Why Is Holder Addressing Black Churches?

Presumably the league of black pastors, or whatever they're called, invited Eric Holder to speak to their group to ensure they didn't violate their Tax-free status...I wonder why this wasn't necessary 3 years ago when Obama was first running?

When I first read this news yesterday, I thought nothing more of it than that the black pastors were going to work together to ensure that Obama got re-elected. The article I read said that 95% of blacks were expected to vote for Obama. (And this is not enough for him to win. Whites will have to vote for him as well. And of course Latinos.)

But Rush sees this as Holder and Obama threatening the black churches - over their anger at him over his backing of gay marriage - which ironically blacks and Latinos oppose.

Rush: They're gonna tell 'em just how close they can get to the line. They're probably gonna tell 'em how they can jump over the line a couple times. What's funny about this is Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson. These guys fund-raise from the pulpit! They pass the plate for campaign donations from the pulpit. It's been reported, but nobody does anything about it because nobody's got the guts to. Who wants to criticize black churches for being engaged in politics? They're minorities, they're disadvantaged, they ought to have some chance at making the contest fair.

Nobody's gonna level any charges against 'em. (interruption) Well, there may be something else going on here. Because, frankly, ladies and gentlemen, Holder's not gonna do anything to anybody if they do cross the line, and neither is the IRS. I mean, for crying out loud, if the New Black Panthers can engage in near-criminal activity and voter intimidation at a polling place and Holder lets that go, what the heck is he gonna do to a black minister who crosses the line on politicking from the pulpit? Nothing!

So what's this really all about? Why do you have to have Holder and the IRS and the ACLU have meetings with black pastors about ostensibly protecting their 501(c)(3) status? That's not what this is. That's not what this is. There's something else going on here. I don't know what it is. Some people might speculate that maybe the Democrats are worried about black turnout. I find that hard to believe. I don't see black turnout having to be goosed. No, really.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm suffering from too many decades here of behavior that I think is locked in. I know black unemployment is high. Black teenage unemployment is high. I know that there are... You know, this is probably one of the biggest unreported stories in the country, too. How many average American black people are really ticked off 'cause they thought so much more was gonna happen whenever the first black president was actually serving?

We actually have the inauguration of the first black president. Like that early town hall meeting in Naples or Tampa, wherever it was, where the people that showed up actually told Obama they needed a new kitchen and they needed a new car. They got that specific about what they expected. I don't know how much disappointment there is that those kinds of things have not been delivered. I mean, expectations, I don't care how unreasonable they are, they're still real to the people that have 'em.

Holder has told black churches that the "sacred right to vote is under attack."

RUSH: According to an article in The Politico today, Eric Holder is telling black leaders that the sacred right to vote is under attack, that that's what he's meeting with them about. "Holder to Black Leaders: 'Sacred' Right to Vote Under Attack -- Attorney General Eric Holder told a council of African American church leaders Wednesday that the 'sacred' right to vote is under assault nationwide, with federal lawsuits and at least a dozen state laws that could weaken -- or block -- minority access to the ballot box this fall. ... Holder said in a speech before the Council of Black Churches. The twin factors of lingering bias and systematic assaults from the right, he said, means that 'for the first time in our [lifetimes], we are failing to live up to one of our most noble ideals' -- the right to equal access to the vote."

I've asked this question many times. (Rhetorically, of course.) Instead of spending millions of dollars fighting the request for laws that require that people have IDs, why doesn't the black community just take that money and pay for their people to get IDs? In addition to having IDs to vote, isn't it even more important to have an ID because that's the only way they can get a job? You wonder why so many black teens don't have jobs...ever wonder if its because they don't have one of the prerequisites for getting a job which is, you know, an ID?

There are 5 months from now until November. 5. 150 days. Plenty of time for folks to go out and get the IDs they need so they can function in every aspect of American life. So come on, black community. Just do it.