Ashcroft or Holder?

[ProSense]

Voter fraud is actually less likely to occur than lightning striking a person, according to data compiled by New York University's Brennan Center for Justice. As Lorraine Minnite, a Columbia University professor, observed in the Project Vote report, The Politics of Voter Fraud, "The claim that voter fraud threatens the integrity of American elections is itself a fraud." In October 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft launched an intensive "Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative" that required all U.S. attorney offices to coordinate with local officials in combating voter fraud. Yet even after the Justice Department declared the war against voter fraud a "high priority," only 24 people were convicted of illegal voting in federal elections between 2002 and 2005 -- and nobody was even charged by Justice with impersonating another voter. (The Justice Department declined to answer questions about more recent fraud prosecutions.) And despite the anti-immigrant frenzy fueling photo-ID laws, only 14 noncitizens were convicted of illegally voting in federal elections from 2002 through 2005 -- mostly because of their ignorance of election law.

http://prospect.org/article/republican-war-voting

Holder Stands Up for the Right to Vote

Today’s excellent New York Times editorial rightfully praises Attorney General Eric Holder’s efforts this week to highlight the sanctity of the right to vote in America. In his speech from the Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential library in Austin, Texas, the attorney general said, “The right to vote is not only the cornerstone of our system of government — it is the lifeblood of our democracy. And no force has proved more powerful — or more integral to the success of the great American experiment — than efforts to expand the franchise.”

But this year, we’ve seen a coordinated effort to shrink our democracy and push voters out of the electorate as legislatures across the country have passed laws that will make it harder for Americans – particularly African-Americans, the elderly, students and people with disabilities – to exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot. The Department of Justice plays a critical role in fighting back against these voter suppression laws. The agency can challenge discriminatory voting laws and stop them from going into effect.

Take action and tell Attorney General Holder you agree with his efforts to protect the right to vote.

http://www.aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/holder-stands-right-vote

14 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Ashcroft
	0 (0%)
	Holder
	8 (57%)
	Neither
	6 (43%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[ProSense]

1. Only one response?

Where are all the people who think Ashcroft is "better than" Holder or vice versa?

[BlueCaliDem]

3. Unbelievable, isn't it?

The hatred for AG Holder, a Democrat, on Democratic Underground is palpable.

[ProSense]

6. Yup, it has

"The hatred for AG Holder, a Democrat, on Democratic Underground is palpable."

...taken on a similar quality: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022826668#post1

[David Zephyr]

32. It's really disappointing to read the posts attacking our AG.

I appreciate all you are doing. Thank you.

[David Zephyr]

31. I agree. Thanks for saying it.

!

[Cha]

2. thanks for Highlighting Holder's

excellent record on Voting Rights, ProSense.

Maybe it's not important to those whose voting rights aren't threatened?

[BlueCaliDem]

4. Bingo.

They got theirs so who cares about anybody else?

[freshwest]

14. That, and women's rights, etc. Libertarian-style civil rights only.

[David Zephyr]

30. Well said.

[Cha]

33. Hey, David..

stranger! How you been?

[David Zephyr]

34. Away again. But...

I never expected to see the attacks on Eric Holder like I do here. What do they want? John Ashcroft, John Mitchell, Ed Meese?

Thanks for all you are doing! We need to support our President.

[Cha]

35. Nice that you agree.. Mahalo DZ

[Number23]

38. You are so damn fabulous, Cha.

Thanks so much for your comment.

[Cha]

43. Right on, sistah

Fab!

[Harmony Blue]

5. Holder and Ashcroft will both go down as the worst in history of the United States

trying to pick between dumb and dumber would probably be easier haha.

[ProSense]

7. You're in for

"Holder and Ashcroft will both go down as the worst in history of the United States"

...a shock (Holder is a damn good AG), and you forgot: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022846160

[Harmony Blue]

11. Make that the three stooges then

sad that we have to prop up a bad AG by comparing him to other bad AG's.

[ProSense]

16. Actually,

"Make that the three stooges then sad that we have to prop up a bad AG by comparing him to other bad AG's."

...it's either hate or willful ignorance that would cause someone to hype Ashcroft over Holder.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2850700

The comparison is ludicrous.

[Cha]

36. that's what lazy people do.. they lump

like they can't be bothered with reality.

[Tx4obama]

8. More GOOD things about Eric Holder can be found on the links below

Eric Holder - Attorney General of the United States

The section here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Holder#Attorney_General_of_the_United_States

Also...

U.S. Arrests 91 In Massive $430 Million Medicare Fraud Bust
October 2012
http://upload.democraticunderground.com/10021487883

The SCOOTER Store power wheelchair company raided in federal probe
February 2013
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505266_162-57570450/the-scooter-store-power-wheelchair-company-raided-in-federal-probe/

U.S. charges 89 people in $223 million Medicare fraud schemes
May 14, 2013
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014483461

Lots more good stuff to be found, if folks take the time to look

[freshwest]

15. Replying to add this to my Journal, keeping the facts there for the misinformed.

[Cha]

37. Thanks Tx

“Did you see that Jon Karl, um, exclusive?”President Obama and Attorney General

Holder attend the 32nd annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service at the West Front Lawn at the U.S. Capitol, May 15

http://theobamadiary.com/2013/05/15/this-and-that-74/

[Tx4obama]

41. I've liked Holder since the day when I watched his confirmation hearing...

... he seems to be a good man with a good heart.

