Althouse: "My people."

March 1, 2011

"My people."

Should the Attorney General be saying "my people"... and not mean the People of the United States?

104 comments:

Jason (the commenter) said...: "My people" is the same as "you people".; 3/1/11, 7:48 PM
KCFleming said...: No, that's "you people".

As in, You people gotta get your own attorney general."; 3/1/11, 7:49 PM
Michael said...: Perfectly appropriate in the context of his answer. It is indeed the wrong thing to conflate the infringement of rights in Philadelphia with the historic infringement of rights of African Americans. But, of course, that wasn't the point. The point was that the Black Panthers violated the law and our AG took the path more traveled by ducking out on the false equivalency argument.; 3/1/11, 7:50 PM
JP said...: To funny, not long ago posted similar thought at my place.

Here I thought U.S. Attorney General, meant something like for ALL the people in the U.S.

That's what I get for thinking.

fucking A; 3/1/11, 7:51 PM
KCFleming said...: @Jason:
Ha!; 3/1/11, 7:51 PM
Ron said...: Why not? Barack is all up in The Hiz-zay Bianco!; 3/1/11, 7:51 PM
Unknown said...: He should resign or be fired. He obviously cannot uphold his oath of office and he adamantly refuses to enforce the law on behalf of all citizens, regardless of their race. These shortcomings are sufficient cause without citing the more troubling indictments, i.e., withholding evidence and witnesses from hearings and review by the civil rights commission and protecting perjurors. He would be a total embarrassment to any president other than Obama.; 3/1/11, 7:52 PM
chickelit said...: My People" translates to Mein Volk in German.

Just Sayin'; 3/1/11, 7:54 PM
FloridaSteve said...: When the AG pulls the race card to avoid a very simple and direct question something is more than terribly wrong.; 3/1/11, 7:56 PM
Trooper York said...: Well it is fine since he doesn't consider all of the citizens of the United States "his people."

There are favored classes in his view and that is all there is too it.

As Barry put it "I won."

Why is this a surprise to you?; 3/1/11, 7:57 PM
The Drill SGT said...: comparing use if the Civil Rights act today up North to the Civik Rights Act in '64 is a false comparison. The renewal of the Act presupposed that racism still exists and thus need sFederal scrutiny. The question is, How would 2 white guys in white robes and billy clubs be treated in front of a Selma Polling place in 2008. If they weren't arrested, then sure maybe the Philly NBPP guys deserve a break. In fact, we know that thos white klukkers would be jailed by the local white Sheriff and so should the Panthers.; 3/1/11, 8:00 PM
Shanna said...: I really don't mind it in context, but the context is him trying to distract from the issue and that I do mind.; 3/1/11, 8:04 PM
Peano said...: Should the Attorney General be saying "my people"... and not mean the People of the United States?

Imagine Rush Limbaugh using "my people" in the same (racial) sense, and you'll have the answer.; 3/1/11, 8:04 PM
Shanna said...: Also, am I the only one that had to think about which Philadelphia they were talking about for a second? When you start talking about historical stuff I think of Mississippi, and then the current stuff is obviously in PA.; 3/1/11, 8:06 PM
SGT Ted said...: He's a racist. Thats how what he said makes any sense.; 3/1/11, 8:06 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: As far as I can see, it was Holder himself who brought up the Jim Crow south as a strawman argument he could knock right down. Make it an emotional issue, trade on his "absolute moral authority" as a black man and distract attention from the question of whether the Justice Department enforced the law in a race-neutral manner.; 3/1/11, 8:08 PM
Synova said...: I think that it's okay to do and that fussing over it is going and looking for something to fuss over.

People use the term "my people" in a far more intimate way than referring to a nation. It's more like saying "my tribe" if we could say "my tribe" without someone fussing over that in turn.

Politically I think that the other things that Holder said ought to be far more damaging to him. If I understand the somewhat garbled quotes correctly, he complains that compared to the fight to ensure "his people" the right to vote, the actions of the Black Panthers is trivial. That we ought not compare the two.

