CNN, though not as bad as MSNBC, has a well-deserved reputation for pandering to the Obama Administration. Given this commentary by Jack Cafferty where he mentions Watergate in connection with Operation Fast and Furious, I wonder how soon before he receives a curse-filled diatribe of a phone call from Tracy Schmaler of the Justice Department?
UPDATE: Bob’s take on this. He is correct that is moves the issue into wider circulation.
With the year winding down you are almost out of time to save on your taxes.
One way that is still available is by a contribution to a 503(c)3 non-profit like the Second Amendment Foundation or other non-profit gun rights organization. Donations to a group like the NRA are not deductible because it is a 503(c)4 organization and it does political lobbying. However, donations to the NRA Foundation would be tax deductible.
I like the reminder that SAF put up on their Facebook page and wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment.
Here are some links to worthy organizations that could use a donation. Just click on the name and it will bring you to their donation page. The list is not complete by any means and I’d welcome other suggestions. Remember, the organization must be a 503(c)3 non-profit for the donation to qualify for a tax deduction.
Mountain States Legal Foundation
Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership
One other group that I might add is the Gun Rights Radio Network. They are not a 503(c)3 non-profit – though they should be – so a donation wouldn’t be tax deductible. Nonetheless, they do a great job in promoting the shooting sports and gun rights activism. They offer podcasts on everything from gunsmithing to practical defense tips. Mark Vanderberg runs the Network on donations and certainly could use a few bucks to keep it going. To donate go here.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting that he testify before the committee on January 24th. He was given a choice of six alternate dates for the hearings in either January or February. He is asked to confirm his attendance by January 3rd.
In the letter, Issa explains that the hearing will cover what senior Justice Department officials could have – and should have – done to prevent a reckless program like Operation Fast and Furious.
The full letter can be found here.
This letter puts the ball in Holder’s court as to whether he appears voluntarily before the committee or he is subpoenaed. If it is the latter, I think it devolve into a test of wills between the executive and legislative branches.
The Brady Campaign’s eagerly awaited announcement of what they plan for January 8th is….a candlelight vigil? Could they come come up with something any more lame and trite as this?
Brady Campaign Acting President Dennis Henigan announces a nationwide tribute to loved ones killed with guns. On January 8, 2012, the one-year anniversary of the Tucson shootings that killed six people and injured 13 others including a U.S. Congresswoman, people all across the country will gather for candlelight vigils honoring loved ones lost to gun violence. This intense spotlight on the human toll of gun violence is only the first step in mobilizing Americans to demand change.
As usual, the Brady Campaign is up to their old tactic of censoring dissenting voices. Sean Sorrentino of An NC Gun Blog left a polite message on their Facebook page which has disappeared. They are claiming he has removed his message. Having just spoken to Sean that is incorrect. He didn’t remove it, they did and then went on to block him from being able to comment on their page. Maybe they should just cover their eyes and ears and start singing nursery rhymes as it would be about as effective.
Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned is as nonplussed about the announcement as the rest of us. I like her final comment on it.
Perhaps the candles will also inject some personality into Dennis Henigan as he reads his script. The candles might also buy them some new audio equipment. If candles can stop bullets, then they can do anything in this season of holiday miracles, right?
UPDATE: As I expected, my post on their Facebook page pointing out that Sean had not deleted his post but it was done by their moderator has vanished into cyberspace. You have to wonder about the strength of their beliefs if opposing opinions are such a threat to them.
In a New York Times political piece that charitably can be described as utter rubbish, Attorney General Eric Holder blames bloggers and conservative commentators for some of his troubles.
But Mr. Holder contended that many of his other critics — not only elected Republicans but also a broader universe of conservative commentators and bloggers — were instead 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.
While it is hard not to portray the most devious and political Justice Department since Nixon in a bad light, I would disagree with Holder’s partial explanation of why bloggers portray him in such a negative way. As might be expected, Holder is playing the race card.
Mr. Holder said he believed that a few — the “more extreme segment” — were motivated by animus against Mr. 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.”
The bigger explanation according to Holder is that we are raving conservative ideologues who oppose him over his stands on the issues. Holder also feels that Republicans are after him as a payback for the way John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales were treated by their Democratic critics.
