Eric Holder Slanders America
Our new Attorney General has lost his ever-loving mind. This is what he had to say today, to his employees in the Justice Department.
“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial, we have always been, and we, I believe, continue to be, in too many ways, a nation of cowards…”
“Even as we fight a war against terrorism; deal with the reality of electing an African-American, for the first time, as the president of the United States; and deal with other significant issues of the day, the need to confront our racial past and to understand our racial present, and to understand the history of African people in this country — that all endures…”
“Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial.”
Obviously, Eric Holder was in a coma during the most recent election. We, in fact, talked about little else but race when we talked about Barack Obama. Indeed, a good chunk of America voted for the obviously inexperienced Obama for no other reason than his skin color.
And who could forget the reminders, every thirty seconds or so, that his inauguration was the Most Historic Inauguration Every in the History of the Universe?
We don’t talk enough about race to each other? Hell, for the past two years we couldn’t shut up about it.
As for his “nation of cowards” line, well, he can just kiss the fattest part of my backside. America has done more than any nation, ever, to rid itself of racism. We put the very existence of the country at risk to end slavery. We have an entire month dedicated to the history of Black Americans (who, by the way, do come from places other than Africa, thanks very much) and our televisions, radios, and newspapers do far more during that month than they do during, say, the month of May (anyone know what May is?). We still teach schoolchildren about Crispus Attucks, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, and Harriet Tubman, to mention only a very few. We have elevated a black man and a black woman to the position of Secretary of State. We have rejected our racist past more thoroughly than any nation ever has and we have done more to atone for it than any ever will. No people have ever afforded people of every race and creed a greater opportunity to attain their dreams and live in freedom than we have right here. None ever will.
Holder disgusts me, not merely because of his apparent ignorance, but because of his arrogance. He believes that he, a man who sold his integrity for a little political gain when he pardoned killers, has the moral standing to lecture us Americans. He stood there as the Attorney General of the United States of America and slandered every single one of us without a bit of hesitation.
We are not cowards – far from it. We are a society of flawed individuals who continue to spend our blood and treasure to advance the unique proposition the Founders made centuries ago that all men are are indeed created equal. That does not make our nation perfect, but it sure as hell makes us exceptional and entirely undeserving of Holder’s unlearned rant.
UPDATE: Linked by Stacy McCain.
Related posts:
- Gosh, Eric Holder’s America Reminds Me of Someplace…
- Eric Holder’s Very Bad, Posterized Day
- Immigration Math: One Frog > Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Janet Napolitano
- Eric Holder: Safe Police Officers Are My Top Priority!
Category: Anti-Americanism, Our New Democratic Overlords, The Social Issues
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Really well said.
Thanks, I came here from Stacy's place, and really love this quite fine rant. You said everything I have been thinking all day. Will bookmark you.
[...] More: Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Sundries Shack. [...]
big·ot (bĭg'ət)
n. One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.
If you're one of these, work on your issues with your spiritual mentor and pray to God for guidance.
If you're not, keep up the good work.
It seems to me all these -ism charges that get thrown around today are a convenient cover for the hurler. The hurler narrows the charge to avoid any poor personal traits which might be defined by using the real word – bigot.
[...] Jimmie at The Sundries Shack: As for his “nation of cowards” line, well, he can just kiss the fattest part of my backside. America has done more than any nation, ever, to rid itself of racism. We put the very existence of the country at risk to end slavery. We have an entire month dedicated to the history of Black Americans (who, by the way, do come from places other than Africa, thanks very much) and our televisions, radios, and newspapers do far more during that month than they do during, say, the month of May (anyone know what May is?). We still teach schoolchildren about Crispus Attucks, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, and Harriet Tubman, to mention only a very few. We have elevated a black man and a black woman to the position of Secretary of State. We have rejected our racist past more thoroughly than any nation ever has and we have done more to atone for it than any ever will. No people have ever afforded people of every race and creed a greater opportunity to attain their dreams and live in freedom than we have right here. None ever will. [...]
