# Eric Holder Resigning **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 25, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539 "2014-09-25T16:36:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/61 "2014-09-26T22:56:19Z")
I mean obvious easily disproved bullshit that i assume is meant only to fool the bottom of the barrel like the fast and furious “scandal”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/62 "2014-09-26T23:31:34Z")
Here’s a good list of reasons why liberals like me don’t like Holder: > **[Eric Holder's Five Crucial Failures](https://progressive.org/op-eds/eric-holder-s-five-crucial-failures/)** > > By Matthew Rothschild > > So Eric Holder is finally resigning as Attorney General. Good riddance! > >          He failed miserably in five crucial areas. > >          First, he... ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/63 "2014-09-27T15:00:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I disagree with this, too, **davida03801**. You can think Holder did exemplary work on a couple of issues and stank on others. Only if he is not a white Republican. Non-white Democrat = a balanced assessment of his record. White Republican = instant and total condemnation based on the same level of evidence. You can disagree with this, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t true. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/64 "2014-09-27T15:45:37Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Here’s a good list of reasons why liberals like me don’t like Holder: > > [Eric Holder's Five Crucial Failures - Progressive.org](http://www.progressive.org/news/2014/09/187870/eric-holders-five-crucial-failures) Good list. Except this one which I assume would have been Obama’s decision > [@](#): > > ``` > First, he refused to prosecute George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld for breaking the treaty against torture and the statutes that also prohibit it. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/65 "2014-09-27T16:25:48Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Here’s a good list of reasons why liberals like me don’t like Holder: > > [Eric Holder's Five Crucial Failures - Progressive.org](http://www.progressive.org/news/2014/09/187870/eric-holders-five-crucial-failures) As a liberal, I’d just like to say that this list is bullshit and liberals who go in for this kind of nonsense are no better than the conservative conspiracy theorists they claim to decry. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/66 "2014-09-27T17:20:58Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > As a liberal, I’d just like to say that this list is bullshit and liberals who go in for this kind of nonsense are no better than the conservative conspiracy theorists they claim to decry. Well that is a broad brush. I don’t decry conservatives outright, I don’t decry conspiracy theorists outright. Conservatives are a necessary counterweight to liberals, although I’d like them to be less weighty than they are in the US, and a “conspiracy theory” might be crackpot, but also might be history yet unproven. Like Nixon’s treasonous interference as a candidate in 1968 with the Paris Peace Talks. That used to be a crackpot “conspiracy theory” for more than four decades until proven. Political shenanigans happen all the time. When the Watergate break-ins were first getting news notice people dismissed any connection to CREEP as a crack-pot theory. And every step of the way up until Dean testified there were tapes it was treated by most as a crack-pot conspiracy theory. You don’t see that a stage magician is tricking you. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a trick. It is. It’s always a trick. In politics, there are sometimes convenient coincidences, but if there is one thing my personal friends on the far right and I agree on, is to assume that something that helps one side and hurts the other was intentional on the part of someone or some group of people for that very purpose. Not always, but usually. > [@](#): > > ``` > First, he refused to prosecute George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld for breaking the treaty against torture and the statutes that also prohibit it. > > ``` > > Second, he let Wall Street CEOs off the hook for messing around with mortgage derivatives, misleading investors and clients, and crashing our economy. > > Third, he prosecuted more whistleblowers than any other Attorney General, and he used the hideous 1917 Sedition Act to go after them. He even pursued James Risen, the terrific New York Times reporter, threatening him with jail. > > Fourth, he defended the NSA’s vaccuuming up of all of our phone calls, and the mass surveillance of us on the Internet. And he invoked the doctrine of “State Secrets” to get away with it. > > And fifth, he justified Pres. Obama’s assassination doctrine, and said it applied even to U.S. citizens. > > - See more at: [Eric Holder's Five Crucial Failures - Progressive.org](http://www.progressive.org/news/2014/09/187870/eric-holders-five-crucial-failures#sthash.qLKY0Bdh.dpuf) I don’t think that list is bullshit. I think they are highly questionable if not despicable policies that the DOJ is supposed to protect us from. All of these reflect on Obama too. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/67 "2014-09-27T18:14:09Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Could you please define the words “we,” “know,” and “true?” I think I got the rest of that sentence. sure I can do that. Anybody who could look at politician in their party like Nixon and company and admit they were political trailer trash. I seriously doubt he’s resigning. I think Obama is throwing him under the bus because of the upcoming elections. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/68 "2014-09-27T18:24:14Z")
