November 21, 2008

Eric Holder "is the second coming of Janet Reno."

Says the first commenter on David Kopel's post that stresses Holder's "strong support" of gun control -- he co-signed an amicus brief in District of Columbia v. Heller -- and his role in the "night-time kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez."

29 comments:

Peter Friedman said...

I'm not sure this bone will draw the crowd of wolves it once would have. The people who bemoaned Elian Gonzalez's return to his father may no longer have the influence they once did. The younger Cuban generation isn't the automatic vote for anything that might seem to smack the Castros in their face. According to the Miami Herald, "Obama won 35 percent of the Cuban-American vote in Miami-Dade County. 84 percent of Miami-Dade Cuban-American voters 65 or older backed McCain, while 55 percent of those 29 or younger backed Obama.

KCFleming said...

Eric Holder is "is the second coming of Janet Reno."

I am not able to accept such horrific sexual imagery so early in the morning, sorry.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The president elect is entitled to put his people in.. the only litmus test should be National Security clearance.

Please bring back Joselyn Elders :0

Simon said...

That's probably not far from the mark, but who did people think Obama was going to appoint? It's a Democratic administration. Did anyone think this was going to be a gun-favorable administration? Really? Did ya have a reason for that other than believing the propaganda about how Obama wasn't really hostile to guns? Come on. You didn't really believe it and neither did I.

the wolf said...

Good point, Simon. Meanwhile, the so-called progressives are already complaining that most of Obama's pick's aren't lefty enough.

Peter Friedman said...

Not only is some change in our Cuban policy inevitable but, um, Heller has been decided, so I'm not sure that issue has the savor it once did either.

Richard Fagin said...

Atty. Gen. Reno had no problem calling in tanks against David Koresh, let alone sending storm troopers against civilians neither suspected of any crime nor in breach of any court order.

We could hope the Obama administration would be so aggressive against America's external enemies as the home grown ones, but the signs aren't encouraging.

We might as well all move to Iran and submit to the Ayatollahs. We'll certainly be better treated by the U.S. government in that case than by remaining U.S. citizens and defennding our constitutionally enumerated rights.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Good point, Simon. Meanwhile, the so-called progressives are already complaining that most of Obama's pick's aren't lefty enough.

You have to admit the idea of Secretary of State Kucinich is entertaining as all get out.

Expat(ish) said...

Ah, Simon, well put. After all, Obama did say he wasn't after our guys because he didn't have the votes.

I guess he figures he has the votes now.

I'm good, just got a nice 22 scoped Remington 597 for my son (13) for plinking. $150 all in, $13 for 550 rounds of 22. More fun that Obama will have in the four years after 20/Jan, I assure you.

-XC

ricpic said...

One thing's certain: Obama means more Wacos.

Richard Dolan said...

It's not just Holder being a throw-back to the Clinton Admin. One of the weirdest developments in this strangest of all election cycles is how Obama is morphing into what, during the primaries, was the rap against Hillary! Her campaign was tagged as a 'Back to the Future' exercise, which (so the talking heads were saying) would turn off voters in the general election. Surely the voters weren't ready to sign up for a Bush 41-to Clinton-to Bush 43-to Clinton vesion 2 sequence?

Perhaps not, but that's what they seem to be getting. Obama is now busily putting the Clinton team back together, starting with her and Rahm, the Clinton's enforcer and attack-dog, and now Holder. Larry Summers, Tom Daschle, Richardson, Napolitano (Clinton's US Atty in Arizona) and many others of the old team are in the wings. Unfortunately, the '90s were the time when a storm was brewing under cover of a false calm.

At some point, personnel becomes policy. Have the old dogs learned any new tricks? Let's hope so. Who knew that this is what 'Change You Can Believe In' was intended to mean.

Anthony said...

Holder is actually the second coming of Det. Ron Harris, of Barney Miller fame.

My personal feeling is that incoming presidents should be given wide latitude in choosing their cabinet. So far, the only one mentioned who I would vote no to is RFK Jr. at EPA. A radical environmentalist who calls those who disagree with him traitors, who opposes a wind farm because his uncle sails there, and who thinks there is a massive government coverup of the vaccine-autism connection does not belong at EPA.

I also would oppose Bill Ayers being named Secretary of Re-education, butthat is an other issue

KCFleming said...

Maybe AG Holder can do an Elian thingy on the Mormons, rescue SSM for California, and then do a Waco and burn all the buildings down.

Best done early on to allow more time to forget.

garage mahal said...

One thing's certain: Obama means more Wacos.

And an Obama Body Count.

Hoosier Daddy said...

One thing's certain: Obama means more Wacos.

Well SOMETHING has to be done with religious fanatics.

Anthony said...

So, how is that "Don't ask, don't tell" repeal going?

Anton said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anton said...

And here's Eric calling for "reasonable restrictions" on internet speech.

DaveW said...

Holder is a surprising appointment idea to me, if for nothing else than the Rich Pardon which demonstrated pretty serious disregard for normal DoJ type behavior.

I thought the reason he didn't take Hillary for VP was he'd decided to set the Dems off on a course away from the whole Clinton Drama. Then he floated Hillary for State. But Hillary might actually be a good appointment at state, a known quantity abroad plus I'm sure he'd like to invest the Clintons in his success to at least some degree.

