Attorney General Eric Holden calls 'a spade a spade'.

Attorney general Eric Holden used word choice to get attention. ‘Coward’ is powerful and negative choice from the platform. He could have used the words weak, timid, fragile, uncommitted, which would have conveyed similar sentiments about his opinions. Words have an impact and given the current situation the United States is in economically and politically, his choice had an edge that ruffled some feathers. Just as my choice for the ‘lead’ might have hit a nerve.

Although the term, calling a spade a spade ‘is thousands of years old and the etymologically has nothing whatsoever to do with any racial sentiment’ (Random House), it has become a sensitive statement that can be misinterpreted.

Only time will tell if Mr. Holden’s word choice achieves the result he desires. You’ve got to give the new presidential and administration kudos for understanding buzz. By using the words ‘a nation of cowards’, Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. achieved a result – discussion on race, which was the entire point. The shock appeal to the media has him getting press in the Washington Post six days after his comments.

On February 21, 2009, The Washington Post commented on the heated discussion still continuing. They mentioned the fact that a call for this discussion has been brought up before, by President Clinton in 1997, and it died. I’m sure that this fact was not lost on Mr. Holder as he prepared his speech.

It you want something changed it requires a great deal of attention. By calling a ‘spade a spade*’, he got that attention. I wish to believe that he made a good choice and his timing is right for open discussion, and I hope you believe I made a good choice in my lead to get a moment of your time to further this discussion.