Holder blames scrutiny of DOJ on racism

Discussion in 'Politics' started by 377OHMS, Dec 22, 2011.

  1. 377OHMS

    377OHMS

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...-scrutiny-justice-department-actions/#content


    Eriic Holder is once again under fire from Republicans -- this time for pulling the race card to dismiss critics of his tenure as attorney general.

    The attorney general cited race in explaining why a "more extreme segment" of his critics were going after him. "This is a way to get at the president because of the way I can be identified with him, both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we're both African-American," Holder said in an interview with The New York Times.

    Holder has faced more congressional scrutiny than any member of President Obama's Cabinet. Calls for his resignation on Capitol Hill have mounted as the investigation into the ATF's Fast and Furious gunrunning probe intensifies. The Republican presidential candidates are as united in calling for Holder's resignation as they are in calling for the repeal of the federal health care overhaul.

    Holder's Republican detractors have been aggravated by the Justice Department's lawsuits against states pursuing crackdowns on illegal immigrants, its decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court and several other initiatives.

    And Republicans rejected the notion that race had anything to do with it.

    J.C. Watts, a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma, told Fox News that the criticism of Holder appears to be based on the Justice Department's actions.

    "I think it's fair criticism. When you look at Fast and Furious ... when you look at guns ending up in the hands of drug lords and criminals south of the border, I think that's fair criticism," he said.

    Watts, who is black, cautioned against jumping to cite race as a motivation for criticism, something he said both parties are guilty of doing.

    "I think it cheapens and it weakens the legitimate claims of racism," he said. "I think racism is obviously alive and well, but I think it cheapens it when we so quickly and in such cavalier ways, we often jump to that. Now I'm not saying that the attorney general's being cavalier. ... He probably honestly feels like that."

    Dan Gerstein, a public relations consultant, also said Holder's remarks were probably a reflection of his own "frustration."

    But Gerstein questioned why the attorney general would take that step when he could just as easily dismiss the criticism of his tenure as a product of partisanship.

    "Crying foul on race is something ... you have to be really, really, really careful with when you're in a position of power," Gerstein said. "To President Obama's credit, he doesn't do that. ... (Holder) should take a cue from his boss."

    Gerstein said Holder runs the risk of marginalizing himself with such a remark.

    Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., said it looks like Holder is playing the "last card in the deck."

    West told The Daily Caller that Holder's "incompetence" is behind the criticism. "It has nothing to do with your race -- it has everything to do with competence, with your character and with your ability to lead the Department of Justice," West said.

    Holder is not the only black Cabinet-level official in the Obama administration. He's just the one who attracts the most partisan scrutiny.

    In his New York Times interview, Holder did not ascribe race as a factor for all his critics, just the "extreme" ones. He accused his critics more generally of playing "Washington gotcha" games and "construing things to make it seem not quite what it was."

    Holder, in testimony earlier this month, decried the gun-walking tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious -- which was tied to the death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry one year ago, as well as the deaths of Mexicans south of the border. Holder has claimed he did not learn about the operation until earlier this year.

    He said at the hearing on Capitol Hill this month that "nobody" in his department has lied, he and urged lawmakers not to let the issue become a "political sideshow."

    Despite Holder's appeals, the controversy is not going away. Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, this week urged Holder to testify before his panel next month.

    Members of the Congressional Black Caucus meanwhile have been divided over the Fast and Furious scandal.

    Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who is Issa's Democratic counterpart on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a CBS "Face the Nation" interview in October that while he doesn't believe Holder knew about the operation early on, he supports the investigation.

    Cummings said he thinks Issa has turned the probe into a "witch hunt" -- however, he said he wants a "responsible and balanced investigation" and vowed to "pursue the facts wherever they may lead."

    Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., though, told The Daily Caller earlier this month that the Fast and Furious fallout is a "manufactured controversy."
     
  2. pspr

    pspr

    Obama's favorables should be aournd 5% after he refuses to get rid of the most corrupt DOD AG in my lifetime.
     
  3. +1
     
  4. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    The exact same thing can be said of Obama of course.
     
  5. Holder wants to have it both ways. He's the affirmative action trophy child, having risen to the top of the legal profession for the same reason Obama was successful, his race. As AG, he has made race a priority. They now refuse to prosecute voter intimidation or civil rights cases where blacks are the perpetrators. I guess it doesn't fit their victimization template.

    Holder's big idea was to bring islamist terrorists to the US and try them in federal court, where they would have had access to all kinds of intelligence files as part of their due process rights. The soldiers, possibly undercover special ops guys, would have had to appear in court, give their names and addresses, and testify about the circumstances of their apprehension. They would have had years if not decades of appeals and could have been released on bail at any time by some nutcase judge. Holder saw no problems in any of this.

    I give him credit for pulling the plug on the deeply flawed prosecution of the late Senator from Alaska, Ted Stevens, but no actions were taken against the lead Justice attorney, who happened to be a black woman. Similarly, no one has really suffered anything because of Fast and Fuyrious, except the US Attorney for Arizona, who took one for the team. The idiots from ATF are all still on the job, plotting their next attempt to infringe on our rights.

    It's despicable of Holder to claim racism for this. Republican AGs such as Ed Meese, John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales were excoriated by democrats in a series of made-up scandals. None of them had overseen a clusterfuck like Fast and Furious. In fact, the only AG in recent memory as incompetent as Holder was Janet Reno, who proudly took credit for burning up a bunch of innocent children in the Branch Davcdian assault.
     
  6. wjk

    wjk

    And yet many pubs went along with the majority knowing his credentials, or lack of them. I believe these were the Repubs who voted along with the majority for Holder's appointment as head of DOJ. See my comments regarding RINO's here:

    http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/reply.php?s=&action=newreply&postid=3395943

    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)
     
  7. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    Chambiss or Isakson will never get my vote again.

    I'll vote for a goat wearing a neck tie before I support those assholes again.
     
  8. wjk

    wjk

    No surprise that the RINO's on the list voted the way they did. That's to be expected, but I was surprised by names like Sessions and a few others going along. Just because they are not in power doesn't mean they can't take a stand...or maybe to many in the Republican Party it does. It certainly would seem so at times.