And yet, politically, the actions of the Black Panthers can only be compared to equivalent contemporary actions and the fact is that if a couple of good old boys in paramilitary uniform stood outside of polling place with a night-stick Holder most certainly *would* view it as equivalent to the intimidation of a by-gone era.

Being distracted by "my people" is a distraction. Fussing about it doesn't illuminate the double standard, it's obscures the double standard that Holder rather clearly holds.

Unless he's prepared to view all polling place intimidation as trivial compared to what used to be.; 3/1/11, 8:09 PM
James said...: Holder is an embarrassment. I could never understand why Scooter Libby chose him as his lawyer. He probably reasoned that Holder would be simpatico with the D.C. judge and jury.; 3/1/11, 8:11 PM
kent said...: Attorney General of the U.S. isn't a "my people" position. It is, by definition, a "We, the people" position.

Were he possessed of even a scintilla of shame or self-awareness, he'd resign immediately... but: this is Holder we're talking about, after all.; 3/1/11, 8:15 PM
shiloh said...: Friends, Romans, countrymen ...

You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, Knew you not Pompey?; 3/1/11, 8:17 PM
JP said...: The upcoming presidential election, just may be a bit, umm, hectic, yeah, that's it. Hectic.; 3/1/11, 8:18 PM
test said...: That's funny. Whenever I suggest discrimination is less now than it was leftists inform me nothing has changed. History, like so much else, only exists when convenient to the left.; 3/1/11, 8:18 PM
PatHMV said...: Eh, reasonable point, but at the same time, Holder is correct in his assessment that to say that the Black Panther case is "the most serious act of voter intimidation" that the Democratic activist had ever witnessed in his career is a bit over-the-top in light of the history of intimidation of black voters, particularly in the south, 40 or 50 years ago.

One cannot know, of course, what other episodes of voter intimidation Bartle Bull has witnessed in his career. And I agree that the Justice Department's handling of the Black Panther case was reprehensible. But in the context of the statement to which he was responding, I think Holder's response is largely on point.

And in context of the statement made, I'm not going to get terribly hot and bothered about his reference to "my people."

On the other hand, that's no excuse for the horribly inappropriate de facto policy of his Justice Department to prosecute any black people for racial discrimination or voter intimidation.; 3/1/11, 8:22 PM
Synova said...: "That's funny. Whenever I suggest discrimination is less now than it was leftists inform me nothing has changed. History, like so much else, only exists when convenient to the left."

That's what I took away from this.

Get past the "my people" part and what Holder seems to have been arguing was that compared to the past, this was less than nothing.

Think about what that means.

If he can be held to his word that he is responding to the trivial nature of the offense rather than the race of the offenders, there is now a standard by which professional grievance mongers need to show that something *compares* to the bad old days.; 3/1/11, 8:25 PM
MayBee said...: On the other hand, that's no excuse for the horribly inappropriate de facto policy of his Justice Department to prosecute any black people for racial discrimination or voter intimidation.

His using the term "my people" gives us a big clue about why he has the policy.

It's not the term. It's the window into his brain.; 3/1/11, 8:26 PM
test said...: P.S.

"Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said the Black Panthers "should not have been there." But he said the GOP was making too much out of a fleeting incident involving a couple of people.

"The most unethical thing a person can do is make allegations based on absolutely nothing," Fattah said."

1. Missed this guy's comments when the CBC was trying to play the race card on the Tea Party.

2. They aren't based on nothing. Career government lawyers have stated under oath that officials reporting to Holder stated openly that his department would not pursue cases of intimidation against whites. So the guy should learn what nothing "means".; 3/1/11, 8:26 PM
Shanna said...: "Friends, Romans, countrymen ..."

