If this is a nation of cowards

How did it manage to elect a black president?

Eric Holder has just taken upon himself a whole lot of explaining to do, and that probably shouldn't be his main administrative concern following on eight years of John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales.

Attorney General Holder clearly chose those words deliberately and while there may be more nuanced and supportable views underlying them, it's hard to imagine a national political figure making a less well-advised statement, particularly at the outset of a new regime.

Aside from whether or not this really is "a nation of cowards," what I'd like to know is why the hell Holder would even say such a thing.

If he intended to cause a ruckus and a howl, then he accomplished that. But it's surely not going to be a very beneficial kind of ruckus.

Journal-Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane thinks AG Holder is "right":

Holder is right when he talks about some people simply refusing to seek any sort of meaningful interaction across racial lines.

Well yeah, obviously, "some people." But that isn't what Holder said.

Plus, he's this country's friggin' attorney general.

Attorneys should be careful about sweeping generalizations, not publicly uttering the ne plus ultra of sweeping generalizations.