The RFK thing fell pretty quickly, but that wasn't a Clinton v 2 idea anyway. Maybe they didn't know about RFK's loony rants in Rolling Stone and elsewhere.

I've found most of what team O has floated to be reassuring about what agenda he'd try to accomplish verse what he'd said in the campaign.

Holder...well O gets to appoint who he wants. I don't think Holder is worth a rehash of all this to him myself. Surely he could have found someone better for AG. Someone that shared his views (whatever they actually turn out to be) but didn't carry that baggage.

Revenant said...

I agree with DaveW's comment. It isn't the gun-grabbing or Elian stuff that surprises me; lefties love that stuff. What surprises me is that he'd bring in a guy so obviously tainted by the Clinton pardon scandals. Couldn't he find an experienced left-wing attorney who WASN'T tied to criminals?

Fûz said...

peter said, "um, Heller has been decided," which is true but does not go quite far enough.

All the changes promised by Heller can be undone by an Obama-appointed solicitor general.

Beta Conservative said...

I always thought Reno's willingness to use force of arms against American citizens contrasted sharply with her Commander in Chief's reluctance to use it against our enemies.

Bombing the USS Cole got a far more measured response than housing a 6 year old boy.

T Mack said...

Eric Holder is not going to be our next AG. Because of the Rich pardon and his lying about Elia Gonzalez not being taken at gunpoint will kill his chances and he will withdraw his nomination before the is a vote, probably before there is a hearing.

T Mack said...

Ann why is there a garbage can next to my comments?

It is prejudicial to readers.
Please remove it.
thank you.

Cedarford said...

T Mack said...
Eric Holder is not going to be our next AG. Because of the Rich pardon and his lying about Elia Gonzalez not being taken at gunpoint will kill his chances and he will withdraw his nomination before the is a vote, probably before there is a hearing.


Holder is sure not my ideal choice, but then again, Republicans lost by 200 Electoral votes and by huge margins in Congress in 2006 and 2008. Elections have consequences. Obama has the votes and Holder will breeze in if Obama wants him.

1. Holder was involved in pardons like Robert Bork was involved in firing Archibald Cox. Simply carrying out instructions based on a decision made well above his paygrade. Got a problem with Marc Rich or his fellow crony Pincus fleeing to Israel and getting pardoned? Take it up with Bill Clinton and Denise Rich. A problem with FALN pardons? - Bill & Hillary made that call. Pardons were Constitutional and 8 years water long under the bridge.

2. The Elian Gonzalez flap was Cuban exiles claiming their politics allowed them to effectively kidnap the illegal kid (under wet-foot vs dry-foot) from his lawful surviving parent in Cuba. And give custody to a family of distant relatives, many who had significant criminal records since arriving in the USA.
By all means, dive right into that loser of a battle to say that it is OK to kidnap American or Cuban kids from their parents if you disagree with their politics.

3. There are legitimate questions about Holder based on things he could actually do, rather than pardon or Elian trivia. He is a strong opponent of the death penalty and a former believer that there is no individual right to gun ownership. His conformation would be much better if it isn't about Marc Rich history trivia but what he will do on issues he will face in office. Will he be a death penalty obstructionist? What are his post-Heller gun views and what attacks if any does he plan on gun makers, retailers, and gun owners - given the Heller decision?
Remember that there are a ton of center-right Democrat Senators elected that spelled out their pro-gun, pro-death penatly positions, so it isn't just the dwindled band of Republicans involved...

4. Unlike Alberto Gonzales and Janet Reno, Holder IS competent. He was brought in to replace Gorelick as the babysitter to the clueless bulldyke. Holder did a good job keeping Reno from further blundering and ran Justice day-to-day, pretty well. (His NYC ACLU-type beliefs nonwithstanding). For years, Holder was the one Clinton, senior legal staff at the White House, and Rahm Emmanuel dealt with. Not Reno, who Bill Clinton was not on speaking terms with.

T Mack said...
Ann why is there a garbage can next to my comments?

It is prejudicial to readers.
Please remove it.
thank you.


I think you are projecting about your 1st post being trash. I might agree with that fear of yours, but others might not.
But to make it clear, when you are logged in to Blogger, all your posts have a trash can next to them for a few hours..The "trash can" icon is invisible to others, but allows you to delete a post you have 2nd thoughts about.

mccullough said...

With all the complaints about the politicization of the DOJ under W., you'd think that Obama would nominate a non-partisan with no baggage.

Holder circumvented DOJ policy when he was helping Bill Clinton push pardons through. So he's not much different than Gonzales. What the boss wants politically, he'll do.

Wince said...

the second coming of Janet Reno.

Now, there's an image for you.

Well, not exactly Janet Reno the former Attorney General.

Revenant said...

With all the complaints about the politicization of the DOJ under W., you'd think that Obama would nominate a non-partisan with no baggage.

You're forgetting that the definition of "partisan" is "supports Republican policies".

The correct word for a person who supports the Democrat's agenda is, according to my media dictionary, "thoughtful and incisive".

rdasher said...

Revenant said...
"... Couldn't he find an experienced left-wing attorney who WASN'T tied to criminals?"


There aren't any.