Holder is married to Dr. Sharon Malone, an obstetrician; the couple has three children.
Malone's sister was Vivian Malone Jones, famous for her part in the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door which led to integration at the University of Alabama.

Vivian Malone Jones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Malone_Jones
Stand in the Schoolhouse Door: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_in_the_Schoolhouse_Door

[Cha]

42. Oh wow.. thank you for the additional information, Tx~

Attorney General Eric Holder and his wife, Dr Sharon Malone attended the Obamas second
State Dinner Wednesday night honoring Mexican President Felipe Calderon. May 20 2010

http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/05/20/holder-rubs-shoulders-with-diplomats-celebs/

And, Sharon Malone's sister, Vivian.. thank you, Tx!

[Tx4obama]

44. Below is a link to a post I posted regarding Vivian, it has a video

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022850944

[Cha]

45. Already posted on it .. now I'll

go watch the Vid.

[Wounded Bear]

9. Holder has his faults and limitations....

but Ashcroft was downright evil and fit right in with the authoritarian crowd around Cheney.

[ProSense]

13. Makes one

"but Ashcroft was downright evil and fit right in with the authoritarian crowd around Cheney."

...wonder why anyone would try to whitewash his record.

Ashcroft: I Would Try Boston Bombing Suspect As An Enemy Combatant
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022737343

July 26: Attorney General John Ashcroft concludes that waterboarding is lawful, allowing the CIA to go ahead and use the technique on Zubayda.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/04/22/the_torture_timeline

[LostOne4Ever]

10. Asscraft

Asscraft is the epitome of everything wrong with the right.

To even suggest that Holder in anyway comes close to Asscraft is ludicrous.

[Taverner]

12. Neither: Janet Reno

[Tx4obama]

17. You gotta be kidding. One word: WACO

[Taverner]

18. As a civil libertarian, Waco and Ruby Ridge were perfectly justified

As was Elian Gonzalez.

ON EDIT: You don't stockpile a shitload of weapons and not mean business!

[ProSense]

19. Ashcroft

or Janet Reno:

Two months after the passage of the Compassionate Use Act, the Clinton Administration took a coordinated hard line against the new law. In a press conference, Barry McCaffrey, the director of the Office of National Drug Control and Policy announced that: “Nothing has changed. Federal law is unaffected by these propositions.” Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala worried that California’s initiative reinforced the belief that marijuana was benign. Finally, Attorney General Janet Reno stated that she was reallocating federal enforcement resources to target California physicians who recommended marijuana to their patients, threatening to revoke their registration with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and prohibit them from participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

http://www.stanford.edu/group/hopes/cgi-bin/wordpress/2012/05/medical-marijuana-policy-in-the-united-states/

[BlueCaliDem]

48. Oops! I guess that {civil} Libertarian didn't count on that bit of history.

At least it confirms for me that not everyone on DU is a Democrat, hence the anti-Obama/anti-Holder vitriol infesting this site.

What was it again? If you can't beat them {and Libertarians and other assorted Third-wayers never will}, infiltrate and take them down from the inside.

Okay. That last part was something I made up, but you get the gist.

[MrSlayer]

20. Let the eagle soar……

http://m.

This is hilarious.

[kmla]

46. I guess you gotta stay up late...

... to let the eagle soar.

Beat me to it.

[olddots]

21. Ed Meese

[Warren DeMontague]

23. Sure, you laugh

but that dude has his fans, too.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

22. Ashcroft is the one that had paved the path for this nightmare against the Press!

I vote for him!

[Safetykitten]

24. "What I Did During The Last Years Of The Obama Era." By Eric Holder.

Nothing really.

[ProSense]

25. He did

"What I Did During The Last Years Of The Obama Era." By Eric Holder.

Nothing really.

...one really good thing.

As part of a coordinated, nationwide takedown – the sixth that the Medicare Fraud Strike Force and its partners have conducted – this afternoon, we announce charges against 89 defendants in eight different cities for their alleged participation in fraud schemes to submit more than $220 million in false billings to Medicare. These defendants are accused of a variety of crimes involving the fraudulent use of Medicare information obtained illegally from elderly or low-income individuals; the submission of false billings for treatments that were never provided, or were performed by unlicensed individuals; and a range of other schemes that placed the safety of innocent people at risk in order to achieve illicit financial gain.

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/ag/speeches/2013/ag-speech-1305141.html

[Safetykitten]

27. Would people rather have 220 million or the criminals on Wall Street prosecuted for what they did?

I think you know the answer.

[ProSense]

28. We

"Would people rather have 220 million or the criminals on Wall Street prosecuted for what they did?"

...can have both Medicare fraud and financial fraud prosecutions: http://www.stopfraud.gov/news-index.html

[Cha]

40. Thanks for doing all the

research!

[BlueCaliDem]

47. Excellent find, ProSense!

But do you think the HolderHaters and ObamaHaters will care that he's been pretty busy behind all those financial fraud prosecutions that they apparently only want to judge him on? Nah. They'll find something else to hate him for.

[sheshe2]

49. Wow!

That was one great link!

[TheKentuckian]

26. I got no use for either one. AG is a spot for the corrupt, authoritarians, and corporate lackeys

and not much else. Turds all for many years.

[Safetykitten]

29. He's a mix...Holdcroft or Crofthold.

[bluedigger]

39. We haven't had a US AG worth a rat's ass since Bobby Kennedy. n/t

[Art_from_Ark]

50. I agree wholeheartedly

[quinnox]

51. meh, fuck 'em both

they are both authoritarian assholes, and crappy attorney generals to boot.