspect that he is not referring to the same documents that I am thinking of.

    felipe (40f0f0)

  7. “Any attorney general who is not an activist is not doing his or her job. The responsibility of the attorney general is to change things[….]”

    I thought it was the AG’s job to enforce the law. Said law should be enforced in an evenhanded manner that also comports with the Constitution, but the idea that we need to “change things” and that any change is necessarily good is… misguided and naive, at best.

    bridget (37b281)

  8. So, Holder blatantly admitted his job is to politicize his department, not enforce the law.

    Doesn’t this just prove conservatives have been right about him all along as well as prove our suspicions about the EPA, the IRS, etc., are correct?

    Steve57 (ba12a7)

  9. 6. “closer to the ideals expressed in our founding documents”

    Somehow I suspect that he is not referring to the same documents that I am thinking of.

    felipe (40f0f0) — 8/4/2014 @ 7:30 pm

    He’s referring to the communist manifesto. Just like when President Beiber talks about being some sort of a constitutional expert, he’s talking about the Soviet one.

    By “our founding documents,” he means the ones he, Prom Queen, and Bill Ayers based their original student activism on. Not the same documents our country is based upon.

    Steve57 (ba12a7)

  10. Eric Holder needs to be impeached for at minimum violating his oath of office. He obviously is incompetent at his job if he really believes what he says.

    “If you want to call me an activist attorney general, I will proudly accept that label,” he said. “Any attorney general who is not an activist is not doing his or her job. The responsibility of the attorney general is to change things [and] bring us closer to the ideals expressed in our founding documents.”

    Any attorney general who is an activist in their job and believes that he is above the law and must change things is not doing their job and must be fired. Here, let me fix this for you.

    “Any attorney general who is an activist is not doing his or her job.”

    Impeach attorney general Eric Holder.

    Tanny O'Haley (87b2aa)

  11. Oh, it is racist to even mention the long debunked Faux News black panther meme.

    JD (8fa684)

  12. I don’t mind negros taking a free ride on the affirmative action bus their entire life. It’s only when they pretend the free pass is oppression and start lobbying for reclining seats and snack tray that it starts to piss me off.

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  13. Don’t forget Eric Holder was confirmed in the Senate 75-21 (even though Holder’s key role in the Marc Rich pardon in exchange for cash for Bill Clinton was well known).

    Here are the Republicans who voted to approve Holder’s appointment. There are some surprises in addition to the usual RINOs. Given the opportunity, one wonders which of the 19 would like to take that vote back and which ones would gladly do it all over again.

    Alexander (R-TN)
    Bennett (R-UT)
    Bond (R-MO)*
    Chambliss (R-Ga)
    Collins (R-ME)
    Corker (R-TN)
    Graham (R-SC)
    Grassley (R-IA)
    Gregg (R-NH)
    Hatch (R-UT)
    Isakson (R-GA)
    Kyl (R-AZ)
    Lugar (R-IN)
    McCain (R-AZ)
    Murkowski (R-AK)
    Sessions (R-AL)
    Snowe (R-ME)
    Specter (R-PA)
    Voinovich (R-OH)

    *Bond was going to vote against Holder but changed his mind because Holder was such a good listener.

    ropelight (359d46)

  14. ” [There is] a whole range of ways the justice system, if it is run properly, can make this country the country it wants to be.”

    Enforce the laws as they apply to everyone equally, shltheel.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  15. The Curse of Toensing and diGenova continues…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  16. Holder is doing an incredible job as scandal goalie for the administration. As such, he is one of the hardest working AG’s we’ve ever had.

    tweell (1f7110)

  17. ropelight (359d46) — 8/5/2014 @ 7:28 am
    NO LONGER IN SENATE:
    Bennett – Primaried;
    Gregg;
    Kyl;
    Lugar – Primaried;
    Snowe;
    Specter;
    Voinovich.

    Retiring: Chambliss.

    Should be retiring: Sessions.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  18. “Should be retiring: Sessions.”

    askeptic – Sessions is doing a pretty good job right now bringing attention to the lawlessness of our Semi-retired President.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  19. He reflects the corruption of the legal profession generally – at the commanding heights especially – a corruption both intellectual and moral.

    Things you might do to effect partial repairs would be to scarify the federal penal code (hint: an offense described with the phrase “crossing state lines with intent to…” is probably humbug); eliminate employment discrimination law entirely, allow localities to opt out of pre-clearance of voting rights ordinances by adopting proportional representation or ordinal balloting, and strip the federal courts of jurisdiction to second-guess state and local civil service exams; radically simplify the tax code; fold the investigatory agencies into Homeland Security as part of an effort to create a proper federal police department; have the attorney-general and u.s. attorney’s serve non-renewable fixed terms (subject to dismissal by a joint-resolution of Congress); and provide for a scheme to compensate people for portions of their legal expenses in criminal cases to be paid for out of the U.S. Attorney’s budget (say, the portion of the original bill of particulars which did not stick).

    Art Deco (ee8de5)

  20. 13. Don’t forget Eric Holder was confirmed in the Senate 75-21 (even though Holder’s key role in the Marc Rich pardon in exchange for cash for Bill Clinton was well known).

    ropelight (359d46) — 8/5/2014 @ 7:28 am

    Don’t forget, Eric Holder demonstrably lied to successfully get through that confirmation hearing.

    He told the Senate at that hearing that he didn’t really know who Marc Rich was when he recommended the pardon. Just as he told Congress, when it investigated the outrageous Marc Rich pardon in 2001, that “Mr. Rich’s name was unfamiliar to me.”

    He knew who Marc Rich was.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/226728/unpardonable-holders-marc-rich-shuffle/andrew-c-mccarthy

    1995: MR. RICH’S NAME WAS PRETTY FAMILIAR AFTER ALL
    To be clear, years before the pardon scandal convinced him it was in his interest to make like he barely knew Rich’s name, Holder had bragged to the media about how his office was cracking down on Rich, an international fugitive who had duped the government out of loads of cash. Contrary to his congressional testimony that he’d never heard of Rich before 1999, Holder had unquestionably been aware of Rich’s name and history four years earlier; in fact, it was solely because of Rich that Holder extracted a $1.2 million settlement in a federal civil action.

    Doesn’t it remind everyone of his F&F testimony, when he lied about when he first heard of the gun running program?

    But in a way, who can blame him? Clearly this crowd enjoys being lied to.

    Steve57 (ba12a7)

  21. But in a way, who can blame him? Clearly this crowd enjoys being lied to.

    What’s been distressing is that two of the last five Democratic administrations seem to have been systemically sociopathic and two, while not, were captained by deeply immoral men. That’s four of the five Democratic administrations since 1960. What do you do when half the political class is assembled into a criminal organization?

    Art Deco (ee8de5)

  22. Good men, rough and true, gird their loins and water the Tree of Liberty.

    ropelight (359d46)

  23. daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 8/5/2014 @ 10:34 am

    My Bad!
    You’re right, he’s doing quite well.
    I confused him with Cochran, from MS.
    You know how it is, all those Southern Senators look alike.

    askeptic (efcf22)

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