The real cowards are those people who are in the "civil rights" movement still and are afraid to move on to the next phase. In some ways, having true racism as a rallying point made their lives easier. All they had to do was stand up against the oppressors and they were instant heroes among their own. But the absence of that obstacle forces them to have to confront new things that are broken & need fixing. And it is not so easy to turn to the same people who were previously your biggest fans & explain to them that they have problems of their own doing that need attention. No, this is not going to win you many fans (might even get your huevos targeted for removal) ….confronting a hostile crowd always takes courage.
Holder is right. We ARE a nation of cowards with respect to discussing race honestly and openly in interracial groups. Every point he made about how segregated we remain DISPITE all our progress since the 50'S is absolutely right on the money. From our homes and our churches and even the lunchrooms of our integrated schools and workplaces, we follow different tracks and know very little out side our own familiar groups.
Yes, Obama is president. Yes, this is a potentially miraculous thing here in our land, and yes, we deserve some kind of credit, as Americans, for this.
But, I see it every day. My fellow whites tend to be very defensive when it comes to racial topics and discussions. I consider myself a tweecy bit enlightened on the topic, and I actually have had conversations with actual Black people about the issues, I have participated in discussion groups and workshops on the subject of race and am quite well read
(for a white person!) on many aspects of race in this country. No big whoop, no pats on the back are necessary…just my particular trip.
Even I find myself shrinking from open discussions with many people on the topic of race, and I tend to be more brazen than most. Yet cowardice is not too far from the heart of the matter.
We have come an enormous way since 1955, the year I was born, but that doesn't mean we can go into denial about what was OR what yet must be done to more perfect our union.
We must cast off our fear.
It's not cowardice but caution. Don't confuse the two, not matter how enlightened you believe yourself to be.
And don't excuse a fool when he's foolish.
by the way…FEBRUARY (the shortest month of the year) is Black History Month, not May.
Typical. Bet ya don't even know what Juneteenth is.
I never said May was Black History Month. But do you know what month May is?
It seems to me your disdain for Obama and Holder are already there. I believe not for racial reasons but for political reasons and that is OK. If you are going to speak as the rightous one and not say anything or speak up against the cartoon in the Post to your like minded people then that in a fact is cowardice and I can only come to the conclusion that you are a coward when it comes to race. I have yet to hear anyone and I mean anyone explain a logical meaning to that cartoon other than the one it boldly depicts. You see we are a nation of many people. We are a nation heros, brave , strong, murderers, liars, and yes even cowards, etc. To believe we are only a nation of what ever the ONE thing you think we are is naive. Yes many people voted for Obama only because of the color of his skin which you sarcastically pointed out. A comment that is racially tinged because you made it a point to show that there was no way the vote was because we actually thought he was qualified. Remember however there were people that did not vote for him because of the color of his skin. Qualified or not. Did you tell your friends who were not going to vote for him because of his skin color that they should still vote for him if they liked what he stood for? I did not think so. COWARD.
What's to say about the cartoon in the Post? It makes the joke that the stimulus bill was so bad that a monkey could have written it. If you think it's abou the President, you obviously have no idea who actually wrote the bill, yes?
Do you know who wrote the stimulus bill?
As for the President, I didn't vote for him because I believe his politics are wrong and because he'd never held a position of executive responsibility in his life, ever. I don't think that President is an entry-level position. But you'd know that if you read more than this one blog post.
What does it mean, to eliminate racism? I contend that the goal here is for strangers to see each other first not as "a black person" or "a white people" (or whatever color) but simply as a person. That kind of attitude doesn't require knowing the history of race relations (although learning it may help some people change their attitude), ideally it's just part of the cultural background.
Personally, I don't care who thinks what, I'm only concerned what they actually do; but if other people's ideas are important, and I've stated the goal correctly, then the ones who need to be denounced are those who divide us into racial groups, and think of people primarily in terms of their race; and from what I read _just in this thread_, that means Mr. Holder and goatgirl.
It seems to me that the conservative movement has a lot more political bigots than racial bigots.
