Eric Holder's Oct. 7 letter shows he is unfit to be Attorney General | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    We already knew this, but his own words prove it beyond any reasonable doubt

    Eric Holder is in a heap of trouble. As well he should be.

    He has written a letter to Congress trying to justify his role in "Fast and Furious." We'll save you a recitation of the details of Fast and Furious, but a quick internet search will give you hundreds of articles on the topic. Suffice it to say it is a big story.

    We'll focus more here on Holder's letter. There are several points that need to be made.

    First, Holder goes to some length to confirm the importance of the issue. In fact, he says:

    I also want to be very clear that protecting American citizens from the devastating effects of gun violence is among the most important responsibilities of the Department of Justice. Likewise, ensuring that weapons sold here do not flow south to Mexico is of paramount important. We are committed to disrupting and dismantling the organization that traffic weapons across our border and I am proud to stand with our brave law enforcement officer who fight every day to protect our citizens and those of Mexico from the effects of gun violence and illegal gun trafficking. He then goes on to describe Fast and Furious as a "flawed response to a serious problem on the Southwest border."
Attorney General Eric Holder speaks, to the National Association of Counties, March, Washington, DC.     photo by Stan Deatherage
    He then goes on to try to weasel his way out of being responsible for this "flawed response." That is the part we find most objectionable about his attempt to save his own hide.

    "Flawed response" is a mild way of describing a bureaucratic and law enforcement catastrophe. Two American Border patrol agents are dead as a result of this catastrophe. Hundreds or even thousands of guns are now in the hand of criminals that would not otherwise be there were it not for Fast and Furious. No, Mr. Holder, "flawed response" is not what it was. It was gross malfeasance.

    Certainly this malfeasance existed at several levels. It is broad and deep. So deep it goes all the way to the West Wing where Team Obama members have been documented as being highly knowledgeable and involved in the debacle.

    Holder's attempt to excuse himself from responsibility by saying in his letter that, essentially, he can't know everything about everything is inexcusable. That's pure bull. Something as important as he concedes this issue is should have been something he not only knew about, but took direct management control over.

    This was a major operation. Holder should have been involved in the strategic decisions, if not many of the tactical decisions. That is really what is significant in his letter. He admits he is not in control of the organization he is hired to run. And that is unacceptable, for many reasons on many levels.

    It is, in fact, so preposterous as to compel a response from his boss; Barack Obama.

    And Obama has responded. He said after Holder's letter was released that he has complete confidence in Holder.

    And that makes Barack Obama an accessory to this debacle, and indirectly responsible for the consequences resulting from it...including the deaths of the Border Patrol agents.

    Holder is directly responsible for the organizational framework and operational procedures of the Department of Justice. That is his job. That Holder chose to try to blame this issue on Republicans simply compounds his revelation of his malfeasance.

    The organization for which Holder is responsible made gross errors in this matter. He is responsible for that and either he should resign or Obama should remove him.

    Click here to read Holder's letter.