FORMER A.G. ERIC HOLDER SHEDS LIGHT FOR OUR TIMES.
We rebroadcast one of our favorite interviews, with former Attorney General Eric Holder. Full of insights and bold ideas, Holder describes how our democracy is being undermined by a variety of reactionary forces. The influence of dark money has grown exponentially, to the point where many of our politicians are beholden to their mega-donors.
Similarly anti-democratic is the way in which, every decade after the census results are published, incumbent legislators have the privilege of re-drawing electoral district lines. Incumbents are thereby able to protect and improve their prospects of getting reelected over and over again. The incumbents redraw their districts to include more of the voters who are likely to support them and to put the opposing voters into someone else’s district. This self-serving system needs to be changed, so that the politicians don’t get to choose their voters. Instead, an independent, unbiased redistricting commission should be drawing the district lines in a fair manner, so we return to the days when the voters choose their elected officials.
AG Holder also discusses the strange quirks of politics in America. For example, the Republicans railed against what they called “Obamacare” when they tried to persuade voters that it was an unworkable, expensive program. Now that the public has seen the program improve their health care and its popularity has grown, the Republicans use the word “ACA” for the program so Pres. Obama doesn’t get credit for it.
Finally, the country’s first African-American Attorney General describes the role that his race has played in his political experience. All in all, we learned a great deal from the perceptive analysis of Eric Holder.
