From the Left to the Right: Eric Holder

Showing posts with label Eric Holder. Show all posts

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Eric Holder’s Predicament

Written : May 30, 2013

I’m now active on Twitter. Please follow me there at @markacohen

If a government uses strong-arm tactics to silence opposing viewpoints, repression comes to mind. People must be allowed to voice their opinions. This is considered healthy and vital for freedom and democracy, and has been a hallmark of the “American way.” Recent generations have feared the overreach of bureaucrats, especially concerning wiretapped telephone conversations, the collection of private information, and spying on individuals.

The media has been known as the fourth estate for a long time, meaning that it is a counter-balance to the three branches of government. When the media questions an administration and its officials and probes deeply, this stems the chance for tyranny, otherwise known as oppression of the people by its government. Even my father, a self-avowed Communist, hailed freedom of the press as a landmark of democracy. “Without a free press you have dictatorships,” he said. “Reporters must be free to obtain information and publish it.” When regimes harass the media, information can’t flow freely.

Eric Holder, testifying.

The Obama Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) suspected Associated Press (AP) reporters of leaking classified information, so it targeted the call logs of more than 20 AP phone lines. The DOJ, amidst suspicions that James Rosen, a FOX News reporter, blogging about classified information so the DOJ seized his phone records and e-mails. They appeared ready to charge Rosen as a “co-conspirator” for leaking such information, although Rosen may not have known its’ classification. Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General (AG), appeared before a Congressional hearing last week to answer related questions. He testified, using similar phrases, such as, “I did not know… I am not familiar…” He also said, “In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material... This is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy.” It turned out that Holder did sign the warrant ordering the seizure of Rosen’s e-mails. Hmmm.

The oddest thing about this scandal, no matter how you might feel about it, is that President Obama, instead of assigning an independent counsel to get to the bottom of it all, has assigned Eric Holder to investigate the matter. So we have Holder investigating… himself. How would that work, and does it make sense?

Holder Investigating himself.

Here are my observations and opinions: Republicans in a pickle generally resign in embarrassment among a hailstorm of accusations and/or innuendo in the media (Bush’s AG, John Ashcroft, Sen. Trent Lott, Sen. Larry Craig). Democrats in the same situation usually don’t admit wrongdoing until there is an avalanche of proof (President Clinton, Sen. Menendez, Anthony Weiner, presidential candidate John Edwards). The mainstream media will support them by either ignoring the stories or covering them lightly until they can’t be ignored. (Are there exceptions? Yes, of course.) Most of us can’t predict the future with accuracy, but I think it will take a ton of evidence for Eric Holder to step down.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

President Obama’s Smashed Hopes, Broken Dreams, and Broken Promises (Part II)

Written : July 16-17 and 24, 2012

President Obama promised to eliminate earmarks and go “line by line” in every bill to eliminate them. Meanwhile, he remained aloof and detached from all legislation. He told us that here would be no lobbyists in his administration and said, “They will not fund my party; they will not run our White House...” But just look at how his failed stimulus favored Obama campaign donors like Solyndra, regardless of the wisdom of such special favors.

This president said he’d return the White House to the people, but instead instructed his staff to play its Secret Service security, ‘loosey-goosey,’ so the Salahi’s, who didn’t appear on his guest list – or anyone else - could enter the White House unquestioned. He said he wouldn’t take money from PACs, then turned around and did it.

Obama supporters insist that Mitt Romney bear the responsibility for what happened after he left Bain Capital in 1999. Yet, the president (who refused to release his college transcripts for some reason) and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, find hiding behind executive privilege acceptable, and refuse to turn over thousands of requested documents to Congress. The mainstream media and their allies take the president and Mr. Holder at their word when they claimed that neither one of them knew anything about the disastrous and failed gun-running program, Fast and Furious – in which the U.S. government sold guns to the Mexican cartels. (How many liberals have told me they hated when Reagan armed Saddam Hussein? Yet, F+F is okay with them – because this president gets a pass on everything.) Their response is eerily similar to responses they themselves give regarding moral questions - and right and wrong. They say that President Bush did the very same thing under a similar program (but here are the differences between F+F and Operation Wide Receiver:

1. No one died under WR.
2. WR traced those guns, F+F did not.
3. WR = 300 guns, F+F = 2,000 guns, and lost 1,400 of them.
4. WR shut down in 2007 after it was unveiled as a failure by President Bush’s admin., F+F shut down under President Obama – but only after pressure from Congress and after hundreds of Mexicans and one U.S. Border patrol agent died).

President Obama’s speech on July 16 contained his most disappointing statement to date. He said, “…If you built a business – you didn’t build that.” He suggested that business people didn’t succeed alone! They relied on the Internet, road builders, teachers who taught them in grade school, and public transportation systems. In other words, they owe their success to government programs. This is not only foolish and insulting, but it’s also a socialist idea: Ask me how I know. Let me pose a question. To paraphrase Red Eye’s Greg Gutfeld, “If government claims the credit for entrepreneurs’ successes because they used roads, doesn’t it bear the blame for every evil act committed by all the criminals who used the very same roads?

We Americans succeed because we innovate and start businesses when government is non-intrusive and refrains from imposing punishing taxes upon them. These companies flourish when a comfortable climate exists for the people who run them and for their investors. Hopefully the people will throw out this radical president and replace him with one who understands successful people. Perhaps then, we can get back to work, rebuilding the America which President Obama, up to now, has worked so very hard to destroy.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Have You Read It?

Written : May 18, 2010

On April 27, 2010, Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General, said the recently passed Arizona immigration law is “an unfortunate one.” On May 9, he said, “It could lead to racial profiling,” and, it’s “not a good idea.” Yet, while testifying in front of Congress on May 13, he admitted he hadn’t read the bill! Even if Mr. Holder won’t, you can read it at: Arizona Immigration Law

After you read the bill, what do you find? It's 15 pages long, not ten (as some have claimed), and it’s not well written. On the other hand, the legislation protects Arizona residents from kidnapping and other crimes, it severely punishes employers who hire illegals, and it protects those accused based solely on race, color, or national origin. It upholds federal immigration law. It does not advocate racial profiling, and does not have anything to do with notions of fairness.

Yet, many have become irrational over a bill they haven’t read. For example, Highland Park High School in Illinois just won its first women’s basketball championship in 26 years. The players raised money to attend a tournament in Arizona but the school board said they couldn’t go – because the AZ law was not “aligned with their beliefs and values.” Which values? Many have spoken out urging a complete boycott of the state of Arizona. Such a snub would hurt all Arizonans, including the illegals already working there, so where's the logic in hurting Arizona's economy?

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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, Eric Holder, Arizona Immigration Law, Highland Park High School, U.S. Attorney General

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From the Left to the Right

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Eric Holder’s Predicament

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

President Obama’s Smashed Hopes, Broken Dreams, and Broken Promises (Part II)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Have You Read It?

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