Dude, you skipped the whole speech. And the Pompey thing comes way before that. What exactly was your point, except that you are capable of going to a shakespeare quote page and quoting things out of order?; 3/1/11, 8:27 PM
Anonymous said...: The AG, like the POTUS, is a racist asshole.; 3/1/11, 8:29 PM
Michael K said...: the Black Panther incident, wrong though it might be somehow

Yes, who could imagine that black thugs wearing uniforms and carrying clubs could be intimidating ?

It doesn't even take clubs. My mother was one of the few remaining white residents of a 30 story apartment building in Chicago in 1996. She lived in Jesse Jackson Jr's district. She went to vote, as she had done for the 30 years she had lived in that building, and was turned away by a Democrat poll worker who challenged her registration. Actually, because Jesse didn't need the votes, I suspect he hated to see a white vote, even a 98 year old woman.

My sister finally convinced her to move a year later. She had lived there in South Shore since returning from California in 1929. It was a beautiful area when I was growing up.

Democracy, Holder style, in action.; 3/1/11, 8:31 PM
virgil xenophon said...: An utter disgrace to his office..ABSOLUTELY no shame...a willful and brazen disregard for the law..one of the VERY FIRST people I put up against the wall the day I'm appointed Maximum Leader..

Remember, this is the man who gamed the pardon for Marc Rich--the FBI's *Most Wanted* international fugitive--for Bill Clinton as well as being the political fixer for the grant of clemency for the 16 FALN Puerto Rican terrorists who were connected by the FBI to over 130 bombings and 6 deaths and numerous bank robberies....an odious, base and recreant creature who badly needs to be put down as surely as one would put down a mad dog...were I El Cid in a more perfect world...; 3/1/11, 8:33 PM
Hagar said...: No. And it is not about the Philadelphia incident so much, as it is about the Justice Department's reaction to it. That is truly disgraceful and a disservice to all our "peoples."; 3/1/11, 8:33 PM
vnjagvet said...: I thought Ted Wells was Scooter Libby's lead lawyer, James.; 3/1/11, 8:33 PM
Anonymous said...: No, he shouldn't.

He should be saying "homies".

"My people" is too ambiguous and uptight...; 3/1/11, 8:35 PM
Methadras said...: What do you expect from a cherry picked leftard to head up DOJ? My people, you people, all people? It doesn't matter what this inept two-legged clusterfuck says because he's really thinking, my niggaz!!!; 3/1/11, 8:36 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: No, he should not.

But it just goes to show the wisdom some of us exhibited, before these racists got into power, and the rest of you accused us of being racists for opposing them. They came in to settle scores - with your blessing - and it was one of the ugliest spectacles I'd ever seen in American politics.

Especially the cynical nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah celebrating on election night.

This entire charade has been wrong from Day One.; 3/1/11, 8:37 PM
shiloh said...: Dude

No point other than this post doesn't have a point either ie minutia ...

btw, thanx for caring re: the minutia.; 3/1/11, 8:43 PM
Cato Renasci said...: No. And, given that the man who stated that the violations were the worst he'd seen was Bartle Bull (Sr.) a Civil Rights activist from the '60s for God's sake, it's risible.

Holder has disqualified himself as Attorney General, as there is an unrebuttable presumption of bias on his part towards whites, the majority of citizens of the United States. If he doesn't resign or Obama doesn't fire him, Holder should be impeached!; 3/1/11, 8:44 PM
James said...: I thought Ted Wells was Scooter Libby's lead lawyer, James.

Oops...you're right. I got my Stedman look-alikes mixed up.; 3/1/11, 8:47 PM
Unknown said...: Clearly, he is unfit for the office he holds.

But, then, so is the zero that put him there.

Shanna said...

"Friends, Romans, countrymen ..."

Dude, you skipped the whole speech. And the Pompey thing comes way before that. What exactly was your point, except that you are capable of going to a shakespeare quote page and quoting things out of order?