Uh, Jimmie, technically half of us "put the very existence of the country at risk to end slavery", the other half put it at risk to preserve slavery. The history of the U.S. is race, and while I cannot disagree with your argument that we have come far, I don't think that makes the AG wrong.
If I weighed 500 lbs and lost 200, I'd still be fat.
First of all, kudos for your mention in the New York Times today—that's how I came to this site.
Secondly…buh-what? Let's start at the beginning…
-"Indeed, a good chunk of America voted for the obviously inexperienced Obama for no other reason than his skin color." A "good chunk," huh? So, like, what…15%? 30%? You don't think McCain's age, Palin's interviews, Obama's policies, his approach to problem solving, or his endorsements by generals, admirals, and scientists had anything to do with it? Interesting. Ok, I'm happy to accept this assertion if a) you'd be so kind as to quantify "a good chunk," and b) you'd let me know where you're getting your numbers. I haven't seen a shred of empirical evidence to back up this claim.
-"America has done more than any nation, ever, to rid itself of racism." Are you familiar with the recent history of South Africa? You do realize that the former home of apartheid elected a black man president before we did, right?
-"We put the very existence of the country at risk to end slavery." That's a—shall we say unique?—reading of history. First of all, who's the "we" in this sentence? Secondly, I thought Lincoln sent troops to Fort Sumter to block a Confederate seizure of a federal military installation. And Lincoln didn't make the Emancipation Proclamation until a) he was in a position of military strength, and b) to expand the war's front lines to the South's economy. How do those facts square with your reading that "we" put the "very existence" of this country at risk to stop slavery? In passing, I suppose I should ask if you've ever heard of Reconstruction—some really heroic acts in that period of history, lots of people trying to help the black man get a leg up…
-"We have an entire month dedicated to the history of Black Americans." Yes we do, and every Black American will tell you that this more than makes up for hundreds of years of slavery and a hundred more years of systematized segregation and discrimination. Just ask one! And then quickly duck, because you're liable to get punched in the face.
-"We have rejected our racist past more thoroughly than any nation ever has and we have done more to atone for it than any ever will." Again, have you heard of South Africa? Australia has had its own troubles with racism—hell, most former colonies have. But what astonishes me here is your clairvoyance. How can you possibly assert that we've done more than any other nation ever will? I'd like to buy some time on your crystal ball, I have some stocks and horses to pick. You seem convinced here and in the next two sentences that America is the most conciliatory nation in both the past AND the future, and I just don't understand how you can make that claim.
-"We are not cowards – far from it. We are a society of flawed individuals who continue to spend our blood and treasure to advance the unique proposition the Founders made centuries ago that all men are are indeed created equal. That does not make our nation perfect, but it sure as hell makes us exceptional and entirely undeserving of Holder’s unlearned rant." Ah, here's the rub! America is exceptional! The lessons of history do not apply to us because we're so different than other countries, except when those lessons reflect favorably on us, in which case they only confirm the original hypothesis that America's number one! Brilliant! Just for clarification: do these "flawed individuals" include the "we" who seceded from the union precisely because they were unwilling to accept the proposition that black people were created equal to whites? Or are those people further exceptions to the exception?
In the immortal words of Wolfgang Pauli, "This isn't right…this isn't even wrong." I welcome your response, but for the life of me, I can't understand where you've learned what you call history.
It's a wonderful response you've crafted but it's quite wrong in many details. I learned my history the same place most of us did – public schools. But I also augmented it with quite a lot of reading of my own.
Care to tell me which "many details" I've gotten wrong?
goatgirl: "But, I see it every day. My fellow whites tend to be very defensive when it comes to racial topics and discussions. I consider myself a tweecy bit enlightened on the topic, and I actually have had conversations with actual Black people about the issues, I have participated in discussion groups and workshops on the subject of race and am quite well read (for a white person!) on many aspects of race in this country."
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Try to be a little more understanding with your white friends. It can be intimidating for them to speak to someone who is so enlightened & has vast knowledge of the subject, not to mention talked to "actual Black people"….LOL
I'll take that as a no.
Take it as "I have other better things to do than to argue with you".
