For those who missed it I want to tell you about the Holder Confirmation Hearing today

[ThomWV]

Eric Holder sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee today and gave us a glimpse of what we might expect from the Obama Administration. Be relieved and have hope for the nation because if Mr. Holder is an indication we are about to welcome reason and competence back to Government.

Not once during what may be considered a hot bit of questioning did Mr. Holder try to evade any question; not once did he respond "I do not recall". Mr. Holder admitted mistakes, corrected misconceptions, but never avoid a straight forward response.

Republicans will not deny Mr. Holder his Secretariat, they were clearly impressed with his responses. So were the Democrats. This is a man of clear honesty and integrity, capability and focused attention. We are well served to have him; there is reason for joy though tuesday can not get here fast enough.

[elizfeelinggreat]

1. thank you!

I've been out all day and was happy to see this!

[Duer 157099]

2. Did anyone ask him about torture?

and do you know if cspan will be airing a repeat tonight? Thanks!

[ThomWV]

4. Everyone asked him about torture - you can watch it on line and I'm sure they'll reshow it

[madokie]

7. Yes and its illegal

don't know about repeats, probably is though

[LSK]

11. Cornyn tried to give him the ticking time bomb scenario

Where only waterboarding can save the country. Holder REFUSED to accept the premise and said there are other tools available and REFUSED to go there.

[Duer 157099]

22. Whew! Finally, an intelligent response to that inane argument

That's the correct resopnse imho - to simply reject the premise!

Thanks for the responses - I just heard this on Randi's show too.

[countingbluecars]

3. Thanks. n/t

[floridablue]

5. You have nailed it, and except for Sen. Spector

Who has been acting like an ass trying to prosecute Al Gore for illegal campaign contributions in 1995 and accusing AG Holder of favortism to his "superior". I thought it great when Mr. Holder challenged him for questioning his integrity.

[a kennedy]

13. spector, as I've indicated before......

makes me wanna :puke: I enjoyed that too regarding Mr. Holder's integrity.

[GentryDixon]

21. one thing about Senator Spector.

He does not seem to follow through with a great deal of his bluster.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Did you see when Cornyn tried his silly torture/ticking bomb scenario on Holder?

Holder basically told him his scenario was ridiculous.

Cornyn looked like the fool he his.

Don

[grannie4peace]

9. cool!!!!

[w8liftinglady]

10. then I already like him!

[LSK]

12. that was a great moment!!!

[sam sarrha]

14. Chaney only promotes Torture cause they let him lick the blood off the floor while they torture,,,

[AwakeAtLast]

19. You mean like the plot to "24"?

:D

[yardwork]

8. This is very encouraging. Thanks.

[Raven]

15. "Torture is wrong" was enough for me...Obama: "come into my parlor

said the spider to the fly"... Obama is biding his time and giving lots of people sleepless nights. Good!

[slipslidingaway]

16. Will he prosecute crimes from the past administration...

"...And when Senator Jeff Sessions asked Holder if he intended to prosecute anyone in the Bush Administration, Holder strongly suggested that he did not..."


Posted here by davidswanson...

Holder Will Have to Prosecute

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4835216&mesg_id=4835216

[Gregorian]

17. I did miss it. And thank you for the synopsis.

It is quite relieving to see some daylight ahead. I would love to let my cynicism go for a few years.

Here's to justice!

[DeepModem Mom]

18. K&R

[sandnsea]

20. Thrilling to hear

I think the transcript will be up overnight so I'll browse through it. That is what is impressing me most. Almost all of his picks have clear integrity. Even if you disagree with them on principle, they won't lie about something they intend to do.

[Usrename]

23. He's a racehorse, for sure.

;)

I did see quite a bit of it, and I was impressed by his refusal to buy into the ridiculous hypothetical ticking-bomb scenario, as well as his affirmation that the most important job of the Justice Department is the Civil Rights Division. He never backed down one inch, even when someone (Specter?) challenged him on it by saying that "protecting the American people" is the most important job.

I'm starting to really like this guy's rhetoric. I hope he lives up to it.

[roody]

24. Did anyone ask about representing Chiquita in Columbia?

[MiniMe]

25. And he promised to review the decision not to prosecute Schlozman

or however you spell that asshats name.

[leftchick]

26. 'his support for preventive detention and warrantless spying is bad news'

just sayin....


Under Eric Holder, 'War on Terror' Would Still Define the DOJ
By Liliana Segura, AlterNet
Posted on January 16, 2009, Printed on January 16, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/120221/

As Obama's attorney general nominee Eric Holder sails toward confirmation, one thing is clear: United States law and justice will continue to be seen through the Bush-era lens of the so-called "War on Terror," long after Bush vacates the Oval Office. In fact, according to Holder, not only are we at war now, we were at war before September 2001 (as evidenced by the attacks on the USS Cole and on American embassies abroad) -- we just "did not realize we were at war." Although the phrase "war on terror" was conspicuously absent from the all-day hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, this fact alone bears tremendous weight on the change Obama's Department of Justice will -- or will not -- bring.

Much of the coverage from yesterday's hearing zeroed in on torture, and indeed, Holder's headline-generating answer on the question of waterboarding -- which he bluntly labeled torture -- deserved a certain amount of praise, especially given recent memories of the preposterous testimony by Alberto Gonzales a few years back. (As Illinois Senator Dick Durbin recalled, "we could never ever get a straight declarative sentence.") Holder also deserves credit for refusing to fall for the trap laid by Texas Senator John Cornyn, who asked whether he would authorize waterboarding a suspect under the bogus "ticking time bomb scenario" of the sort popularized by the FOX series 24. "People will say almsot anything to avoid torture," Holder responded, rejecting the notion that torturing a suspect would necessarily provide life-saving information.

But Holder also made it clear that he believes we are living in dangerous times, and thus his first goal will be to "strengthen the activities of the federal government and protect the American people from terrorism." "Nothing I do is more important," he said. "I will use every available tactic to defeat our adversaries, and I will do so within the letter and the spirit of the Constitution."

There is nothing wrong a top-level official asserting his intention to keep Americans safe. But the attorney general is not a defense official, nor is the Department of Justice the Pentagon. Holder's job, particularly critical now, is to ensure that the country fulfills its Constitutional principles and to uphold the rule of law, which was so dramatically turned on its head under Bush. It might have been wishful thinking to expect that Holder would repudiate the framework of the "war on terror" -- particularly given Obama's own devotion to it. But by continuing to use it as the guiding narrative for American justice, he gives credance to the operative logic that led to so much abuse and lawlessness in the first place.