Holder suggests he may resign

[IDemo]

Source: Raw Story

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told students at the University of Baltimore Law School on Thursday that he’s considering stepping down and letting someone else take over his job for President Barack Obama’s second term.

“That’s something that I’m in the process now of trying to determine,” Holder said, according to a report by CBS News. “I have to think about, can I contribute in a second term?”

He reportedly added: “[I have to] really ask myself the question about, do I think there are things that I still want to do? Do I have gas left in the tank? It’s been an interesting and tough four years, so I really just don’t know.”

The nation’s first African American attorney general has not been without his critics. Republicans have especially hammered Holder over the “Fast and Furious” scandal, in which guns purchased in the U.S. and fitted with tracking devices by federal authorities ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels, and in some cases were discovered at murder scenes.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/08/holder-suggests-he-may-resign/

[northoftheborder]

1. Hope he does. We need somebody with more fire and gumption to go after the white collar crime.

[louis-t]

2. Don't tease....

Maybe now we can hold some people accountable.

[sarcasmo]

12. +1

[Mira]

3. Well - that is something new to pray for n/'t

[Blue Owl]

4. Well, I wouldn't miss the refer madness he seems to project.

How about getting a replacement who'll crack down on crimes that REALLY matter?

[Voice for Peace]

6. yes!

the war crimes with no expiration date.
the wall street criminals.
the corporate mafia.
the pharmaceutical companies.
all the rule-breakers who cheat and deceive for their own profit.

Shine a light on all of them.

[840high]

36. Yes.

[Voice for Peace]

5. Time to end the drug war, the war on medical pot, the war on nonviolent offenders, and

reform the prison system to make it humane and rehabilitative.

Whoever will his replacement be? I have no idea, I'm looking
forward to DU analyses

[DisgustipatedinCA]

7. Spend more time with your family. Yes, please. Just go now.

.

[leveymg]

8. I can think of no one better suited for that job than Eliot Spitzer. eom

[formercia]

11. +1000. n/t

[southerncrone]

29. He gets my vote!

Up & running on day one & leaving no stone unturned. Yes!

[wordpix]

47. I agree but his sex life will disqualify him, according to the R's

Maybe if Larry Flynt starts investigating again about R dalliances, they would approve Spitzer.

[leveymg]

72. He understands invasion of privacy and misuse of wiretaps. Firsthand.

In addition to all his other skills and aptitudes.

[truebrit71]

9. Yes please. Maybe the next AG won't violate States Rights and leave MMJ...

...dispensaries the hell alone and focus on big ticket crime....you know...Wall Street...

[Sophiegirl]

10. Correct me if I am wrong...

But, doesn't he serve at the request of the President? Does he get a choice to continue to serve in his capacity as AG or does our President make that decision?

Uhm.....pretty sure it isn't up to him.

[AndyTiedye]

13. He is Always Free to Resign

I hope he does, and take his war on pot with him.

[PoliticAverse]

18. Janet Reno didn't want to leave and Clinton didn't push her out. n/t

[kestrel91316]

14. Good. Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.

Worthless anti-cannabis asswipe IMHO. Afraid to TOUCH RW criminals.

[Auggie]

15. California AG Kamala Harris' name has surfaced

[slackmaster]

16. You can't take her away from us

We need her here.

[Auggie]

44. I'm one of you

It's okay with me if she wants to seek higher political prominence.

[Thrill]

60. Lets hope she is the Supreme Court nominee

not the AG.

[PoliticAverse]

17. He can definitely make a major contribution to Obama's second term....

by resigning.

[robinlynne]

19. Please. resign. go home.

[PuppyBismark]

20. Don't Let the Door hit You on Your Butt on the Way Out N/T

[Poll_Blind]

21. Spoken like someone who has no actual intention of resigning. nt

PB

[dixiegrrrrl]

77. Actually, spoken like someone who knows he is getting the axe.

I have several different articles that Holder and Geithner will be leaving in the 2nd term.
Putting it out that you are thinking of resigning is a lot nicer than waiting to be fired.

[BlueCaliDem]

22. Darryl Issa and the Republicans must be jumping for joy by this rumor.

And a lot of potheads, too, apparently.

[Hydra]

23. Ya, cuz he did such a good job of cleaning up Wall St and Cheney's operation?

I don't hold it against him though- I'm sure he got his orders from the top, so I doubt a new AG would have a different focus.

