The Attempted Metaphorical Lynching of Eric Holder

Last updated on June 29th, 2012 at 07:47 pm

Don’t get all angry just because I’m calling this what it is. Here we have the NRA ordering a yes vote on contempt for AG Eric Holder, and Southern White Democrats– well, NRA Democrats — going along with it. Who is behind it? Why, the same nut jobs who are still looking for Obama’s birth certificate.

The “fast and furious” scandal is nothing but trumped up baloney, for which there is NO evidence at this time. Given that, it’s amazing that we are calmly reporting on the historical vote to hold Holder in contempt.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

I was up last night fuming about the Democrats who have said they would bow down to the NRA on this matter, and it hit me, this is a lynching show, put on by the very militia adjacent NRA that pals around with birthers, racists, and white supremacists. Forgive the redundancy.

It’s my contention that they aren’t doing this to Holder because he’s black, but that his skin color makes it easier for them to justify crucifying an innocent man with no evidence. I’m not calling these Democrats racists, but I am saying that perhaps even unknown to them, they are acting from a primal sense of privilege that they may not even comprehend.

Assuming a black man’s guilt has a long, ugly history in this country – and try as I might, I can’t see how the Holder contempt vote is anything BUT that. Gone is the innocent until proven guilty assumption. Gone is the “how dare you besmirch his reputation without proof” cry.

I’ve read the investigation, poured over the conspiracy theory (started by a former militia member who did indeed call for armed insurrection to the US Government), and I can’t find one plausible reason why Republicans would need to proceed with a contempt vote. The DOJ has tried to work something out with them, while protecting certain information regarding ongoing cases and deliberation.
What’s the justification for today’s witch-hunt? What makes it okay to smear with impunity Eric Holder as these same Republicans smeared Shirley Sherrod and Van Jones?

Until someone can point out some hidden bomb, all I see is the color of the man’s skin as the resounding elephant in the room. Sure, Republicans will target any Democrat without cause; it’s what they do. And they want Eric Holder because of his record on civil rights. Today, Holder said at a civil rights symposium in Boston, “In the past three fiscal years, we prosecuted 35 percent more hate crime cases than during the preceding three-year period.”

But what makes Republicans go after certain people and why does the media condone certain witch-hunts while refusing to condone others?

It’s a metaphorical old-fashioned lynching. I don’t write this to be hyperbolic, nor do I write it to inflame. I write it because I believe it to be accurate, and as such, to demonstrate a profound lack of equality.

Every person deserves to have their reputation honored with the assumption of innocence — even the people we dislike. When evidence mounts against someone, we point it out and still preface it with “alleged.” But there is no “alleged” contempt if the vote is yes, and yet there is no evidence. Eric Holder’s reputation and record could be forever wrongly tarnished by this show vote, and that should be a matter of outrage.

Even the mere fact that Republicans thought they could get away with this, that they could safely target Eric Holder, says something about their values. This is wrong.

A man’s reputation is on the line and is being unjustly smeared. For Democrats who purport to stand for social justice to vote yes on contempt with no evidence, but merely to please the blood hungry NRA, is unforgivable.

The NRA doesn’t care about what’s right. They only want to make their point that if they even think you might have once thought of gun reform, they will take you down and ruin your career. Sadly, most Americans care as much about other rights, like civil rights and justice, as they do the second amendment. Today is a sad day for America, and a blemish on those Democrats who will vote yes.

Shame, shame, shame on them.

Sarah Jones

Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.

Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.

Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Connect with Sarah on Post,  Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.