Members of the Congressional Black Caucus were incredulous Thursday when they were informed that Attorney General Eric Holder planned to announce his resignation later that day.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) apparently first broke the news to lawmakers and their audience at an event for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
“The word is now that the Attorney General will resign today, and he has served our country very very well,” Pelosi said. “But the message is that the Attorney General will be submitting his resignation to the President. So let us salute him once again for all of his great, great work.”
Those present could be heard saying “what?” and “wow!” as Pelosi relayed the news.
“That is so bad, that is terrible,” Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) said. “Why? That is so sad.”
“That’s devastating,” a female panelist said repeatedly.
Reps. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Donna Edwards (D-MD), and Joyce Beatty (D-OH) were present.
Watch below:
I was in the car when I heard this on the radio. I, too, was stunned.
I’m not sure why this is stunning or dismaying. Holder himself has been saying for a couple of years now that he was ready to leave. That’s perfectly common by the way, it’s quite rare for anyone to want to stay in those incredibly demanding cabinet-level jobs for 8 full years (Janet Reno did, but that was a notable exception – and came about in part due to White House fears of being seen as firing an AG in the midst of investigations of Clinton himself).
Holder certainly is a lightning rod, but he’s not being forced out so far as I can see.
Holder was a great AG saddled with a hostile House and dumb Supreme Court. He is leaving on his own terms, reportedly having blood pressure issues and a loving family, who can feel the time is right for him to come in from the front.
Just as effective as RFK in civil rights and a better, more courageous manage than given credit for. Change is always painful but they eventually brings gains. I am ready for Hillary if that will help.
Here is one of the statements by Holder that the racist base of the Republican party hated:
Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we average Americans simply do not talk enough with each other about race. It is an issue we have never been at ease with, and given our nation’s history, this is in some ways understandable. And yet, if we are to make progress in this area, we must feel comfortable enough with one another and tolerant enough of each other to have frank conversations about the racial matters that
continue to divide us.
The cowards don’t get it. Instead, they hate.
They don’t have to get it.
They have a platform on which they can speak of their hatred without challenge to an audience that thoroughly agrees with them. And they make a lot of money on their words. That’s what counts - not integrity or honesty or love or any of the basic notions that make us human beings. Hatred is what they know and it sells.