If it is ideological to want accountability for a program that has led to two dead Federal law enforcement officers and untold numbers of Mexican citizens, then I’m an ideologue as are bloggers like Mike Vanderboegh, David Codrea, Dave Workman, and others who have reported on Project Gunwalker.
Eric Holder needs to go if for no other reason than he is living in a fantasy world. What’s worse is the way Charlie Savage and the rest of the mainstream media excuses this behavior. It is the equivalent of the co-dependency between an alcoholic wife beater and a spouse who refuses to press charges despite repeated beatings. Both are sad, pathetic behaviors.
The fallout from Operation Fast and Furious cost Dennis Burke his position as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona back in August.
More recently, in the Friday e-mail dump that preceded Attorney General Eric Holder’s appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, an email from Burke expressed his anger at Sen. Chuck Grassley and his staff over their investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. He called them “willing stooges for the Gun Lobby.” His e-mail went on to say:
No commentary by Grassley on the lax laws, nor greedy gun shop owners, nor careless straw purchasers, and not boo about the evil gun traffickers for the Cartels. Nope. Just demonize ATF w/ a strategically-timed repulsive letter e-mailed to the entire press world before we ever saw it.
Burke later issued a groveling apology over his comments.
It should be noted that Burke is not a newcomer to the business of gun control. In an article in the Arizona Republic about the political ramifications on Arizona politicians for supporting gun control, former Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), a supporter of the Clinton “Assault Weapons Ban”, had this to say about Dennis Burke:
DeConcini credits Judiciary Committee staff aide Dennis Burke, now the U.S. attorney for Arizona, for much of the work in developing the ban, which became law during DeConcini’s final year in the Senate but expired after 10 years.
Burke also was Senior Policy Analyst for the White House’s Domestic Policy Council from 1995 to 1997. This time overlaps with when Elena Kagan – now Justice Kagan – served as its Deputy Director. It was during this time that Executive Orders were used to further extend the ban on so-called assault weapons and to implement the Brady Act. Given his prior work on the Assault Weapons Ban in the Senate, it would not surprise me that Burke assisted in this effort.
Looking at Burke’s background and his attitude towards gun rights and those who support them, I see this as even further confirmation that the intent of Operation Fast and Furious from the very beginning was to build support for another so-called assault weapons ban. I just don’t think it was coincidental that Operation Fast and Furious was centered in Arizona as opposed to New Mexico or west Texas where the U.S. Attorneys have long careers as prosecutors.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published an article which described the growth of Federal police ranks especially in the agencies not traditionally associated with law enforcement. When you have 5 criminal investigators for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and 7 for the Government Printing Office, I think you have a problem. I think Ronald Gainer, a former Justice Department official, hits the nail on the head.
Skeptics also say some of these smaller departments tend to wield their powers indiscriminately, even for seemingly minor infractions, in ways that seem self-justifying.
“When you start making innocuous actions crimes, you multiply the number of people who are enforcing” the laws and regulations, says Ronald Gainer, a former Justice Department official for Democratic and Republican administrations who has cautioned for years against the proliferation of federal law. “You multiply the number of people who have to enforce criminal laws and they all want guns.”
As Tam said earlier this year after the Department of Education SWAT team raid in California, “Look me in the eye and defend this.”
Ted Cruz is the former Solicitor General for the State of Texas and is now running for the U.S. Senate to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) who is retiring.
Cruz organized the coalition of 31 states that filed an amicus brief in favor of Dick Heller in D.C. v. Heller. He received the Carter-Knight Freedom Fighter Award from the NRA for this.
In the spirit of the season, he released the following ad which skewers Obama.
This is a perfect marriage of spirit with technology – a tracked “wheelchair” built to allow a paraplegic to enjoy the Great Outdoors in almost the same manner as an able-bodied person. I think it is fantastic.
Todd Vandermyde discusses the unholy alliance between some Democratic politicians and gang bangers in the City of Chicago. An article in Chicago Magazine exposes the whole sordid business.
Is it any wonder that Chicago politicians are so anti-gun? It keeps the honest people defenseless while the gangs who support them remain armed.
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