It's his idea of cutesy.; 3/1/11, 8:57 PM
Famous Original Mike said...: God dammit. I can't wait for the Baby Boomers and their OBSESSION with race to go away. Starting with the rackets in this administration.; 3/1/11, 8:58 PM
Famous Original Mike said...: Racists, not rackets!

iPad autocorrect.; 3/1/11, 8:58 PM
DADvocate said...: Holder just proved himself unworthy of the position. The people committing the crimes in Philadelphia weren't in Alabama in the 1960s. How long are they going t use this excuse for criminal behavior? What behaviors is he willing to excuse and how far will he go to avoid enforcing the law at his own indiscretion?; 3/1/11, 9:08 PM
Jeff said...: Life imitates Tropic Thunder -- can you imagine Robert Downey Jr., saying "my people"?

Kirk Lazarus: [to Tugg Speedman] What do you mean, "you people?"
Alpa Chino: What do *you* mean, "you people?"
Kirk Lazarus: Huh?; 3/1/11, 9:10 PM
Michael said...: So if you read what he said, don't you think he's basically saying "we did ignore the Black Panthers case and we feel we were justified in doing so?"; 3/1/11, 9:12 PM
The Ghost said...: Holder is a racist ... pure and simple ...; 3/1/11, 9:12 PM
David said...: It's a pretty standard black thing. Doesn't bother me much, and since I don't expect much from Holder, he can say pretty much what he wants. His tenure is temporary, and his effects will be temporary as well.

Note to white folks: Do not refer to people of your race as "my people" while testifying before Congress.

Whites should be even more careful to refrain from referring to any black people as "my people." You might be misunderstood.; 3/1/11, 9:13 PM
Mark said...: "To compare that kind of courage, that kind of action, and to say that the Black Panther incident wrong thought it might be somehow is greater in magnitude or is of greater concern to us, historically, I think just flies in the face of history and the facts.," Holder said with evident exasperation.

I doubt anyone claimed that what the New Black Panthers did was worse than what the '60s Civil Rights activists (many of whom were NOT Black, and were therefore treated as traitors to their race). All anyone claims is that what they did was self-evidently against the law.

Holder is a disgrace to his position.; 3/1/11, 9:21 PM
Real American said...: perhaps "my people" means the "Nation of Cowards" to which he referred earlier.; 3/1/11, 9:22 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: There must be a shortage of qualified professionals. Cause Obama has very very few of them in his cabinet and on his WH staff.; 3/1/11, 9:22 PM
Willys said...: I think when he says 'My people' he means Obama's people. And when I think of Obama's people I think ACORN.., the children of the Black Panthers.; 3/1/11, 9:24 PM
traditionalguy said...: Holder is holding out for reparations. His people want more free money, and the voting polls are where they write themselves those checks. Move along you smart ass white boys.; 3/1/11, 9:25 PM
vnjagvet said...: All Holder is doing is taking "we won" to its logical conclusion.; 3/1/11, 9:25 PM
Rick said...: Holder pushes Obama's multiculturalism agenda.; 3/1/11, 9:26 PM
BoboFromTexas said...: Stick it to Whitey?

Yes we can!

Hope and Change, beyatch!; 3/1/11, 9:29 PM
Milwaukee said...: Is there anything in the world remotely as awful as having to grow up Black in America today? Really, nothing, if you listen to Black leaders. Nothing. This is the absolutely worse fate that could befall a Black person. Forget all the other miserable countries in the world. However, I think they are mistaken. The problem is that one day the majority racial groups, Hispanics (Whatever that means) and Whites, will tire of doling out the dole.

By the way, while millions of African slaves were being caught by Africans and sold into slavery for manual labor in the Americas, even more were being caught and sent into slavery for sex work in Arab parts of the world. And why isn't there a problem with Blacks in that part of the world now? When those sex slaves had their babies, their Arab masters killed the babies as soon as they were born.

The defense of "but others are worse" is not a defense. What Whites did to discourage Blacks from voting in the past was despicable. What the New Black Panthers did was despicable. The Attorney General's response is pathetic and indefensible.; 3/1/11, 9:30 PM
Revenant said...: The only time I use the phrase "my people" is to refer to the folks who attend Comicon.; 3/1/11, 9:32 PM
Synova said...: "Note to white folks: Do not refer to people of your race as "my people" while testifying before Congress."

