Travis Kalanick resigns as Uber CEO

The move was prompted by a letter, entitled "Moving Uber Forward, drafted by five big investors and delivered to Kalanick in Chicago.



Uber is a lot of things. It has rightly earned the admiration of free-market champions for bringing an entirely new business model to the transportation world, one in which supply and demand were synced up in real time, as riders could see how many drivers were in their area on their app, and drivers could likewise see what the concentration level of riders was like - indeed, whether it had risen to the point where surge pricing was in effect. The unionized taxi industry hates it, which led to baseball bats being taken to Uber cars at the Paris airport a couple of years ago.

But the company had some odd ways to go about asserting its efficacy, such as hiring former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe to be its negotiating face with regulators, or hiring Eric Holder to lobby for it against efforts to make it conduct fingerprint checks, and then putting him in charge of an internal investigation into funny-business aspects of its corporate culture.

And about that funny business in the culture: It seems the place was rife with sexual harassment and bullying and bad morale.

It's at least somewhat emblematic of the tech-world's ethos in general: a combination of nerd-style go-getter-ism with a strong scent of testosterone, a corporate line crafted to burnish its progressive bona fides, and a line of undeniably cool products and services.

There's a real outreach campaign going with regard to drivers, probably at lest in part due to feeling the heat from proliferating competition. Tipping is now going to be part of the model, as is getting paid for wait times, and driver injury protection insurance.

Good moves, but let's hope the company is not drifting in the direction of conferring employee status on drivers. Ride-sharing's entrepreneurial aspect is most of its appeal.

But its current fortunes are representative of something true in any realm of human activity: Without a culture that venerates character, the most exciting model for improving everybody's lot will not sustain the enterprise.

Clarke smacks down Holder

Perhaps you've heard about Eric Holder's plan to have the D0J sue Ferguson, Missouri and stick its nose into that town's police department practices.

Perhaps you've been hoping to see a ringing refutation of the move.  Herewith Milwaukee County, Wisconsin sheriff David Clarke:

“Well, it’s more of the same from Eric Holder,” Clarke said. “Look this is an abuse of power. Eric Holder has gone 15 for 15 in terms of indicting police departments of some sort of wrongdoing. That doesn’t pass the smell test. There’s no objectivity in his investigations and oftentimes the conclusion is written before the investigation even starts. If I were the city of Ferguson I would fight this. Look, the Ferguson grand jury got it right. Officer Darren Wilson acted reasonably in defending his life against Mike Brown. It was a tragedy, we all know that. But Eric Holder early on before that investigation had started said we’ll get this right and the fact that the grand jury ruled not the way he thought they should have, he’s still going to try to extract his pound of flesh. But Brian, these investigations are costly and not only the investigation but when they put you under consent decree this is nothing more than an exercise in writing reports for law enforcement officers. That takes up time — valuable time that takes them away from the street for driving in high crime communities and servicing the people of the city of Ferguson, MO.”

Clarke explained that the end of the Holder era at the DOJ couldn’t come soon enough.

“It’s a typical politics of Eric Holder and the United States Department of Justice — at least under his tenure. You know, we can’t see this guy out the door soon enough. I know he’s leaving. I just hope that the next attorney general that comes in, whoever that might be, won’t be Eric Holder 2.0. It will be a little more open minded and more supportive of local law enforcement. Look, the city of Ferguson has problems, just like any other city in America. Milwaukee is no different. But these things should be solve and settled and discussed at the local level without federal interference.

Exactly.

Bracing candor from Sheriff Clarke

For being sheriff of a metro region that leans decidedly left, David Clarke has his head on straight:

During a recent event at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. and before the grand jury made its decision not to indict Officer Wilson, Clarke accused Holder of exploiting a racial fire and compared Al Sharpton to a vulture feeding on a roadside carcass. 

"I'm not one known to sugar coat things. This pissed me off. I sat up and watched as events unfolded in Ferguson, Missouri. [It's a] unfortunate situation obviously. Anytime a law enforcement officer uses force that takes a life, it deserves a thorough, transparent vetting, investigation, we all agree with that. But then some groups began to converge on the small town of Ferguson, Missouri, like vultures on a roadside carcass. Groups like the New Black Panther Party. People like Al Sharpton. To come and exploit that situation and instead of coming into help and restore calm, poured gas on that fire with some of their inflammatory and irresponsible rhetoric," Clark said. "I sat up there and listened to Governor Nixon and I sat up there and listened to Claire McCaskell the senator and then I sat up there and listened to Eric Holder throw law enforcement officers under the bus for political expediency. These are the same individuals at election time who come around wanting support from law enforcement organizations...I expected that from Governor Nixon. I expected that from Claire McCaskell. Those are nothing but two-bit politicians, they do that sort of thing, that's what politicians do you know that…but I did not expect that from Eric Holder, who calls himself a law enforcement officer." 

That's a serious can of whip-ass he's opening there.

Holder: exit stage left

J. Christian Adams reviews the tenure of one of the regime's most destructive overlords:

The damage he has already done to the country leaves a turbulent wake that is ill-matched to the financial reward awaiting him at a shameless and large Washington, D.C., law firm.

Our country is more polarized and more racially divided because of Eric Holder.  He turned the power of the Justice Department into a racially motivated turnout machine for the Democratic Party.  That was his job in this administration, and he did it well.

