Obama Sells Out America's Youth and Defenders of Civil
Liberties with Eric Holder
by Richard Searcy
"Holder is an extreme
drug warrior."
Living to see the first African-American elected as President of the United
States was supposed to feel a lot better. But, it's hard to get excited about
Barack Obama, who seems to have never met an issue he can't take both sides on,
and who has elevated "selling out" to an art form. Obama is the Magna
Cum Laude, Zen master, and Oracle of All Sell Out Knowledge. He has once again
affirmed his exalted position as the King of Masquerade when he chose Eric
Holder to be his Attorney General and sold out American youth, particularly
black youth.
Holder, yet another ex-Clintonite, was Clinton's Deputy Attorney General and US
Attorney General for the Washington DC area. He is an extreme drug warrior who
believes that harsher and longer sentences should be enacted for minor crimes
such as marijuana use and prostitution. This, in spite of the mounting evidence
that the "war on drugs" is a failure and has amounted to nothing more
than a war on black people, which also appears to be it's original intent. He
wants harsher sentencing for marijuana, which will impact American youth more
than any other demographic, and it will specifically impact African-American
youth, who are already targeted to be shuffled off to America's new
plantations, US prisons.
Perhaps this was Clinton's, now Obama's plan for getting more Black men
employed by major corporations, because once inside of prison, many get hired
by some of America's top corporations. Of course, they're only paid about 25
cents an hour and they have no benefits. But at least they have a job,
something that cannot be said for an increasing number of Americans who are not
part of this "affirmative action" program. Some American companies
are actually closing up shop, laying off workers, and re-opening in a prison to
take advantage of this bonanza of prisoner/slaves. Funny, but America's
new slaves look an awful lot like the old ones.
"Some American companies are actually closing up shop,
laying off workers, and re-opening in a prison."
You are aware that slavery is still legal in America, aren't you? If you
aren't, be assured that American corporations are.
Holder was part of the Clinton Justice Department that enacted harsh and
racially biased laws that exploded America into becoming the greatest prison
nation in human history and Bill Clinton into becoming the greatest
incarceration president in American history. Clinton ran away from signing
legislation that would have addressed the injustice of crack and power cocaine
laws. America has more prisoners than all the totalitarian nations we like to
look down our noses at. America locks up more prisoners than China, which has 4
times our population.
I wonder how much it costs to be the greatest prison nation in human history?
In 1996, as U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C, Holder petitioned the
City Council to enact mandatory minimum sentencing laws and to make
marijuana sale offenses a felony, even for first time offenders. He said he
wanted to "Nip it in the bud." He wanted to turn a misdemeanor into a
five-year prison sentence. Holder said in an interview that he is considering
not only prosecuting more marijuana cases but also asking the D.C. Council to
enact stiffer penalties for the sale and use of marijuana. His policies
achieved none of its stated goals.
Obama supporters, particularly the youth, who stood in hours-long lines to vote
for him thinking him a fresh approach to politics and society have been sold
out. If you thought Obama once saying that our prisons are too full with first
time offenders or that our prisons are too full of young people was a good reason
to support him, you've been sold out.
"Holder was part of the
team that developed strategies for the re-authorization of the Patriot Act in
2005."
However, Holder's appointment, which will fly through confirmation by the
lemming-like Democratic Congress, is not only bad news for America's youth,
it's bad news for those who thought Obama was about protecting civil liberties
in this country and reversing the atrocities of the Bush Administration. If you
didn't get a clue when Obama reversed himself on FISA and the Patriot Act, Eric
Holder is your next clue. Holder was part of the team that developed strategies
for the re-authorization of the Patriot
Act in 2005, and had this to say about opponents of it: "We're dealing
with a different world now. Everybody should remember those pictures that we
saw on September the 11th. The World Trade Centers aflame, the pictures of the
Pentagon, and any time some petty bureaucrat decides that his or her little
piece of turf is being invaded, get rid of that person. Those are the kinds of
things we have to do." Get rid of those who oppose it. I voted for
someone, although not "petty" by any means, Cynthia McKinney, who
certainly opposed it, and the system got rid of her just as he said.
Holder was also involved in Clinton's pardoning of Mark Rich, and as a
corporate lawyer in private practice after leaving the Clinton team, played a
key role in negotiating an agreement with the Justice Department that got
Chiquita Brands International executives off the hook for paying protection
money to right-wing death squads in Colombia.
Of course many African-Americans will be dancing to the beat of seeing the
first black Attorney General and never notice the words they're dancing to. But
those who stand against the attack on civil liberties that emanated from the
Bush Administration, and America's youth, Black, White, Hispanic, and Asian
college students, who rallied to Obama's side, have now joined the antiwar
crowd and those looking for genuine change as pawns in the mindfuck called
"Change We Can Believe In."
Everybody's dancing .. but the election is over, and it's time to listen to the
words.
Richard Searcy can be contacted at searcy21@juno.com.
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