The ugly face of Isis in AmericaOn June 28, 2012, House Witch Hunt Committee chair, Darrell Isis (R-CA) introduced H.RES 711:
• Resolved, That Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, shall be found to be in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a congressional subpoena.• Resolved, That pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 192 and 194, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall certify the report of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, detailing the refusal of Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, to produce documents to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as directed by subpoena, to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, to the end that Mr. Holder be proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law.• Resolved, That the Speaker of the House shall otherwise take all appropriate action to enforce the subpoena.
It passed the House 255-67. Two Republicans voted against Isis' partisan game-playing, Scott Rigell (R-VA) and Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and Pelosi led a Democratic boycott of the vote, 108 Democrats walking out of the chamber to keep themselves from watching Congressman Isis masturbating at the well of the House. 238 Republicans and 17 Democrats from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- which is what allowed for the word "bipartisan" in this Isis tweet this morning-- voted, for the first time in history to hold a Cabinet member in contempt of Congress. I'm sure it was just a coincidence that this happened to be the first black Attorney General in history since who would ever think Republicans like Rep. Isis are vile, contemptible racist scum? Would you?You probably saw us warning New York voters in the last weeks to oppose arch-conservative Kathy Hochul's bid for the Lt. Governor job in New York. Hochul was one of Isis' "bipartisans" voting to hold Holder in contempt. These are the 17 "Democrats" who joined Isis that day:
• Jason Altmire (Blue Dog/New Dem-PA)- defeated for reelection• John Barrow (Blue Dog/New Dem-GA)• Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)- forced to retire• Leonard Boswell (Blue Dog-IA)- defeated for reelection• Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)- defeated for reelection• Mark Critz (Blue Dog-PA)- defeated for reelection• Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN)- used a Hail Mary pass to wind up in the Senate• Kathy Hochul (New Dem-NY)- defeated for reelection• Ron Kind (New Dem-WI)• Larry Kissell (Blue Dog-NC)- defeated for reelection• Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)• Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC)• Bill Owens (New Dem-NY)• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)• Nick Rahall (Blue Dog-WV)• Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)- forced to retire• Tim Walz (MN)
Almost all of the "Democrats" who voted with Isis were defeated in the next election-- and 3 others, McIntyre, Owens and Matheson no longer have enough grassroots support to run and are all choosing voluntary retirement over certain defeat this year-- but the right-wing cowards inn bold are all getting massive financial support-- over a million dollars each-- to fight for reelection.Holder didn't prosecute any of the Wall Street banksters who crashed the economy, but that isn't why reactionaries hate him. This morning, MSNBC's Steve Benen wrote an impressive defense of Holder's six-year term,
Holder is leaving the Attorney General’s office with a legacy more impressive than much of the political world generally appreciates.Regular readers may recall that I’ve long been impressed with Holder’s progressive accomplishments, which haven’t always been front-page news, but which have made a significant difference in the lives of millions of Americans.The A.G., for example, has shown amazing leadership on the issue of LGBT rights. He’s challenged Republican restrictions on voting rights. He’s fought for sentencing reforms. He’s condemned “Stand Your Ground” laws and showed effective leadership during the crisis in Ferguson. He cleared the way for Colorado and the state of Washington to pursue marijuana legalization. He’s worked to reverse the disenfranchisement of the formerly incarcerated.We don’t usually think of the office of Attorney General as one in which a policymaker can become one of the nation’s champions of a progressive agenda, but that’s exactly what Eric Holder has done.This obviously isn’t to say that Holder’s tenure has been perfect – I would have liked to have seen far more Wall Street prosecutions, and congressional Republicans have demanded his impeachment on more than a few occasions for a variety of strange, perceived failings-- but I’d argue Holder leaves his post as one of the most accomplished and important Attorneys General in modern American history.
Darrell Isis would argue otherwise, and has, all day today on Twitter, where he has been engrossed in an orgy of incoherent, partisan rage, bordering on insanity.
