Eric Holder is a man who holds views that are both fairly radical and dangerous. Now under fire for his role in the so-called Fast and Furious gun-running operation, and given his overall (dismal) record, you might think Holder would sheepishly apologize for his incompetence or, at a minimum, remain silent. But you would be wrong.

Holder is instead reaching for the race card.

In an interview with the New York Times, the attorney general contended that many of his Republican and conservative critics, both in office and out of office, were playing “Washington gotcha” games, portraying them as frequently “conflating things, conveniently leaving some stuff out, construing things to make it seem not quite what it was” to paint him and other department figures in the worst possible light. Of that group of critics, Holder said, he believed that a few —the “more extreme segment” — were motivated by animus against President Obama and that he served as a stand-in for him. “This is a way to get at the president because of the way I can be identified with him,” he said, “both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we’re both African-American.”

What Holder is doing is seeking to go on the offensive by employing slander, which is an old and ugly game and one Holder seems disposed to play. (Remember that in 2009 Holder said that on race, we are “a nation of cowards.”)

As The Daily Caller points out, “Holder’s accusations come as resignation calls mount from a growing list of 60 congressmen, two senators, every major Republican presidential candidate and two sitting governors, spurred on by the congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. Additionally, seventy-five congressmen have signed onto a House resolution for a vote of “no confidence” in Holder as attorney general. Between the two lists, there are 86 total in the House who no longer trust Holder to head the Department of Justice.”

That lack of confidence in Holder will only increase as he seeks to divide us. In that respect, the attorney general is merely parroting his boss, the president.

What the attorney general will find is that in using the racism charge so promiscuously and recklessly, he will drain it of meaning. And at some future point, when charges of racism may well apply, Holder will have helped to make those charges impotent. Because increasingly, people are simply rolling their eyes at the liberal reflex to charge anyone with whom they disagree with of being racists. And who can blame them?