[BlueCaliDem]

27. Fact of the matter is

what Wall Street did was unethical, a-moral, and horrendous . . . but it was not illegal. They did everything within the law because their lackeys in Congress (both Republican AND Democratic) passed those laws to protect them (and they paid a pretty penny to get those through).

To excoriate President Obama's AG is shortsighted. Those who broke the law on Wall Street were prosecuted to the fullest extent and sent to prison. Why do people still have a problem with this basic concept; that the AG can only prosecute IF laws have been broken, and with the financial meltdown, very few were.

THE PRESIDENT:

"Well, first on the issue of prosecutions on Wall Street, one of the biggest problems about the collapse of Lehmans and the subsequent financial crisis and the whole subprime lending fiasco is that a lot of that stuff wasn't necessarily illegal, it was just immoral or inappropriate or reckless. That's exactly why we needed to pass Dodd-Frank, to prohibit some of these practices.

... I think part of people's frustrations, part of my frustration, was a lot of practices that should not have been allowed weren't necessarily against the law, but they had a huge destructive impact. And that's why it was important for us to put in place financial rules that protect the American people from reckless decision-making and irresponsible behavior."

[sabrina 1]

37. You forgot the sarcasm tag, right?

what Wall Street did was unethical, a-moral, and horrendous . . . but it was not illegal.

Since when did Robo Signing become legal? Since when did faking documents to wrongfully foreclose on people become legal?

Since when did deceiving investors by providing them with false information become legal?

Otoh, you may be right, we seem to have zero laws that apply to rich and famous and to war criminals in this country anymore.

[BlueCaliDem]

38. No. I didn't.

As I've stated in my previous post, there where laws have been broken, people have been prosecuted. In this country, it's a lot easier to break laws than to be prosecuted for them - especially when you have a team of very well paid attorneys at your every beck and call.

Alleging illegal acts by these moneyed interests is easy. It's the gathering evidence that counts, and that's hard to do. The Federal Gov't had sued many banks and they're paying up. They are currently suing B of A. It takes time to prosecute, but prosecutions are happening even if they're not mentioned in the media.

[Hydra]

49. SEC had/has MOUNTAINS of evidence on Goldman and others

But all it takes is "We don't feel like we should go forward with it" and it all gets shredded.

Doesn't mean there wasn't anything illegal going on- it means that selective enforcement is being applied. We call selective enforcement very ugly things when it's some other country. Here, it's for the greater good of capitalism.

[pscot]

51. DOJ has made a great show of rounding up

the usual suspects, mostly small-fry, while refusing to look at the higher ups.

[sabrina 1]

53. Sorry, but there were massive crimes committed here and there is no shortage of evidence.

Much like the War Criminals though, they are all being protected by their Government. It is shameful as the victims of these crimes will never see justice.

There are no excuses, only a real sadness that this is what we have come to in this country. If any ordinary person has done anything remotely similar to what these criminals did to the World's economies, causing even a fraction of the amount of human suffering, there would be no excuses being made.

It only adds insult to injury to have what has been described by many legal experts as the 'biggest heist in history' described as just 'moral failure' or whatever other euphemisms have been used. I guess we could describe any crime as immoral.

Deals have been made to prevent victims from getting justice. One of those victims is a friend of mine. The crime committed against her was deliberate, it was pre-meditated, and it was cruel. To take away someone's home based on fake documents is a crime, but the criminals will not be prosecuted. She has been offered $800.00 as 'justice'. Thank you Congress, you did a good job of protecting those you really work for.

Lawsuits filed? That is not much consolation to those who lost everything, investors, home-owners, the numbers of victims of these 'immoral' acts are astounding.

I still hope that with pressure from the growing number of victims and perhaps a different DOJ, there will be prosecutions eventually. Without that, the crimes will continue as they are doing still because there really are no consequences for these powerful, wealthy people.

[coalition_unwilling]

66. The person to whom you responded stayed entirely silent on the question

of war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Bush Junta. I found that silence telling. People died at Bagram and Abu Ghraib. Homicides were committed. And no policy maker was tried or even investigated because we needed to look 'forward,' not 'backward.'

Well, I have a confession to make now that the election is over. I voted Green (first time I didn't vote Dem since 1980) to protest the abandonment of justice by this administration.

[Le Taz Hot]

75. +1

on your last paragraph and for pretty much the same reason. Living in CA affords us many luxuries and voting our conscience is one of them.