The phrase "your people" was used in, IIRC, the pilot episode of "Justified" to refer to the extended family/clan of one character.

If I have a problem with Holder using it, it's because he is already making it too general, not that he isn't general enough in naming his people.

This is, of course, a word usage nerd nit, not a political nit.; 3/1/11, 9:32 PM
MayBee said...: Michael- that's how I read it.; 3/1/11, 9:33 PM
The Ghost said...: @Michael, #4: It is never "perfectly appropriate" in any context for a Cabinet member of the United States Government to refer to people sharing his skin color - a classification barred from active prejudice by the Civil Rights Act itself - as "my people."

Forget the reverse-the-situation hypotheticals. Never mind white AGs and the KKK - substitute any other incidental group for "my people" - age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, home state, even ideology - and answering that way is grounds for removal from office.; 3/1/11, 9:34 PM
Synova said...: "The only time I use the phrase "my people" is to refer to the folks who attend Comicon."

Yes!

Not that it has to be Comicon. ;-); 3/1/11, 9:36 PM
JAL said...: Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said the Black Panthers "should not have been there." But he said the GOP was making too much out of a fleeting incident involving a couple of people.

See? It was a fleeting incident involving a couple of people.

Move along.; 3/1/11, 9:39 PM
Just me said...: Ann, really? This is what I expect from Drudge and Politico, but not from you. Watch the hearing and the lines before, and after, where he says this. He's saying "my people" as in the Justice Department workers who risked their lives to defend civil rights laws.

Seriously. Are you now getting this intellectually lazy? Perhaps The Hill has it right and everyone just assumes Drudge's 'reports' are correct.

I mean, even Politico corrected themselves with a pathetic: "UPDATE: This post has been updated with minor changes to the syntax of some quotes."; 3/1/11, 9:44 PM
Ann Althouse said...: ""Think about that," Holder said. "When you compare what people endured in the South in the 60s to try to get the right to vote for African Americans, and to compare what people were subjected to there to what happened in Philadelphia—which was inappropriate, certainly that…to describe it in those terms I think does a great disservice to people who put their lives on the line, who risked all, for my people," said Holder, who is black."

You read the "syntax." You decide.; 3/1/11, 9:47 PM
cold pizza said...: Starring Eric Holder as Moses in "Children of the ACORN."

"Let my people go.... stand outside polling places with billy clubs!"

-cp

wv: gratom: the unit of measurement for gratitude.; 3/1/11, 9:50 PM
Revenant said...: Bartle Bull called the incident the most serious act of voter intimidation he had witnessed in his career.

Emphasis mine.

Holder noted that his late sister-in-law, Vivian Malone Jones, helped integrate the University of Alabama. "To compare that kind of courage, that kind of action, and to say that the Black Panther incident [snip]

The University of Alabama was integrated 47 years ago. Eric Holder was 12 years old at the time. The statement "things were worse in the 60s" in no way refutes the statement "that's the worst I've seen in my career". A lawyer would have to be 70 years old to have been on the job when Wallace pulled his little doorway stunt.

Suffice it to say that Holder's inability to think of a modern example of worse voting rights violations does not do much to put this issue to rest.; 3/1/11, 9:53 PM
Unknown said...: I was shocked (seriously).

Huckabee's comments today re: Obama and Kenya were also shocking. We seem to have prominent politicians who don't seem to be able to control their speech while in public.; 3/1/11, 10:00 PM
Revenant said...: Huckabee's comments today re: Obama and Kenya were also shocking.

Only to people who didn't already know he was an idiot.; 3/1/11, 10:06 PM
Martin L. Shoemaker said...: Ann Althouse said...

...people who put their lives on the line, who risked all, for my people," said Holder, who is black."

You read the "syntax." You decide.

