Posted on 01/22/2009 7:55:57 AM PST by steve-b
Eric Holder, President-elect Barack Obama's pick for attorney general, drew applause from liberal Democrats earlier this year when he denounced the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.
A review of Holder's public statements, speeches, and testimony when he was a top Justice Department official in the Clinton administration, however, reveals a more nuanced record on privacy. His remarks indicate support for laws mandating Internet traceability, limits on domestic use of encryption, and more restrictions on free speech online. He also called for new powers for federal prosecutors, some of which became law under President Bush as part of the USA Patriot Act....
In 1998, Holder talked about using federal obscenity law to crack down on porn Web sites featuring consenting adult performers. "Investigation and prosecution of Internet obscenity is particularly suitable for federal resources," Holder wrote in a memo. "Prosecution of cases involving relatively small distributors can have a deterrent effect."...
In 1999, Holder suggested that courts might find additional restrictions on sexually explicit material acceptable. He said: "It seems to me that if we can come up with reasonable restrictions, reasonable regulations in how people interact on the Internet, that is something that the Supreme Court and the courts ought to favorably look at." Five years later, Attorney General Gonzales reached the same conclusion, suggesting that one such reasonable restriction would be mandatory Web labeling....
The American Civil Liberties Union declined to comment on Monday, saying it needed more than a few hours to review Holder's record and would prepare a full report. (When Bush announced Michael Chertoff's nomination to be Homeland Security Secretary, the ACLU did send out a press release the same day calling his nomination "worrisome.")....
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
The short answer - no. He’s not a good pick for any reason. I agree with many of the criticisms of the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping, but that seems for Holder (as well as others) to be more about criticizing Bush than a sincere belief in the right to privacy.
I think we are going rue the day that the “Patriot Act” is the law...
We are about to be introduced to Big Brother Obama-Style.
Some of us said so at the time, to the jeers of FReepers who swooned over Dubya the exact same way the leftists are swoooning over The One[tm]....
Absolutely, and the same goes for warrantless wiretapping and other executive power grabs by the Bush administration.
In 1999, Holder suggested that courts might find additional restrictions on sexually explicit material acceptable = Except in hollywood
Obama championed JFK and RFK at his inauguration even though they wiretapped MLK Jr.
Actually seems to be selective prosecution to "thin the herd" and protect the bigger porn interests like Larry Flynt's business empire.
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