[sabrina 1]

78. The next four years will determine the future of the Democratic Party.

If Democrats join Republicans in the protection of some of this country's worst criminals who have caused so much suffering, death and pain around the globe, those who stayed with them this time, with far less enthusiasm than before, will be turning away in droves. You can only set aside your conscience if you have one, when you know the alternative would be even worse. That is how many people voted this time.

But that won't continue unless we see that making that difficult decision this time, pays off in actually application of the law to those who committed crimes. I know many people who did vote their conscience this time, which is probably why the popular vote went from a margin of ten million to three, enough to give Democrats another chance. Now those who gave them that chance are going to be very loud, very demanding unwilling to compromise on matters of justice.

It has started already with the Unions and dozens of Liberal groups, who did stay with the party this time, but with their wide open refusing to accept the excuses and now mobilizing to put pressure on Democrats to prove that they did not throw their votes away.

There is a huge shift happening in this country. Thanks to OWS the money in politics was a big issue for many voters this time. Reading back on other elections, 2004 eg, it's interesting to see the different attitude Dems had towards money at that time. We, they didn't see it as the poison we now know it is. People are way more educated now, especially young people. I would be willing to bet that this is the last time people will be willing to give Dems a chance. I can see a lot of Independents running at the local level and for Congress and over time a weakening of the two party system unless they demonstrate they are responsive to the people.

[JackRiddler]

88. What you said - Wall Street committed epic fraud.

[skeewee08]

25. Action speaks louder than words.....

[Jack Rabbit]

26. Oh, good

I don't think Obama is going to nominate Mike Papantonio, but that would be a vast improvement.

He needs to fire his economics team, too and replace them with people who aren't Wall Street toads. With a new economics team and a new AG, maybe we can put banksters in their place.

Do you suppose Dimon, Blankfein, Moynihan, et al. would open new branches inside Ft. Leavenworth?

[JRLeft]

28. Obama's needs a progressive as the attorney general. Someone willing to throw Wall Street people in

prison.

[mountain grammy]

30. Did he ever have any "gas in the tank?"

My dream is Mike Papantonio.. just a dream.

[HurricaneWarning]

43. Great idea.

He would be excellent!

[fascisthunter]

31. please do

[Panasonic]

32. The sooner, the better, you jackass.

And go suck up corporate welfare some more.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

The next AG will order DEA to stand down on Colorado and Washington, and remove cannabis from scheduling in the very first day.

[Le Taz Hot]

76. Actually, it was President Nixon

who wrangled Congress to give him the power to Schedule drugs. After the study that HE commissioned came right out and said that cannabis was not a dangerous drug, Nixon got pissed because it was the "wrong message." That's when he got the law changed and it's how cannabis became a Schedule I drug. To my knowledge, the law hasn't changed which means Obama can change it at any time.

[yardwork]

34. That would be great. I'm happy to help him pack.

He's probably mad at the states that legalized marijuana.

[Warren DeMontague]

46. Exactly.

[GoldenEagle16]

35. He is a good man but has become a lightning rod

I suspect he is tired and ready to move on.

[BlueCaliDem]

41. The next AG President Obama picks will be another lightning rod

for the AlwaysWrongRight. But I can see where Holder is tired of it all and wants to move on. I just hope that the next AG is more in their face. That usually scares Republicans.

[sabrina 1]

54. Well he's not tired from prosecuting Wall Street or War Criminals so yes, maybe he should

move on so the country can start dealing with all these criminals. It's way past time to send a message that the massive crimes committed by all these criminals will not be tolerated and that this country really is what we keep claiming it to be, a country of laws that apply equally to all citizens.

[Selatius]

63. His reputation went into the garbage when the Fast and Furious scandal broke.

That those tracked weapons were used to commit felonies in the US and killed federal agents is a cross he will carry for the rest of his life.

I hope he does the right thing and resigns. He is tarnished.

[MrSlayer]

39. We should be so lucky.

He's been an unmitigated disaster.

[BadgerKid]

40. Is this really Holder's idea or the President's? n/t

[John2]

42. We

We need somebody who isn't afraid of the rightwing GOP Congress. Issa must have broke some law? He should have handcuffs on him by now.

[Warren DeMontague]

45. We need someone who realizes tax dollars have better uses than throwing cancer grannies in prison

For smoking a joint.