I read it, and I decided that AG Holder -- who is blatantly racist in how he applies the law -- happens to be historically correct in his usage here. He's referring to the historical efforts to secure civil rights for black people -- and thus, his people.

If he used the phrase "my people" in a modern context, I would say he's not just racist, but politically idiotic. If he said, "We can't prosecute that case because my people can't get justice," all this fuss would be appropriate.

But it's absolutely historically correct that people of all races put their lives on the line and risked all for his people back in the civil rights era.

There's plenty to criticize AG Holder for. This comment doesn't make that list.; 3/1/11, 10:08 PM
Alex said...: Robert Reich warns the rich to give back their wealth or ELSE

Well, an angry population and an angry populace could just as easily turn their anger toward the very rich. Again, it is in the interest of the people at the top to actually call for a more equitable distribution of the gains of economic growth and a better tax system: a tax system that is fair.; 3/1/11, 10:19 PM
Unknown said...: This whole Black Panther incident was indicative of the tin ear of Obama. The fates had handed him a Sister Souljah moment on a platter at the very start of his administration. And he did not have the imagination to seize it. Holder's whole deportment as AG is a window into that lack of imagination. Race is the box they can't think outside of.; 3/1/11, 10:21 PM
Alex said...: This whole Black Panther incident was indicative of the tin ear of Obama. The fates had handed him a Sister Souljah moment on a platter at the very start of his administration. And he did not have the imagination to seize it. Holder's whole deportment as AG is a window into that lack of imagination. Race is the box they can't think outside of.

And yet the same white liberals who voted him in will do it again out of their insane white-guilt.; 3/1/11, 10:22 PM
Milwaukee said...: The other day I really annoyed my 79 year-old mom by saying that it was men who gave women the vote. Well, it was men voting on it that created or changed the laws enabling women to vote. That was a voluntary transfer of power. Likewise, White people in the United States are the ones who freed the slaves, and gave people of color freedoms of White people. While Blacks dominated those demonstrations, there were White people helping. We are trying to move forward from the injustices of the past. If there was injustice, and it wasn't prosecuted, we can not cure all the ills of the past. We can try to stop ills today and tomorrow. The New Black Panthers case is not ancient history. Integrating the University of Whatever is ancient history. (not really, but might as well be for people who can't think straight); 3/1/11, 10:27 PM
M. Simon said...: The AG is opposed to "those people".; 3/1/11, 10:38 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Btw, it's ridiculous that the top appointees, and especially Eric Holder, felt a need to get involved in this case. But in the Beltway,I guess the bigwigs get sucked in when a Congressmen [i.e high school dropout Chaka Fatah] chips in his two cents on the case.
Not that I am saying Fatah butted in but I would be surprised if he didn't.; 3/1/11, 10:46 PM
M. Simon said...: I propose a new metric:

One drop of white blood.

Holder is a white man. As is his boss Obama.; 3/1/11, 10:48 PM
Anonymous said...: I know it is impolite but I have to say it..Mr. Holder is a racist turd who has no business being AG of the United States.; 3/1/11, 10:59 PM
bagoh20 said...: They were not "his people". They were people, period. If the non-blacks who fought for civil rights looked at blacks as he looks at whites (not his people), then those freedoms would never had been won. His words are racist and remind us of the thinking that made slavery possible in the first place. Blacks are the ones who should never use "my people" if anyone shouldn't. If racism is wrong, then deny it that breath as it tries to resurface in your heart.

The backgrounds of the people in this administration are despicable, racist, and grievance soaked.

I don't see how McCain could have embarrassed me as much a voting for this corrupt regime. Imagine these people in a nation with less control over it's leadership. They are as corrupt as possible in the USA.; 3/1/11, 11:07 PM
Martin said...: Gee, Eric Holder played the race-grievance card. I'm shocked.

I suppose it should be noted for the record, but really, this is just dog bites man---I would not have expected anything else from our racist AG.

If he ever shows any signs of wanting to administer the law fairly and impartially, please let me know, THAT would be news.; 3/1/11, 11:08 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Martin L. Shoemaker,

It's absolutely historically correct that people of all races put their lives on the line and risked all for his people back in the civil rights era.

