Beware of Eric Holder

Beware of Eric HolderThere is a story going viral today about Attorney General Eric Holder. Is it true or false? Mediaite says it's a hoax. That's likely because the story first appeared on National Report, a site known for satire. The respected Conservative Speaker published the story as posted by National Report -- that a Ferguson gang leader has admitted to police and a judge that “Eric Holder paid us to start riots.” National Report states :"Evidence has been uncovered showing that Eric Holder contributed funds to Ferguson’s gang population as an incentive to loot and spread civil unrest in the area. These angry, government-sponsored terrorists have systematically infiltrated peaceful protests with the intention of escalating the situation and inciting riots. A local gang leader came forward with the allegations last week after being arrested during a night of mass looting. The unnamed criminal is using his information to bargain for a reduced sentence. Allegedly, Holder’s goal behind pouring the proverbial gasoline on an already volatile scene is to test militarized police response in a martial law scenario....Officials have not as yet publicly identified either the damaging evidence submitted by the gang member or the person involved, and they are still in the process of verifying the legitimacy of his claims. Judge Rineheart of the 22nd Circuit Court in St. Louis is presiding over the case, and has reviewed the materials. During a phone interview with National Report, Judge Rineheart (non-existent) stated : “The evidence I have seen is incredibly convincing.” Holder is not yet officially charged with a crime, but it’s expected that a warrant could be issued for him within the coming days. Obama’s spokespeople have declined to comment." ~~~~~ Well, that would certainly be front page news if true. And, it would also fit neatly into the pattern of Eric Holder's past activities and political positions. Here are a few examples of Holder actions and statements, as reviewed by Redstate, also a respected conservative website. (1). Discriminatory Hiring Practices -- On August 8, 2011 documents were released by the DOJ, subsequent to a court battle, which revealed the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division had been engaging in politicized hiring in the career civil service ranks. In June 2008, Holder admitted to the liberal American Constitution Society that the Justice Department was “going to be looking for people who share our values.” (2). Fort Hood -- Following the Fort Hood attack on November 5, 2009, not one of the post-attack reports issued by the DOJ mentioned Nidal Hasan’s Islamist ideology. And, the Department of Homeland Security refused to call the attack an act of terrorism on its report on the attack. Instead it was labeled as “workplace violence.” (3). AP Surveillance -- The Holder Justice Department secretly obtained two months of the telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press (AP). President and CEO Gary Pruitt has described the DOJ’s actions as a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news. AP’s lawyers have commented that, “there can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP’s newsgathering operations, and disclose information about AP’s activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know.” (4). Weather Underground Pardon -- Holder, as Deputy Attorney General, “was the gatekeeper for presidential pardons.” Two of the recipients of Holder’s pardons were former Weather Underground members Susan Rosenberg and Linda Evans. The Weather Underground was a far-left organization, founded in the late 1960′s, whose main objective was to overthrow the American government. Several bombing attacks were initiated by the group, mostly against government buildings and banks. There were also exhortations for white radicals to join with black radicals in the overthrow of the government. The Weather Underground opposed what they described as “American imperialism.” (5). Hostility Towards Conservatives -- At an American Constitution Society gathering in 2004, Holder made the following comments : “Conservatives have been defenders of the status quo, afraid of the future, and content to allow to continue to exist all but the most blatant inequalities....made a mockery of the rule of law....put the environment at risk for the sake of unproven economic theories, to play to the fears of our citizens, and not to their hopes, and to return the nation to a time that in fact never existed.” Holder said conservatives are “breathtaking” in their “arrogance,” which manifests itself in such things as “attacks on abortion rights,” “energy policies that are as shortsighted as they are ineffective,” and “tax cuts that disproportionately favor those who are well off and perpetuate many of the inequities in our nation.” The hallmarks of the “conservative agenda” include “social division, mindless tax cutting, and a defense posture that does not really make us safer....With the mainstream media somewhat cowered by conservative critics, and the conservative media disseminating the news in anything but a fair and balanced manner, and you know what I mean there, the means to reach the greatest number of people is not easily accessible.” (6). Opposition to Second Amendent Rights -- In 2008, Eric Holder claimed that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, but only applied to government militias. Political commentator and scholar, John Lott, was unable to “find even one gun control law that Holder has opposed.” Lott remarked that, “on every gun control regulation [Holder] has discussed, he has been supportive, including : bans, raising the age that someone can possess a gun, registration and licensing, one-gun-a-month limit on purchases, and mandatory waiting periods.” On top of that, in a 1995 address to the Woman’s National Democratic Club, Holder apprised the crowd of the launch of a public campaign to “really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.” (7). Treatment of Terrorists as Criminal Defendants Instead of Enemy Combatants -- In 2004, Holder filed an amicus brief on behalf of al Qaida terrorist Jose Padilla, who had been commissioned by Osama bin Laden and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to carry out a post-9/11, second wave of terrorist attacks in the US. In the brief, Holder held that President Bush lacked the constitutional authority to determine the parameters of the battlefield in the war on terror. Padilla was arrested in the US upon his return from Pakistan where he met with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to make plans for the attack on US interests. In Holder’s opinion, Islamic terrorists had a right to be treated as criminal defendants and not enemy combatants. The only exception, according to Holder is if the capture of the terrorist occurs on a traditional battlefield. (8). Opposition to Voter ID Laws -- Eric Holder has consistently opposed efforts to pass voter ID laws, which are designed to minimize voter fraud. He believes these laws have the effect of disenfranchising nonwhite minorities. In a May 2012 meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus and black church leaders, Holder said that during the preceding two years, the DoJ had challenged “two dozen state laws and executive orders from more than a dozen states that could make it significantly harder for many eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.″ (9). Fast & Furious -- The Heritage Foundation provides a summary of the Fast and Furious scandal : “A US government gun-trafficking investigation gone horribly wrong when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) office in Phoenix, Arizona, began selling weapons to small-time gun buyers in the hopes of tracing them to major weapons traffickers along the southwestern border and into Mexico. Their efforts failed, the number of arms unaccounted for numbers around 1,500 and about two-thirds of those guns ended up in Mexico, according to congressional testimony. Fast & Furious has resulted in the death of a US Border Patrol officer, some 2,000 firearms in the hands of criminals, and the dismissal of a 24-year veteran law enforcement official. ~~~~~ So, dear readers, let's not rush to the defense of Eric Holder as being a poor innocent put upon by a nasty satirist. He has followed a path counter to many of the constitutional underpinnings of American government, while under sworn oath to uphold the Constitution. But, Holder, like the National Report writer, is protected by that same Constitution. Courts have reined him in when he has overstepped, but he has not changed. Don't be fooled by Eric Holder. Beware, i