Earlier today, Glenn Reynolds linked an Andrew Breitbart video that, well, I just can’t get out of my mind. I’m not sure I share the new media pioneer’s hypothesis, but others have offered opinions similar to his, namely that the administration crafted the Fast and Furious program in order to create “a narrative that they could use in America to try and thwart our Second Amendment constitutional rights.”
Until Attorney General Eric Holder releases the documents requested by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, we won’t know why the Justice Department went forward with this plan. We still don’t know why the project’s planners failed to include two components of a similar program, Operation Wide Receiver, namely that that Bush era program (1) “did involve an attempt to track the firearms, while Fast and Furious did not” and (2) that “Operation Wide Receiver was run in conjunction with the Mexican government, while Fast and Furious was kept secret from not only Mexico, but [also] from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) attaché to Mexico, Darren Gil.”
It strains credulity to believe the administration would craft such a program as part of an anti-gun rights narrative. And it seems the real problem is not Holder’s malevolence, but his incompetence. That said, we can’t reach any definitive conclusions until the Justice Department releases the documents House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) has requested.
You would think that an intrepid reporter practicing accountability journalism would be intrigued by this stonewalling and seek to investigate the administration’s intransigence. And you’d think our friends in the legacy media might cover it.
Sometimes, the stars have to be aligned as happened in Watergate. Bob Woodward got chosen by Mark Felt, the #2 guy at the FBI, to print the leaks he was all too eager to provide. J. Edgar Hoover had just died and Nixon had appointed L. Patrick Gray to be “Acting” Director, the job Felt wanted for himself. What followed was Felt trying to bring down Gray by bringing down Nixon.
There are well placed people at Justice who have the facts and could leak the Fast and Furious information and even Woodward would take the story if for no other reason than vanity. But, it appears, the “incompetent” Holder and friends have got this story buttoned down tight. You will recall that Richard Armitage and Colin Powell let Scooter Libby get destroyed over the fluff of the Plame/Wilson low level of security yellow cake fiasco.
In Washington, part of the game of swimming with sharks is the “sport” of watching others being devoured. Apparently, nobody is chumming for Holder or Holder has got a pretty good shark cage.
Speaking of the 2nd Amendment:
Myerscough is an Obama appointee and made the ruling on February 6, 2012.
Any resemblance to a pattern, identified or perceived is purely coincidental..
You’ll recall that they fabricated a story that the cartels were buying their weapons at American gun stores and tried to smear Bush with it. They wanted stricter laws on gun shops back then, why not now? The liberal hatred of guns is all based on bullshit and they’ve always shown that they’ll make up more.
Long story short, it wouldn’t surprise me at’all.
TGC, do you have a link on that?
Well we have both Obama’s and Holder’s history to go by and they are pretty virulently anti gun. Obama has never met a gun control bill he didn’t vote for and Holder was 2nd in command for Waco. The ATF itself much prefers busting civilians and gun dealers to straw purchasers or gun runners because criminals are much more likely to shoot back.
And then there is Obama telling Sarah Brady they are working on some gun control measures under the radar back in early 2010. It’s hard to imagine how the ATF, FBI, DHS and DEA all coordinated running guns south and not have at the very least Holder’s approval and blessing. It’s hard to imagine considering most of the guns fell into the hands of one cartel which happened to be getting help from the DEA to launder their cash that something odd was happening. A couple of the straw buyers were felons which means the FBI had to ignore the flags and then approve the sales.
Gun stores tried to stop some of these sales but were asked to let them go through. Holder and other administration officials regularly blamed gun dealers for the flow of guns south.
I think we can be pretty sure some people very high up in the food chain wanted to use this op to further restrict our rights.
Well I can’t find the one I’m thinking of, but ConfederateYankee had a similar piece back in 2008.
http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/260866.php
I specifically recall a bunch of claims liberals were making that guns were being bought in US gun stores. The story I’m looking for quotes either DoJ or BATFE specifically that the weapons in question did not come from the US.
Funny, TGC, now that you bring up that blog, the story does ring a few bells. Now, I’m beginning to connect the dots. No wonder Holder made a point of reminding the Senate about Operation Wide Receiver and seemed embarrassed when Sen. Cornyn forced him to distinguish the programs.
Hot Air reported back in May about the Obama administration working on gun control “under the radar.” Does that help?
Actually, Scott, they’re not anti-gun; they’re against non-Obama supporters having guns.
Obama and Holder do not care about gang violence, about gang shootings, or about crimes committed using a gun. They only care about ensuring that those people most inclined to follow the law are disarmed, and that their supporters are not.