There's plenty to criticize AG Holder for. This comment doesn't make that list.

Bullshit. What was done happened for ALL Americans. Just as slavery freed the slave and the slave owner from a terrible business, the Civil Rights era freed the country from a horrible hypocrisy everyone had to live with and anyone could see.

Also, to claim it was done for black people, alone, is to be racist yourself, because it implies that no caucasians benefited from the changes, when clearly - based on the screams of the white womens I've been to bed with - that is certainly not the case.

ROTFLMOA!!!; 3/1/11, 11:13 PM
shiloh said...: AA, you're conservative throng have deemed themselves experts on all matters to do w/race and racism ~ fascinating to be sure.

ok, at the very least they certainly are (((fixated/obsessed))) w/race as their humble leader throws out a question, already knowing what the response will be from her supporters, much like Romans throwing meat to the lions knowing it would be eaten ...; 3/1/11, 11:30 PM
virgil xenophon said...: How do 16 FALN terrorists taste, shiloh? Got your fill?; 3/2/11, 12:10 AM
Revenant said...: much like Romans throwing meat to the lions knowing it would be eaten

Om nom nom.

The funny thing is that you don't notice she does it to get a predictable response out of your lot, too. :); 3/2/11, 12:39 AM
sj mart said...: When I first read the comment by Holder I assumed he meant "the people which I am responsible to manage at Justice", but upon reading it in context, and it became clear that he was referring to black americans I realized that this is exactly the kind of mindset that allowed the Black Panther dereliction of duty by Justice in the first place.; 3/2/11, 1:00 AM
former law student said...: Should the Attorney General be saying "my people"... and not mean the People of the United States?

When he's being accused of showing favoritism to Americans who happen to share his skintone, yes.

Culberson didn't think Holder let the two black men walk simply because all three were Americans, correct?; 3/2/11, 1:10 AM
former law student said...: The point was that the Black Panthers violated the law

Hard to prove voter intimidation without evidence of intimidated voters.

You'd think by now that one of the senior citizens who lived in that building would have stepped forward to claim he was intimidated.; 3/2/11, 1:14 AM
former law student said...: comparing use if the Civil Rights act today up North to the Civik Rights Act in '64 is a false comparison.

That Bartle Bull, esq., said he was there, man, back in the '60s, and he was there in front of the old folks' apartments on Election Day, 2008, and the two dudes in front of the senior citizen residence were worse in terms of voter intimidation than any Southern sheriff or KKK unit in the '60s.; 3/2/11, 1:18 AM
shiloh said...: The funny thing is that you don't notice she does it to get a predictable response out of your lot, too.

Then what's the point ie no end game other than

you suck

no, you suck

no, you really suck

no, you really, really suck

ok, this is what goes on at political blogs regardless, nevermind ...; 3/2/11, 1:45 AM
Revenant said...: I'm sure Holder had a really tough time back in 6th grade, dealing with all those nasty KKK guys denying him is right to vote for school treasurer or whatever.

It's just funny that he can't think of any actual cases from, say, the 21st century. He's got to reach back to 1963 to find an example of white folks acting worse than the guys he let go.; 3/2/11, 2:01 AM
Rose said...: Should the Attorney General be saying "my people"... and not mean the People of the United States?

NO, but you also have a President who thinks that way - and thinks of half the country as his "enemies."; 3/2/11, 2:09 AM
David said...: Democrats seem obsessed with special interests, and oblivious of the American commonweal.; 3/2/11, 3:32 AM
Frank said...: Do you have a problem with Moses telling Pharaoh, "Let my people go"?; 3/2/11, 6:43 AM
rhhardin said...: This administration is working to illustrate tha there are dangers to affirmative action beyond what to does to blacks.; 3/2/11, 7:14 AM
Anonymous said...: I nominate Ann Althouse to act as Attorney General for "all other people"

do i hear a second?; 3/2/11, 8:19 AM
Milwaukee said...: My brother once unloaded on the rest of the family with "you people". To which my mom replied "You people?" He corrected himself with "You chosen people". It does sound nicer.

