Attorney Generals to a greater or lesser degree hold personal biases; some can set aside their beliefs to represent the interests of all the people. The current Attorney General, Eric Holder, cannot separate his own political agenda from his job, making him of little value to the public; in fact Holder poses a threat to rule of law in the U.S.
The U.S. Attorney General is the one position in the president’s cabinet that one should expect to have no political agenda. The Attorney General serves multiple roles: they give their advice and opinion on questions of law when required by the president, they serve as the chief law enforcement officer of the U.S., they act as senior representative to the U.S. Supreme Court for all government matters and lead the Department of Justice.
Holder’s partiality has been highlighted since he was first confirmed. During the 2008 election members of the New Black Panthers stood outside a polling place in Pennsylvania holding batons. The men were charged with voter intimidation. Holder chose not to prosecute the case when it represented a clear violation of U.S. voter rights.
Most voters aren’t aware that Holder’s questionable conduct can be traced further back in time. During the Clinton Administration Holder served as the Deputy Attorney General at the Justice Department. Bill Clinton’s highly controversial decision to pardon Marc Rich, billionaire commodities trader and member of the FBI’s ten most-wanted list, was swept under the carpets when Holder gave the administration cover by recommending the pardon from the Justice Department.
Two years after the first New Black Panthers matter, emboldened by Holder turning a blind eye to the offense, the mid-term elections were fouled by another episode of voter intimidation, when a Panther was spotted outside a polling place in Philadelphia. Since the original episode the New Black Panthers have been spotted at polling places in several other states.
Also while Holder was Deputy U.S. Attorney General he openly pushed the department’s pardons division to press for the release of members of FALN, listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization. After the recommendation of the Justice Department was received Clinton commuted their sentence and they were released.
These stories are but a drop in the bucket of Holder’s “pre-AG” behavior that should’ve been enough to keep him from passing Senate review, but with a Senate dominated by Democrats President Obama got what he wanted.
Since becoming Attorney General Holder has allowed his political leanings to dominate his agenda. Shortly after taking office Holder announced that he planned to try terrorists in U.S. courts. The outcry from the public forced Holder to back down.
Holder steered the course of U.S. law by refusing to prosecute cases under “Don’t ask/Don’t Tell,” the U.S. law that would allow gay soldiers to stay in the military as long as they didn’t display their sexual preference openly. The Congress buried a repeal of the law into a defense authorization bill, which passed on a party-line vote in December, 2010, followed by rapid implementation by the U.S. military.
As Attorney General Holder reigns over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF.) Under Holder’s questionable management perhaps the greatest scandal in recent history, Project Gunrunner/Fast and Furious lead to the release of hundreds of guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels and the death of Brian Terry, U.S. Customs agent.
Last year Holder announced that the Justice Department would actively seek to stop South Carolina from implementing a voter photo ID requirement. The case remains open, but it served as the first effort by a U.S. Attorney General to interfere with state voter laws.
In an attempt to prevent fraudulent voting, the State of Florida began reviewing voting rolls and purging names of illegal aliens and convicted felons. In the Spring of 2012 Holder spoke out on voting restrictions and then ordered the Justice Department to stop Florida from purging voting rolls in a clear attempt to bolster President Obama’s long-shot chances of winning the state in November; holder would prefer criminals vote than lose his job.
Eric Holder’s history is one of an extreme left-wing radical that only believes in the rule of law when it supports his own agenda. If not for President Obama having a majority in the U.S. Senate when Holder was nominated this political hack would have never made it through the confirmation hearings. On the other hand, Holder has accomplished one thing of note: he is, by all measures, the most partisan and least competent Attorney General in U.S. History.
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