By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Thursday, September 25, Fox News, CNN, and other national media outlets reported that controversial U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (D) announced he would be leaving his job as the head of the powerful U.S. Department of Justice. Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead was quick to spread the news via email to his fellow Alabama Republicans.
Chairman Armistead wrote, “The news just broke that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is stepping down after six years as head of the Justice Department. Eric Holder was one of the few Cabinet officials to have stayed on since Obama was first elected.”
Armistead continued, “Since the beginning of his second term, Obama’s cronies have dropped like flies. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, IRS Director Lois Lerner, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Press Secretary Jay Carney have all resigned in the last few years. Our country is in desperate need of responsible leaders that reflect the principles and values of Americans – not the President’s left wing, special interest group agenda.”
Armistead said, “Reports have stated that Obama and Holder met the beginning of this month to discuss the resignation. Holder’s seemingly calculated resignation clearly shows the Democrats are worried about holding their majority in the Senate following the mid-term elections in November. Obama’s nomination and the Senate confirmation of a new Attorney General will certainly occur before these weak Democrats are replaced.”
The Chairman concluded, “The Democratic Party’s lack of leadership is increasingly evident. The time for the Republican Party to take control of the Senate is now. Washington needs responsible leadership and the Republican Party is ready to deliver.”
Conservative talk radio pundit, Rush Limbaugh, cautioned that President Barack H. Obama (D) may appoint Holder, his longtime friend, to the United States Supreme Court. Liberals have calling for liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to step down so that President Obama can appoint a third Justice like Sotomajor and Elena Kagan to the nation’s highest court. Ginsburg has resisted those calls to this point.
Conservative critics of Holder accuse him of being too partisan and point to episodes like the gun running scandal in Mexico where the ATF armed a Mexican drug cartel as part of some sort of investigation against lawful American gun owners. The guns killed hundreds of people including a U.S. Border Patrol Agent but never produced any indictments. To this point, AG Holder has not held anyone accountable for the IRS scandal where the Internal Revenue Service systematically suppressed American citizens’ political activities to help President Obama get re-elected. Under Holder, continuing efforts have been made to weaken enforcement of immigration laws and the Attorney General sued states, including Alabama and Arizona that tried to pass their own laws to restrict the activities of illegal immigrants.
Bill Armistead has been Chairman of the ALGOP since 2011.