Justice Thomas inveighed against cross burning as freedom of expression because of all the evil baggage it brings. The expressions "my people" and "you people", while no where near cross burning, or even that word from Huck Finn, carry enough weight that a politically astute individual such as the Attorney General shouldn't be using the expression at a Congressional Hearing.; 3/2/11, 8:23 AM
Mama Bear said...: Philadelphia is a disaster. I know - I've lived here for over a decade. When I go to vote, I have to go to the AFL-CIO building, where there are pro-Democrat signs all over the windows and walls and where all the poll workers (i.e. union members) are wearing Democrat buttons and shirts. Isn't that against the law? Oh wait, I forgot -- it's only an issue if right-wingers do stuff like that!
When I went to vote back in 2008, I was registered Republican and was almost not allowed to cast my vote because I presented a *passport* instead of my driver's license. I had to remind the poll worker that my passport *was* a government-issued ID.; 3/2/11, 8:40 AM
Jim O said...: FWIW, all four of Holder's grandparents were born in Barbados. Like Obama, he is not the decendant of American slaves, but he continually implies that he is. For example, it helps him dodge tough questions likethe one he was answering by allowing him to exude moral superiority over his questioner.; 3/2/11, 8:57 AM
former law student said...: FWIW, all four of Holder's grandparents were born in Barbados. Like Obama, he is not the decendant of American slaves, but he continually implies that he is.

Wow, we're really picky about our slavery provenance. While I support the use of "American" to mean exclusively "United Statesian," Holder can legitimately claim he is the descendant of North American slaves, or British-American Colony slaves.; 3/2/11, 10:03 AM
shiloh said...: do i hear a second?; 3/2/11, 10:17 AM
Jim O said...: Former Law Student:

I'm not picky.

As I wrote at greater length in a comment elsewhere (NR, I think), the Barabians had their own struggle for civil rights, but they had won it a long before Holder's parent met. The Voting Rights Act, which was, don't forget,the topic under discussion, had no effect on either Barbados or Holder.

He can't legitimately claim that the things he brought up to dodge the question by running to the moral high ground were done on the behalf of "his people" unless skin color is now the only thing that matters.

The British lost the 13 colonies in 1781. The struggles of the Civil Rights movement he describes were not against "the British," unless skin color is now the only thing that matters.

My ancestors were enslaved by "the British," too. The difference between me and him is I don't bitch about it.; 3/2/11, 1:40 PM
Fernandinande said...: SGT Ted said...
He's a racist. Thats how what he said makes any sense.

And it's also why that other racist appointed him.; 3/3/11, 8:12 AM
shiloh said...: It's also sad how AA's lemmings are totally (((obsessed))) w/race/racism. Not surprising for conservatives, but sad.

Indeed, many wingers are still in the fetal position having not yet recovered from Nov. 4, 2008 when 69.5 million voted for Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America. :)

Gasp!; 3/3/11, 1:15 PM
Unknown said...: "Wrong though it MIGHT be SOMEHOW"

The power of the mainstream media to quartantine stories like this--while triangulating FOX/The Right from covering it--is one of propaganda's greatest achievements.; 3/4/11, 9:47 AM
hallie said...: He is no longer the Attorney General. He is the mayor of Chicago and it was quite appropriate for him to refer to the people of Chicago as "MY PEOPLE" and he is not working for the people of Chicago. His people.
Malkin is a racist for making this a racist issue.; 3/7/11, 5:19 PM
Mad Tom said...: Seriously? I say "my people" all the time to refer to English or Anglo-Americans, and nobody has a problem with it. All races and ethnicities should be able to say "my people" in reference to their people. Why should the attorney general be any different? Did he stop being a member of a people when he took the oath of office, or something?; 3/10/11, 12:10 AM