I’ll always remember Holder for forcing my city into discriminatory hiring policies. The police department was forced to [lower it’s standards](http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/local/dayton-throws-out-written-police-exam-scores-will-/nMqnT/) in order to hire black people. It’s hard enough to get rid of bad cops without adding this bit of stupid to the equation. Good riddance to him. ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/69 "2014-09-27T18:24:56Z")
I think he is in physical pain. Google him. The past couple of years he has lost weight,his eyes have a set look… All MHO,of course ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/70 "2014-09-27T18:28:50Z")
> [@](#): > > First, he refused to prosecute George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld for breaking the treaty against torture and the statutes that also prohibit it. Notwithstanding the fact that “breaking the treaty against torture” is not a felony one can be charged with, it seems to me that any reasonable person can see why it would be a bad idea for the future of our democracy for a political appointee to engage in mass prosecutions of his predecessors on political charges. > [@](#): > > Second, he let Wall Street CEOs off the hook for messing around with mortgage derivatives, misleading investors and clients, and crashing our economy. The author here complains that “Wall Street CEOs” crashed our economy, but doesn’t stop to think about what would have happened to our economy if the government had shut down the entire banking system as he proposes that Holder ought to have done. > [@](#): > > Third, he prosecuted more whistleblowers than any other Attorney General, and he used the hideous 1917 Sedition Act to go after them. He even pursued James Risen, the terrific New York Times reporter, threatening him with jail. Prosecuting whistleblowers is part of Holder’s job, and the fact that the author considers the Espionage Act to be “hideous” does not change the fact that it is the law of the land. The author is berating Holder for doing his job successfully. > [@](#): > > Fourth, he defended the NSA’s vaccuuming up of all of our phone calls, and the mass surveillance of us on the Internet. And he invoked the doctrine of “State Secrets” to get away with it. See #3. > [@](#): > > And fifth, he justified Pres. Obama’s assassination doctrine, and said it applied even to U.S. citizens. See #3. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/71 "2014-09-27T21:33:58Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You can disagree with this, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t true. I am sure that’s “true.” > [@Magiver](#): > > I seriously doubt he’s resigning. He is, since he’s been talking about this for months. What you’re proposing would not work anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/72 "2014-09-28T00:54:25Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I am sure that’s “true.” > > He is, since he’s been talking about this for months. What you’re proposing would not work anyway. Well of course it’s just a coincidence that he has the lowest approval ratings of any political figure and elections are coming up. Obama the Merciful has allowed him a bit of dignity. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/73 "2014-09-28T01:05:17Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Well of course it’s just a coincidence that he has the lowest approval ratings of any political figure and elections are coming up. I think that’s pretty typical for Attorneys General. They tend to be political lightning rods. And elections are always “coming up.” It has nothing to do with Obama being merciful or anything else. By all accounts Obama and Holder are very close, Holder has been on the job a long time, and if for some reason those well-documented facts aren’t sufficient, Jeffrey Toobin reported in February that he was planning to step down in 2014. That’s all. And as far as saying positive things about other AGs… Alberto Gonzales did a spectacular job of claiming ignorance of incriminating evidence regarding the illegal firing of US Attorneys for political reasons and then stepping down. It was 100% sufficient to avoid an eventual prosecution. And John Ashcroft wasn’t a great AG, but he was a fantastic Grand Inquisitor. See, I can give mixed assessments of their job performance. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/74 "2014-09-28T01:14:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I think that’s pretty typical for Attorneys General. They tend to be political lightning rods. And elections are always “coming up.” It has nothing to do with Obama being merciful or anything else. By all accounts Obama and Holder are very close, Holder has been on the job a long time, and if for some reason those well-documented facts aren’t sufficient, Jeffrey Toobin reported in February that he was planning to step down in 2014. That’s all. > > And as far as saying positive things about other AGs… Alberto Gonzales did a spectacular job of claiming ignorance of incriminating evidence regarding the illegal firing of US Attorneys for political reasons and then stepping down. It was 100% sufficient to avoid an eventual prosecution. And John Ashcroft wasn’t a great AG, but he was a fantastic Grand Inquisitor. See, I can give mixed assessments of their job performance. Obama could be having Holder’s baby and still cut him loose. He’s unpopular and popularity is the coal powering the train. So yes, elections are always coming up AJ’s are always stepping down. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/75 "2014-09-28T01:15:35Z")
I’m not sure what point you are trying to make. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/76 "2014-09-28T02:22:31Z")
[Jeffrey Toobin, writing about Holder in February:](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/02/17/holder-v-roberts) > [@](#): > > Holder told me that he’s planning to remain Attorney General “well into” 2014. His lame-duck status works as a kind of liberation for him. [Holder has also never been particularly popular.](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78235.html) Again, I think that’s pretty normal for AGs. [However an awful lot of people don’t really have an opinion about him](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/09/26/eric-holders-legacy-is-one-of-a-loyal-deputy-an-unpopular-one/), which is arguably better than the way people viewed his immediate predecessors. And he won’t actually leave until after the midterm elections anyway. He’s staying on until his successor is confirmed, which might not even be this year. All of which is to say- no, it doesn’t look like Obama is letting him go right before the elections because he’s politically unpopular. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/77 "2014-09-28T04:55:28Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m not sure what point you are trying to make. Holder is a negative number to the administration. Obama is fast becoming a leper to his own party so it doesn’t matter if they’re BFF’s. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/78 "2014-09-28T13:50:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Alberto Gonzales did a spectacular job of claiming ignorance of incriminating evidence regarding the illegal firing of US Attorneys… The firing wasn’t illegal, so I am not sure why you think this has any relevance. Lying under oath, which is what Holder did, _is_ illegal. I think it’s fairly obvious that Holder is getting out as a last-ditch effort to avoid GOP gains in the elections. Obama can pretend he is not doing some of the things the far left doesn’t like, long enough (he hopes) to maybe stave off losing the Senate. Then if Holder is indicted, Obama can pardon him. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/79 "2014-09-28T14:50:13Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The firing wasn’t illegal, so I am not sure why you think this has any relevance. Lying under oath, which is what Holder did, _is_ illegal. > > I think it’s fairly obvious that Holder is getting out as a last-ditch effort to avoid GOP gains in the elections. Obama can pretend he is not doing some of the things the far left doesn’t like, long enough (he hopes) to maybe stave off losing the Senate. Then if Holder is indicted, Obama can pardon him. > > Regards, > Shodan The politically-motivated firing of attorneys general was a singularly worse offense than anything Holder has done. Maybe worse than the totality of what Holder has done. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539/80 "2014-09-28T15:14:49Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Holder is a negative number to the administration. Obama is fast becoming a leper to his own party so it doesn’t matter if they’re > BFF’s. The majority of the public has no opinion about the guy. He’s a negative number, but he’s been one of those for six years. And again, he announced in February that he was leaving this year. > [@Shodan](#): > > The firing wasn’t illegal, so I am not sure why you think this has any relevance. Guffaw. For those who don’t remember but might wish to, [the firing of those attorneys result in _NINE_ Justice Department officials resigning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S._attorneys_controversy). Including AG Gonzales himself. No charges were filed, but heads rolled. > [@](#): > > I think it’s fairly obvious that Holder is getting out as a last-ditch effort to avoid GOP gains in the elections. It makes no sense on any level and I’ve posted enough facts to debunk it, but I am sure this is will remain “true.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-holder-resigning/699539.md?page=5)