Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Rising Above: The Remarkable Legacy Of Attorney General Eric Holder (Wait, he's serious!)
PoliticusUSA - Real Liberal Politics ^ | September 27, 2014 | Trevor LaFauci

Posted on 09/27/2014 5:41:51 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Winston Churchill once said, “You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something in your life.”

Is no instance is this quote more applicable than the tenure of Attorney General Eric Holder, who stepped down on Thursday after leading the Department of Justice for six years and in, turn, became a prime target for Republicans intent on destroying everything that both he and the Obama Administration stood for. Despite constant attacks, as well as deliberate misinformation by Republicans, Holder stood strong and for six years became a champion for civil rights, gay rights, and voting rights. Holder himself acknowledged what the Department of Justice had been able to accomplish despite overwhelming opposition, when he stated in an April 2014 speech:

"The last five years have been defined by significant strides and by lasting reforms even in the face, even in the face of unprecedented, unwarranted, ugly and divisive adversity."

In other words, eat your heart out Republicans.

Because despite everything they threw at Holder, despite every subtle and overt insult, despite every act of subterfuge, despite every call for resignation, Holder not only survived but excelled. There’s a reason why President Barack Obama stated that Holder had done a “superb job” in his speech announcing Holder’s resignation on Thursday. Because despite it all, Holder left a larger than life legacy as the nation’s first African American Attorney General. Despite six years of manufactured outrage from Conservatives, Eric Holder was still able to enact positive change for millions of Americans throughout the country.

At the forefront of Holder’s legacy will be his stance on marriage equality. As the Supreme Court appears poised on rule on nation-wide gay marriage in the coming year, Holder should be seen as a driving force toward this country advancing toward marriage equality. As Attorney General, he was integral in the Obama Administration’s decision in 2011 to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, which led to the Supreme Court overturning DOMA in United States v. Windsor. Gay rights group consistently credited Holder with advancing their cause as more and more states have legalized gay marriage. Holder offered up the simple yet elegant justification of his support for marriage equality when he said, “We must endeavor — in all of our efforts — to uphold and advance the values that once led our forebears to declare unequivocally that all are created equal and entitled to equal opportunity.”

In addition, Holder used his position as Attorney General to enact positive change regarding the United States’ failed drug war. He went on record as having endorsed shorter sentences for drug offenders now in prison. Along with these shorter sentences, Holder was also an advocate for using rehabilitation instead of jailing drug offenders and has also been a strong advocate for eliminating the disparity as to how the justice system charges defendants in crimes involving either crack or powder cocaine. By raising awareness of these issues, Holder helped create a national discourse regarding the extreme racial disparity that make our nation’s prisons. As someone who grew up in New York City, Holder saw the drug war firsthand and saw the damage it did to low-income communities throughout this country. Because of his experiences and his desire to lessen drug offenses, Holder made history in August of 2013 when he announced the Justice Department would allow the Colorado and Washington state marijuana laws to go into effect, thereby ending marijuana prohibition in this country.

Holder also ruffled some feathers when it came to voting rights, mainly because he believed all people should actually be able to vote. As Republicans continued to attempt to prevent low-income and people of color from voting, Holder made a public push to fight what he called “restrictive state laws” that prevented these people from voting. Holder used his authority in this regard by having the Justice Department sue Texas over its restrictive voter identification regulations. His consummate standing up for voting rights earned him a few enemies, especially from Conservatives who believed Holder was misusing the power of the office and was actually being divisive and tearing the country apart on racial lines. Conservatives saw Holder’s support of equal voting rights as a way to expand executive power and to infringe upon the state’s rights to determine their own standard to identify voters in their states.

And last, but certainly not least, Holder left a powerful impression with his handling of the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. In addition to ordering a civil rights probe into the incident, Holder gave a powerful speech at a community college in August where he talked about his own experiences dealing with race. Holder said, “We have seen a great deal of progress over the years. But we also see problems and these problems stem from mistrust and mutual suspicion … I can remember being stopped on the New Jersey turnpike on two occasions and accused of speeding. Pulled over…. ‘Let me search your car’… Go through the trunk of my car, look under the seats and all this kind of stuff. I remember how humiliating that was and how angry I was and the impact it had on me.” Holder’s speech helped calm the residents of Ferguson and many people felt his presence there made it possible for them to have an open dialogue about race and race relations for the very first time since Michael Brown was killed.

It was this speech that showed Holder at his best: A humble, honest, and caring man who could relate to the experiences of people out there because he shared their struggle and saw how his office could be used for the betterment of all Americans. Despite six years of consummate Republican opposition, including disgraceful behavior on behalf of Congressional Republicans anytime there was a Fast and Furious hearing, Holder remained committed to his goal of providing opportunities for those who previously had none. Through the Justice Department’s work on gay marriage, voting rights, the drug war, and civil rights, Holder was able to leave a lasting legacy of progress and reform that has helped shaped the nation the past six years. Everything he accomplished as Attorney General was done despite overwhelming opposition from a political party hellbent on seeing him fail.