Right, better things like maintaining this blog. Best of luck, and thanks for refusing to engage in an honest and open discussion.
Well that and working a full-time job and having a life away from this blog. I've had quite the honest conversation with you already, at least from my end.
You think this counts as a conversation? That's a surprise…most of the time, I refer to a back-and-forth between two or more people as a conversation. As far as I can tell, I posted what I thought were problems with your arguments, you responded that I was "quite wrong in many details," I asked you to let me know which details, and you've decided not to. It's also worth noting that you claim not to have the time to let me know the error of my ways, but you do have the time to respond to my comments. So…great! Wonderful. Best of luck not developing peptic ulcers over the next four years as the edifices of Reaganism are dismantled.
Speaking of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder:
Eric Holder is a racial-minority individual, and in his heart and mind he inevitably does not endorse hate crimes committed by George W. Bush.
George W. Bush committed hate crimes of epic proportions and with the stench of terrorism (indicated in my blog).
George W. Bush did in fact commit innumerable hate crimes.
And I do solemnly swear by Almighty God that George W. Bush committed other hate crimes of epic proportions and with the stench of terrorism which I am not at liberty to mention.
Many people know what Bush did.
And many people will know what Bush did—even to the end of the world.
Bush was absolute evil.
Bush is now like a fugitive from justice.
Bush is a psychological prisoner.
Bush has a lot to worry about.
Bush can technically be prosecuted for hate crimes at any time.
In any case, Bush will go down in history in infamy.
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
“GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY” BLOG OF ANDREW YU-JEN WANG
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I am not sure where I had read it before, but anyway, it is a linguistically excellent statement, and it goes kind of like this: “If only it were possible to ban invention that bottled up memories so they never got stale and faded.” Oh wait—off the top of my head—I think the quotation came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.
You think that quote's "linguistically excellent"? It's not even grammatically correct. I think that Messiah College owes you a tuition refund
Jimmie doesn't choose to respond to Dan's commentary, but I've got a few notes to make. If it's not too late…
Is that all it takes? If so, Dan's evidence to prove Jimmie wrong also proves Mr. Holder wrong. If there's more to ending racism than electing a black president, then this evidence is insufficient. Personally, I can't claim Jimmie is right on this point, but I can't say he's wrong, either; it seems to be a matter of opinion.
Again, I think this has drifted away from Jimmie's point–maybe it sounds like he said we've already reached the finish line, in terms of dealing with racism, and this is as good as it needs to get? To me, his rant boils down to, "if talk were the solution, we would already be finished. So Mr. Holder's comment does not serve to 'wake America up' to an unrecognized problem, it just insults the people who were already working on it." Insofar as the quote above responds to that point, it seems to be in agreement.
Let's see, other points–I think Jimmie uses phrases like "a good chunk" precisely so he _doesn't_ have to quantify it. His point may be weakly made, but it isn't actually _false_…
”We put the very existence of the country at risk to end slavery.” I'm on Dan's side here–can't tell what Jimmie was driving at. As far as I can tell, the people who put the nation at risk did so to _maintain_ slavery… Maybe–and I'm just guessing here–he meant Americans collectively decided that slavery was too important an issue to compromise on?
As for Jimmie's precognition (clairvoyance is a different thing), I can't say I've been able to detect any particular talent he may have in that area, so again I have to side with Dan. Maybe Jimmie thinks there will never again be racism on as grand a scale, so no other nation will have the opportunity to combat it? I certainly hope so, but people being what they are, I wouldn't assert that it can never happen….
I'm not going to address Dan's final response (to ”We are not cowards…"), other than to say he seems to be countering Jimmie's rant with his own; I can't tell that it rises to the level of argument. That's not a condemnation, Jimmie's rants often don't top that bar, and I still find them entertaining…. I just can't respond on the same level.
You can call anyone a racist because they have made themselves fully aware of the tremendous disproportionate number of crimes that blacks have been committing against the European American white citizens in America–
but if you do, you run the risk of being accurately portrayed as a racist and a bigot yourself.