AG Eric Holder didn't read the Arizona immigration bill before criticizing it? [View All]

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Through Brent Bozell's latest column I've learned that Attorney General Eric Holder did not read the Arizona illegal immigration bill before criticizing it. Bozell, labeling SB1070 "'controversial' (to the media, that is)", brings up Holder's response to Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX)'s question to Holder at a May 13 House Judiciary Committee hearing: “Have you read the Arizona law?” Holder responded: "I have not had a chance. I grant that I have not read it."

Bozell complains:

How many times have we watched liberals ridicule those dim-witted conservatives who object to the latest “artistry” of Hollywood leftists or books churned out by Ivy League academic cranks without having watched or read the allegedly offensive product? But now that Holder is caught in the very same predicament, the lefties are church-silent. How can you make arrogant cracks about Dubya and Palin barely being able to read, but skip over this gaffe?

snip

In fact, four days before this embarrassing episode, Holder sat for two network Sunday shows, with ABC’s Jake Tapper and NBC’s David Gregory, and neither asked if he’d printed out and read the Arizona law. But can you blame them? Do reporters ask Jeff Gordon before Daytona if he put gas in the tank?

snip

ABC, CBS, and NBC all skipped Holder’s admission, just like NPR and the NewsHour on PBS. The newspapers “of record” were AWOL – the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times all passed, and so did the Associated Press. Time and Newsweek didn’t find space – even on their snarky “quotes of the week” pages.

Not so fast...a Google search yielded this May 14 Washington Post article "Holder is criticized for comments on Ariz. immigration law, which he hasn't read". The article notes that Holder's remark from last week was "an admission that continued to draw criticism Friday from some talk-radio hosts and conservative Web sites."

My take on this: Bozell didn't read the papers or use Google before coming to his conclusion. However, although Bozell criticizes Eric Holder for pre-judging the Arizona law as racist without reading it, Bozell doesn't even try to prove Holder wrong. Typical conservative hypocrisy.

The Washington Times (the uber-conservative competition to the Post) has a fuller quote of Holder:

I've just expressed concerns on the basis of what I've heard about the law. But I'm not in a position to say at this point, not having read the law, not having had the chance to interact with people are doing the review, exactly what my position is.

FoxNews.com has a transcript of the Poe/Holder exchange. It quotes Holder as saying: "I have not had a chance to -- I've glanced at it. I have not read it." Poe even appeared on Neil Cavuto's show to discuss the issue, and Fox News did consider this issue news.