When I first reported on the racially motivated law enforcement of Holder’s Justice Department, it seemed fanciful to some. But after six years of Holder hugging Al Sharpton, stoking racial division in places like Florida and Ferguson, after suing police and fire departments to impose racial hiring requirements, after refusing to enforce election laws that protect white victims or require voter rolls to be cleaned, after launching harassing litigation against peaceful pro-life protesters, after incident after incident of dishonesty and contempt before Congress — after all this, it was clear to anyone with any intellectual honesty that this man had a vision of the law at odds with the nation’s traditions.

Why would it surprise anyone he behaved as he did?  As I made clear in my book Injustice, he carried around a quote in his wallet for 40 years about race that, he explained to the Washington Post, indicated that he had common cause with the black criminal.  That’s a fact.  That’s who he is. 

Of course, the speculation has started as to whether this means a SCOTUS nomination upon Ginsburg's retirement.

All the more reason why a large Pub majority on Capitol Hill is necessary.

Black pastors push for Eric Holder's impeachment

They're disgusted like the rest of us with his selective enforcement of laws and his intent to impose the homosexual-activist agenda on states:

A coalition of black pastors announced on Tuesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. that they are launching a campaign to gather one million signatures on a petition calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Eric Holder for violating his oath of office by trying "to coerce states to fall in line with the same-sex 'marriage' agenda."

"President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have turned their backs on the values the American people hold dear, values particularly cherished in the black community: values like marriage, which should be strengthened and promoted, rather than weakened and undermined," says a statement by the Coalition of African American Pastors that has been posted online with their impeachment petition.

"Our nation calls for the building up of a healthier marriage culture; instead, our elected leaders are bent on destroying marriage, remaking it as a genderless institution and reorienting it to be all about the desires of adults rather than the needs of children," says the coalition.

[snip]

On Tuesday, Holder told a gathering of state attorneys-general that it's okay if they don't defend laws in their states that prohibit same-sex marriage:
"Now, any decisions at any level not to defend individual laws must be exceedingly rare. They must be reserved only for exceptional – truly exceptional – circumstances.  And they must never stem merely from policy or political disagreements, hinging instead only on firm constitutional grounds," Holder said.
“But in general, I believe we must be suspicious of legal classifications based solely on sexual orientation. And we must endeavor in all of our efforts to uphold and advance the values that once led our forebears to declare unequivocally that all are created equal and entitled to equal opportunity."
The CAAP petition for the impeachment of Holder is addressed directly to the U.S. Congress.
“I write today to urge you to take immediate action against the Attorney General of the United States for his lawless attempts to undermine states sovereign laws regarding marriage,” says the CAAP petition. “Attorney General Holder should be impeached for abandoning his duty to uphold and defend the law and for pushing a radical agenda on the states in a manner out of keeping with the obligations of his office.”
“I urge you to bring impeachment against Eric Holder for his reckless attempts to undermine our states’ constitutional marriage laws and the voices and values of millions of voters,” the petition says.

Add that to Fast and Furious, voter-ID meddling and the multitude of other tyrannical transgression, and you have a rap sheet that, in a sane world, would have him gone yet this afternoon.

An effort whose time has come

Texas Pub Representative Pete Olson is launching an impeachment proceeding against Eric Holder.  And he's going about it with impressive savvy, quickly seeking out allies among his House colleagues, passing civil-contempt charges in addition to criminal-contempt charges, and taking into account all of Holder's transgressions, not just Fast and Furious:

This time around, Holder is not facing charges related just to Operation Fast and Furious. Since the last Congress, Holder’s DOJ has been embroiled in a number of other scandals, and House Republicans are emboldened heading into this battle with Holder.

Olson’s resolution is divided into four separate Articles of Impeachment. The first deals directly with Fast and Furious, the second with Holder’s non-enforcement directives of laws like the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and drug laws. The third addresses Holder’s refusal to prosecute IRS officials involved with leaking confidential tax return documents of GOP donors, and the fourth pursues Holder for allegedly misleading Congress regarding his involvement with the targeting of media figures like Fox News’ James Rosen.

“He actually selects laws and says, ‘I like this law so I’m going to enforce it,’ and ‘I don’t like this one so I’m not going to enforce it,’” Olson said of the second part of his Articles of Impeachment resolution. 

One to keep an eye on.

How's this for sinister?

May 30, 2012, at the US Capitol.  A meeting between the Congressional Black Caucus and the Conference of National Black Churches.  You are no doubt beginning to smell the odor of victim-mongering and meme-of-voter-supression-mongering.  Anyone would.

But did you know what two high-ranking MEC regime officials were at the meeting? Attorney General Eric Holder and then-IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman.  Dissing recent voting law changes in various states, advising on strategy.  Railing against the conservative movement.

This regime doesn't do impartiality.

What ought to be the most impartial cabinet-level department, but is in fact Eric Holder's fiefdom, thinks racial balance is more important than kids getting the best possible education

DoJ is going after Louisiana's school voucher program, on - are you ready for this? - the grounds that if those vouchers are used in any district that is still under a federal desegregation order.  Because that would create "racial imbalance," doncha know.  And fairness by the FHers' standards is more important, doncha know than actual people of the black race getting the best education possible.

The overlords actually think this way.

Oh, so now he wants us to believe that he regrets the way his department handled it

Eric Holder gives an interview on "finding the right balance" between journalistic freedom and national security.

Holder's Waterloo?

He testified that he didn't know anything about DoJ harassment of journalists, but he's the one who signed the damn warrant to get Rosen's e-mails.

Senator Cornyn goes there

It's time somebody said it.  He calls for Eric Holder's resignation.