Perhaps Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of civil rights icon Medgar Evans said it best when she said “There has been no greater ally in the fight for justice, civil rights, equal rights and voting rights than Attorney General Holder.”


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: blackkk; blacks; civilrights; demagogicparty; ericholder; ferguson; georgezimmerman; holder; memebuilding; michaelbrown; obama; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; trayvon; trayvonmartin; trevorlafauci
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

1 posted on 09/27/2014 5:41:51 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Juan Williams is spewing the same B.S..

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/09/27/defending-holder-legacy-no-easy-task-for-successor-justice-department-now-pit/


2 posted on 09/27/2014 5:43:44 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Eric Holder couldn’t so much as bring himself to detain fellow traveler (and big Obama bundler) Jon Corzine for questioning after the theft of 1.6 billion dollars of client funds. Among very many other overt failures to uphold the law. The author of this piece is delusional.


3 posted on 09/27/2014 5:45:02 PM PDT by coloradan (The US has become a banana republic, except without the bananas - or the republic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: smokingfrog

juan williams is just a typical LIB. He needs a check-up-from-the-neck-up.


4 posted on 09/27/2014 5:46:30 PM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: smokingfrog
Juan Williams is spewing the same B.S..

Juan is a tool. As I have said before: Fox should have left him at the curb where NPR kicked him.

5 posted on 09/27/2014 5:50:06 PM PDT by windsorknot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: 2ndDivisionVet
they're playing to their ever shrinking choir....






7 posted on 09/27/2014 5:51:54 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey ("Never, Never, Never, Give Up," Winston Churchill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: F15Eagle

a stuff eating grin...of the type one expects from these simpering arrogant pot head urinalist wanna be’s


8 posted on 09/27/2014 5:53:15 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey ("Never, Never, Never, Give Up," Winston Churchill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
Well, it IS a pretty remarkable legacy... None of it good though.

Waco, Elian Gonzales, Fast and Furious, Ignoring Voter intimidation in Philadelphia, ignoring IRS abuse, fueling racial divisions, publicly announcing that he considers 'blacks' as his people - and not Americans.

Heckuva of legacy.

Good riddance. May he get his just due.

9 posted on 09/27/2014 5:57:34 PM PDT by El Cid (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

You’ll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise above
And I’ll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kind of love
And it makes me feel so sorry

Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats
Blowing through the letters that we wrote
Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves
We’re idiots, babe
It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves
— Dylan


10 posted on 09/27/2014 5:57:56 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy ("Now is not the time for fear. That comes later.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: El Cid
May he get his just due.

He will, and while I do not wish it on anyone, it is a fearful thing, to fall into the hands of the living God.

11 posted on 09/27/2014 6:11:50 PM PDT by Mark17 (So we tanned his hide when he died Clyde and that's it hanging on the shed. Altogether now)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
Trevor, Trevor, Trevor.

It is not a good thing to have the nation's top law enforcement officer picking and choosing which law he wants to follow.

That is the definition of lawlessness - "not governed by or obedient to laws."

12 posted on 09/27/2014 6:20:57 PM PDT by Slyfox (Satan's goal is to rub out the image of God he sees in the face of every human.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MeshugeMikey

LOL


13 posted on 09/27/2014 6:21:44 PM PDT by Slyfox (Satan's goal is to rub out the image of God he sees in the face of every human.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Their delusional fantasy world is soon to crumble and they’ll be the last ones to realize it. And no, I didn’t even get passed the title before I wanted to hurl.


14 posted on 09/27/2014 6:22:45 PM PDT by Bullish (You ever notice that liberalism really just amounts to anti-morality?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Remarkable in his infamy.


15 posted on 09/27/2014 6:24:46 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

An erect Eric Holder has no conscience.


16 posted on 09/27/2014 6:29:11 PM PDT by RichInOC (No! BAD Rich! (What'd I say?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

All he did and still not in jail? That’s pretty remarkable.


17 posted on 09/27/2014 6:52:05 PM PDT by Gil4 (And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, ax and saw)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slyfox
SCIENCE.....has just concocted something which may have great benefits got those of us..... sick of RIcky Holder's boss.... Obie The One...






18 posted on 09/27/2014 6:59:30 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey ("Never, Never, Never, Give Up," Winston Churchill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: MeshugeMikey

Oh no! All I see is a little box with a ? inside it.


19 posted on 09/27/2014 7:02:55 PM PDT by Slyfox (Satan's goal is to rub out the image of God he sees in the face of every human.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Slyfox

http://s13.postimg.org/9mhsofulh/obie_cloaker.gif

this may work


20 posted on 09/27/2014 7:27:16 PM PDT by MeshugeMikey ("Never, Never, Never, Give Up," Winston Churchill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson