Posted on 12/23/2011 10:12:44 AM PST by marktwain
In all of my years fighting on behalf of the National Rifle Association to defend the Second Amendment, I never thought I would see a White House so vehemently opposed to gun ownership that it would be willing to arm violent criminals and endanger American lives in pursuit of a gun control agenda. Readers will recall that a little over two months ago, in this same space, I wrote:
“I would like to believe that President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder – no matter how much they oppose our Second Amendment rights – would never break the law and endanger human lives in their mission to score political points against gun owners…
“However, to believe all of this, I would have to ignore a lot of facts.”
And now, according to new documents obtained by CBS News, we are faced with the fact that the Obama administration helped transfer illegal guns to drug cartels in Mexico to build a case for gun control – specifically, gun registration – here in America.
“If these reports are true, even by Washington standards this reaches a new level of arrogance and corruption,” remarked Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). Unfortunately, Sen. Cornyn is not exaggerating.
On July 14, 2010, Mark Chait, who served as Assistant Director for Field Operations for the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives (BATFE) sent an email to Bill Newell, BATFE’s special agent in charge of operation “Fast and Furious.” Chait’s email said:
“Bill, can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time? We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long-gun sales. Thanks."
Just six months later, after a press conference to announce arrests made in “Fast and Furious,” Chait emailed Newell again, saying:
“Bill--well done yesterday... (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case.”
“Demand letter 3” is a letter sent to U.S. firearms dealers in the four southwest border states, demanding that they register sales of more than one semi-automatic rifle to the same person within five business days.
Under its “Fast and Furious” operation, Obama’s BATFE had been forcing licensed firearms dealers to sell semi-automatic rifles to shady straw purchasers, who would then supply them to drug cartels in Mexico.
Many of these dealers were extremely apprehensive because BATFE was, in fact, forcing them break the law. In fact, one licensed dealer emailed BATFE numerous times to express his concern, not only could these sales jeopardize his livelihood, but also that the guns he was being forced to sell could end up in the hands of criminals south of the border, where they might be used to harm or kill American Border Patrol agents.
BATFE reassured him that everything was fine and that he should just keep following their orders. As we now know, the dealer’s concerns were more than justified.
In April of this year, the Obama administration unilaterally imposed the “Demand letter 3” registration requirement. The National Rifle Association is currently funding lawsuits to end this unconstitutional edict.
“Very clearly, they’ve [the Obama administration] made a crisis and they’re using this crisis to somehow take away or limit people’s Second Amendment rights,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who is leading the House investigation into “Fast and Furious.”
“There’s plenty of evidence showing that this administration planned to use the tragedies of ‘Fast and Furious’ as rationale to further their goals of a long gun reporting requirement,” stated Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), who is leading the investigation on the Senate side.
Even Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, recently admitted to Congress that “Fast and Furious” guns would continue to show up at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico “for years to come” – just as two of them were found at the murder scene of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
Ever since the “Fast and Furious” scandal first broke, Eric Holder and his colleagues in the Obama administration have refused to fully cooperate with congressional investigators. Now we know why. Because the truth is uglier than we ever could have imagined. Our own federal government willingly endangered American lives to build a case for weakening our Second Amendment freedoms.
Gunwalker ping.
It is beyond me that any Mexican or Hispanic would support Obama and his administration after Fast and Furious. I know it was reported in Spanish-language media to some extent. Maybe I just don’t understand their mindset/world view. There’s just this huge, obvious silence regarding the hundreds of Mexican victims of Fast and Furious, a silence that comes across as a sort of a shrug and an “Oh well.” And I hear that “Oh well” from our Left, too. They don’t really seem to give a flip about the American or the Mexican dead. Talk to people on the Left, and they just kind of stare, go vague, and mumble they don’t know much about it all. Well, Fast and Furious was an outrage, a criminal, coordinated action by elements in at least five departments of our federal government which resulted in hundreds of deaths. The families of those victims must see justice done and in public. “Oops” is not enough.
“There’s plenty of evidence showing that this administration planned to use the tragedies of ‘Fast and Furious’ as rationale to further their goals of a long gun reporting requirement,” stated Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), who is leading the investigation on the Senate side.
Even Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, recently admitted to Congress that “Fast and Furious” guns would continue to show up at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico “for years to come” – just as two of them were found at the murder scene of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
So this is news? To who is this news?
The problem is that the media, the Democrats, and much of the public don't care about Contitutional rights, to them the "end" justifies the means and they honestly (and mistakenly) believe that gun control is in the public interest.
That is the real issue that the media needs to focus on. We need the public to understand that there is a Contitution and that it guarantees certain rights and that means something. I hope Congress can get its act together long enough to make Eric Holder understand that the Constitution is not something to screw with.
The next "crisis" will be that some folks don't believe the government has the right to conduct all its un-Constitutional activities - then the hammer will come down big-time and it will be them or us.
Yes, it is but to say it "Endangered lives" is a rather drastic understatement. At least two American Federal agents and at least 300 Mexican citizens, from Federale agents to little children, are dead. Slaughtered, butchered, shot to pieces dead.
“...plenty of evidence showing that this administration planned to use the tragedies...”
They didn’t endanger lives, they committed murder and conspired to commit murder. Brian Terry wasn’t endangered, he was targeted and murdered.
So was Jaime Zapata...while he was undercover. So HE was outed.
They probably don't. They may not want to find out about it but I see FReepers ask to be brought up to speed on it everyday. This story has not become a "hot item" yet and until then most people won't know much about it.
How many ways, how many times, and how much more, and at what cost of human life will this administration continue to to violate the laws and and Constitution of this country? Where is the leadership we need to impeach this so-called president of this country; further yet, to try him and his cohorts in crime for laws they they have broken and for the citizens and non-citizens that they have murdered. Look at the state of the country in any which area you chose and show some improvement. You can’t, if asked to show moral and legal collapse it would be a more simple task indeed. In the past I have said it is near time to end, by whatever means necessary, this illegal regime. It is now way past time.
I can’t even pretend to understand it. There is no rational explanation for ir. Everywhere you look is mass insanity and I don’t even know how to deal with it anymore...except to try and keep MYSELF from going insane. And even that I wonder about sometimes.
I look around and think there is SO much of it, that maybe THAT is the new normal and I am the one who is crazy.
We have reached the place in this country where the current administration is totally 100% corrupt.
The justice dept. has literally become a criminal organization. They are demanding that South Carolina permit voter fraud. They clearly sent thousands of guns to Mexico just to push another political agenda.
I sometimes think we have sunk so low that the country can’t be saved but then again we still have to try.
The present regime is simply the end result, the epitome of ignoring the rule of law because their ends justify their means.
For the good of the country, don't you understand?
They have been shown over and over for nearly forty years that their opposition is all bluster, and believes that a turnaround can be achieved with the first box.
Pretty soon the third box will be a gamble, no longer a sure thing.
Ping!
Yep. And these communists then promoted their complicit managers...and attacked the whistleblowers nonstop.
The dead should be depicted with Obama and Holder’s hands covered in their blood...
...and wiping it off with the Constitution.
Nixon resigned over a burglary. This President should be impeached (if F&F can be traced back to him) and his AG should be led to the nearest federal penitentiary in full body restraints.
That would send a message and, would begin the restoration of 'law' as we understand it. But it'll never happen. These things can't happen to a Black person- not now, not ever. Political correctness and white guilt have turned an otherwise principaled people into pussies without spines. That's how they see us, like it or not.
Yet, in my experience dealing with liberals, showing 'spine' gets them heading for the exits. Why? Because the foundation of their philosophy rests on sand- it is ever changing. Ours stands upon rock-solid truth which they can't withstand. Simply put, when you get in their face, they fold like a 2$ suitcase.
Such resistance to liberalism has been long overdue. Witness the villification of the Tea Party by these worms. Imagine their reaction to a "John Wayne" party- "I'm not gonna hit you."..... "The Hell I won't!" Bam!!
We can no longer afford to go 'weak horse' with these a-holes. Our country will not survive. The kick-in-the-ass they have coming should be great enough to be felt by FDR himself in his grave.
Did I mention I won't be voting for McRomney? Gingrich is the only one among the field with the 'boot' needed to get the Left's attention. We'll have to provide the 'follow through' but that shouldn't be too hard. As I say, they'll scatter faster than a North Korean cockroach in the face of a concerted effort to put this country back on-track. Trust me.
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