Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, said on CNN that "there ought to be a special prosecutor" regarding Operation Fast and Furious. A special prosecutor? Are Republicans encouraging another witch hunt of a sitting Democratic president as they did with former President Bill Clinton? It would seem so.
The NRA believes President Obama was involved in this operation and that the goal was to "attack the Second Amendment." That's quite an accusation and based solely on the President invoking executive privilege over documents from the Attorney General's office. LaPierre thinks the documents must "stink to high heaven." Perhaps that foul odor is coming from Congress.
Operation Fast and Furious was the largest "gunwalking" sting operation ever, but not the only one. The guns "walked" into Mexico in hopes of recovering and tracking the guns back to high-profile Mexican cartel. Many of these guns have been linked to crimes including the death of border patrol agent, Brian Terry. One of the rogue guns was discovered at the scene of Terry's death, but it is not certain this gun is the one that killed him.
This is yet another spill over from the Bush administration. Not surprising. During Bush's reign, Operation Wide Receiver began. Another "gun walking" operation. A gun dealer in Tucson, Arizona worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives selling 450 guns that were lost in Mexico. Bush's Department of Justice made no arrests. Obama's administration reviewed Operation Wide Receiver in 2009. Obama's DOJ made 9 arrests from that operation.
After the Terry shooting, Operation Fast and Furious came to a screeching halt. Attorney General Holder and President Barack Obama both deny authorizing "gunwalking."
Holder mentioned that the previous attorney general let guns walk, during the Bush administration, but could not produce any evidence to support his statement. Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley even asked Holder to issue an apology. If the prior attorney general didn't know about gunwalking, why would this one? Double standard? Of course.
Democrats are always held to a higher standard than Republicans. A Republican attorney general wouldn't necessarily know anything about what that administration's DOJ was doing with guns, but a Democrat most certainly would. And yet, they get angry when Democrats insult their intelligence. You can't have it both ways. Either Republicans are just as smart and capable as Democrats or they aren't. Which is it?
And to ask for a special prosecutor to investigate whether the President knew about the gunwalking is the same kind of witch hunt Clinton endured from the angry right. That was a waste of time and money then and it would be now too.
Grassley should be the one issuing an apology to Holder and President Obama when this is over.
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Comments: 64
Because they know this isn't anything more than a partisan political witch hunt orchestrated by the same Right Wing politicians who've done everything in their power to undermine, weaken and discredit a sitting President.
How does this deal with the real issues facing the American people? I guess holding the American Attorney General in contempt will lower the unemployment rate and help 50 million uninsured Americans find affordable healthcare.
The majority of the American electorate know exactly what's going on. Republicans have failed, once again, to find a Presidential nominee palatable to the majority of the electorate, so going negative is their only alternative left.
The House is so dysfunctionally partisan, at this point, that they are `almost' barely aware, even, of their need to go after Obama, anymore.
Instead, they simply want to shoot every Democrat in sight--simply because they're alive.
Brett, I work with over 1000 people. Not one has mentioned this partisan witch hunt.
There's no proof of that. The bullet that killed Terry was not identified as belonging to the gun from Fast and Furious.
Exactly! This is what the GOP does when they are feeling desperate. Obama is going to get re-elected. They know it. So, they are going about trying to get rid of him any way then can, because they can't do it in this November's election with "Romney the Zombie".
The types of guns used in the crimes they've been linked to DO need to be banned, in my opinion.
Nobody needs an AK-47. My .22 rifle will kill somebody just as dead as a sawed-off shotgun or a machine gun, and more quietly with less mess.
Probably because the boot licking liberal media hasn't talked about it. I mean why would the media who rolled out the golden carpet for Cindy Shehan care that a border agent was killed by guns given to thugs by the Obama administration?
Now that Obama joined in the coverup on how something this boneheaded happened we get to talk about it and why geek posts like this are trying to spin the truth with lies and disinformation.
The jackass in chief is gone.
Of all the things I've been called on Gather, that's one of the nicest. :)
The Conservatives are quite dramatic. A border patrol agent got killed. A weapon found at the scene was traced back to Fast and Furious. Bullistics did not prove the agent was killed by the gun. But, it's mere presence is enough to point the finger squarely at the President. Afterall, he is a black man. Black man. Gun. Dead white guy. They will probably call for a public hanging any minute now.
During the Watergate investigation in the 1972 election the Democrat party clung like pit pulls onto following up the tape on the door of that hotel to determine where it led. There weren't any slaughtered federal agents during that burglary to find out what secrets George McGovern was hiding from the committee to re-elect the President either.
"LOL. I disagree with you, but I find it funny you referring to Obama so subtly to Hitler."
The phrase referred to fast and flimsy political things rather than to a particular 60 or 70 year old point of history. The United States had its home mortgage heritage sold out by the Clinton administration to globalists. Bertolucci's film on Musssolini '1900' personified the fast and furious ideal. President Obama is something of an amateur at broad evils of war and subversion of American civil rights, yet I think he has made a modest contribution in that effort with select imperious executive decisions.
Metonomy is ordinary in interpretation of ideas-sometimes politically even disingenuously. One needs to be careful not to let that lapse into gratuitious, erroneous synedoche. In the constellation of possible derivatives of meaning that can be extracted from apprehension of alphabetic segments of structure choices are largely subjective.
I think it is interesting that you say above, "Holder mentioned that the previous attorney general let guns walk, during the Bush administration, but could not produce any evidence to support his statement." Actually, according to the article that you cite above, Holder said this and then retracted it when he could not produce anything to back up his claim. One would think it would be pretty easy to support a claim like that, one little email that showed that the prior AG knew. Empty allegations without proof are just that.
The article that you cite states, “In his eagerness to blame the previous administration, Attorney General Holder got his facts wrong,†Grassley added. “And his tactic didn’t bring us any closer to understanding how a bad policy evolved and continued. Bad policy is bad policy, regardless of how many administrations carried it out.
Let's stop making this about politics. Two border agents died, 1700 guns are unaccounted for, and the guns have been found at 100 crime scenes.
Let me be clear, Lora, if the people in the previous administration have done anything unseemly, they need to be held accountable. One informant said that 450 guns "walked" under Bush. I want to know who was responsible for this, in either administration. That being said, instead of pointing fingers, let's find the truth.
Let me be clear from a legal point of view:
This charge made by CBS news in December 2011 would support murder indictments under Mexican Law. This is not 'unseemly', it is criminal and a violation of International Law.
Presidential Pardons have no force and effect for Mexican Law.
If documents show that this was the deliberate policy position and justification of the Obama Administration and they are extradicted to Mexico, Obama administration officials caught in this will likely be going to prison...in Mexico.
God I hope not. We already look bad. That would be devastating...
"CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson declares that the ATF used Operation Fast and Furious to "argue for controversial new rules about gun sales." The article states that "emails show they [ATF officials] discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called 'Demand Letter 3.'" If that is why this program was ramped up under Obama, it would certainly be a scandal and invoking so-called "executive privilege" would be understandable. The reporter has also implicated the Bush administration as knowing about the ill-advised gun-walking scheme. It should not. be. a. partisan. story.
did you Clinton used executive privilege, as well
Yes, it's common for Presidents, especially in recent years.
You take issue with my statement ("Holder mentioned that the previous attorney general let guns walk, during the Bush administration, but could not produce any evidence to support his statement.")? There's no actually to it. The statement is accurate. Holder made the statement and then was unable to produce documentation as proof. That's what happened.
Why is it such a big deal that Holder made this statement and had to retract it? Big deal. Just because there's no paper trail doesn't mean it's not true, in reality. The law and the courts deal with what can be proven, not necessarily what is true. It couldn't be proven, so he retracted it and we've moved on.
You want to know what I really think about this whole thing? Well, even if you don't, I'm going to say so now anyway...bear with me. ;)
I think this started with Newell (under Bush' administration). The second "gun walking" operation started by Newell under that administration was quickly shut down. Then he heads up Operation Fast and Furious.
Fast and Furious was just that...too fast and it got out of control. Too many weapons to track and it got out of hand. Newell is the guy responsible for that. Where is he in all this?
It's not out of the realm of possibility that this is political and that Newell wanted to embarrass the Obama administration by LETTING it get out of control. I would hope that's not true as if it is, things are worse in our government than we even know.
I agree with you that something went wrong with this operation.
I disagree that Barack Obama is in any way responsible.
Did I say Obama was responsible? I don't think we know that yet, but he certainly inserted himself into this...
Let's go find Newell and sort this out.
Agreed. :)
Answer: Republican Witch Hunt
Nope. Clinton was wrong. You know it, I know it, Clinton knows it.
It was, however, a waste of time. Given the Democratic majority in the Senate, and a 2/3 vote requirement for conviction.
Lora.....Clinton was asked because his girlfriends ratted him out.
Bill Clinton wronged Hillary and Chelsea. Nobody else. Publicly humiliating him and his whole family was uncalled for.
He wasn't guilty of any wrong doing to the American people or in a professional capacity.
Witch hunt!
"Not guilty of wrongdoing to the American People???" Suppose this Chick was Mata Hari, genius...
..and We, The People PAY for that Upholstery.
Drop the nonsense, Covrett; for the umpteenth time, lying under Oath is against the Law in The United States.
But I think when you send a false letter to Congress, and it takes you 10 months to retract it, an oversight committee is entitled to look at documents relevant to that matter from that period of time.
It's not clear to me that Issa would have challenged the initial false letter. He's not the sharpest match in the box. Rather, it was CBS that broke the story a month after the false letter was submitted.
While it may have been an honest mistake, the false letter is an adequate basis upon which to look into relevant documents from the point the letter was written to the point it was retracted.
I don't see how anybody can argue with that.
The guns were actually linked to several crimes in Mexico and the U.S.
Nobody cared until a border patrol agent got killed?! And by the way, he was one of 3 that year. An average of 3 are killed every year. Who do you blame for the agents that died in 2007, 2008, 2009?
Darrell Issa vs Joe McCarthy
Fast and Furious hearing vs Women's Health hearing
Darrell Issa is very selective (far too selective) about who he will allow to speak in these hearings. If he were actually interested in fact finding, he would hear all people germane to the inquiry. Instead he is interested in tarnishing the President and destroying the Attorney General. Gee...I wonder why?
As usual, the Republicans created a lie and went on a witch hunt. The dishonesty of the Republican party on this and virtually everything else they say is astounding.
Issa should be rebuked by the House ethics committee for his continued dishonest attacks.
After nearly 4 years of doing everything in their power to undermine, weaken and discredit a sitting President they haven't presented anything that would address the myriad of issues facing the American people.
In their eyes, it's all President Obama's fault, not ever wanting to place blame where it should honestly be placed.
They want more tax breaks for America's richest of people and wealthiest of corporations.
They want less financial regulation.
They want to balance the budget on the backs of middle-class Americans.
They want no part of participating in any shared sacrifice.
They are selfish, un-American and don't deserve to occupy the White house.