[rateyes]

48. Don't go away mad, Eric. Just go away.

[sendero]

50. He's an ineffectual AG..

.... I hope he does resign.

[wildbilln864]

52. good freakin riddance! nt

[neeksgeek]

55. Not a bad idea at all.

But I wonder who would take over the AG position?

[Oldenuff]

56. I hope it is true,but

not to bring you down off your successful "election high",but be careful what you wish for,as often times the replacement is worse.I can support this jackasses departure.I could also hope that the Pres will FINALLY side with the people who request an end to this War on (some)Drugs...but somehow I doubt that he will.I hope I am wrong,but it is my belief that there are those in the Government who are trying to manipulate which drug cartel prevails in Mexico,and Cannabis is a huge chunk of their profits.

Anyway..I hope to hell he doesn't go and promote somebody like Napolitano to replace Holder...

[ancianita]

57. Elliot Spitzer. Wall St. is scared shitless of him.

Adelson will worry if Spitzer were AG. He's got money, good credentials and is a progressive bulldog.

Wall St.'s afraid of him. He brought down the Gambino family's control over Manhattan's garment and trucking industries.

As attorney general, Spitzer prosecuted cases relating to corporate white collar crime, securities fraud, internet fraud and environmental protection. He most notably pursued cases against computer chip price fixing, investment bank stock price inflation,predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders, fraud at American International Group, and the 2003 mutual fund scandal. He also sued Richard Grasso, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange over a compensation package perceived to be excessive.

All that's why they had him set up in an "escort" scandal.

[Selatius]

64. Obama has nothing to lose by appointing Spitzer. He doesn't have to run for office anymore.

It would serve as a gigantic middle finger to Wall Street by Obama after they dropped so many millions on Romney's campaign.

[Myrina]

84. +100 Brazillion

You nailed it.

[AtomicKitten]

58. Bye.

[cstanleytech]

59. I would suggest Hillary take his position however I believe I read

that shes considering stepping down soon and getting out of government, not that I can blame her since she has been involved in it in one form or another for decades and might just want to do something else like teach or retire.

[davidpdx]

65. That is true

She has said she may stay on a month after the inauguration to allow time to transition.

[harmonicon]

69. Why? So she could do a shitty job at another job she's 100% unqualified for?

I was pleasantly surprised that I liked her performance in the senate, but she's been pretty fucking terrible at her current job. I have no idea what behind-the-scenes shit happened to secure it for her, but it must have been serious, because she certainly was completely unqualified.

[Thrill]

61. I think Lisa Madigan will be Obama's pick

[FamilyMan]

62. Holder has a few obstacles

Obama realized he can't go after anyone big with Holder. Rich crooked white guys will always try to claim reverse racism if he investigates them. I'm sure the next AG will have a lot more motivation and be less reserved about going after the klan. The new AG should start with Jon Husted.

[rucky]

67. Dennis Kucinich is available

just sayin'

[harmonicon]

70. As is the Ghost of Guy Debord.

He won't get the job either.

[Socal31]

86. Even being on his 2nd Term.......

Obama won't appoint a gun-grabber as AG. Many of the states that gave us the present of a Mittens thrashing are very supportive of the 2nd amendment.

[harmonicon]

68. Can he contribute to a second term? Not if his performance in the first term is any indication. nt.

[Scuba]

71. Don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on your way out!

Hope the new AG will shift enforcement from gardeners to banksters.

[Ash_F]

73. Why wait? leave now. /nt

[Le Taz Hot]

74. Just shut up and do it.

The Worst. A.G. Ever.

[sarcasmo]

79. Please resign, please, oh please.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

80. Oh please do. We can count on it. His remarks sealed his fate.n/t

[Steerpike]

81. no worries

The President appointed him. If he leaves the President will appoint someone just like him. Mr. Obama has never indicated any displeasure with him or his policies or direction.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

82. Here's a thought for America's top cop...

Former Texas Lieutenant Governor and progressive Ronnie Earle who is famous for filing charges against Tom "The Bugman" Delay.

[Myrina]

83. "Attorney General Feingold" or "Attorney General Spitzer" both sound marvelous ...

[libdem4life]

85. Think he fell to the caution of the "angry black man" meme.

He always seemed so classy. So sick of racism.

[Kingofalldems]

87. Oops

Hmm, who should we believe--Holder or Rupert Murdoch's NY Post?