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The Real Question For Operation Fast And Furious – Who Knew?

March 28, 2011 by 1 Comment

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News has just posted another video on Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker). It ask the most pertinent question in this whole scandal – who knew?

Dave Hardy of Arms and The Law blog asked the same thing on Friday. Obama has insisted that he and Eric Holder did not approve Operation Fast and Furious.

And now it appears knowledge got as high as an Assistant Attorney General, an appointee. If it got that high, odds are good it would have gotten to the AG. And if it got to him, odds are decent that it got to the White House. I note the official denials are that anyone high up “approved” it. You can of course know of something, decide to let it run its course, and still deny having “approved” it. CYA and all that. “They told me about it, I just assumed they knew what they were doing.”

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Congratulations To The VCU Rams For Making The Final Four

March 28, 2011 by 1 Comment

The Complementary Spouse is a graduate of Virgina Commonwealth University’s School of Nursing so we watched the VCU Rams run to the Final Four with great interest. Today with their 71-61 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks, they are going to the Final Four for the first time. Congratulations to 2nd-year Head Coach Shaka Smart and his team for their accomplishment.

I also think the students at VCU are a little excited about their team going to Houston!

 

As to my Tar Heels, I am sad that they lost to Kentucky but am pleased that such a young team went that far. Only last year, they weren’t even in the NCAA Tournament and had to settle for the NIT. The Heels went much further than I ever expected and they should feel proud of how far they went.

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Always Hard To Prove Causation

March 27, 2011 by

Juliet Leftwich is the Executive Director of Legal Community Against Violence or LCAV. LCAV is a San Francisco-based group that promotes gun control and which has received over $2.3 million from the Joyce Foundation. One of their bigger initiatives is their promotion of their Model Laws to state and local governments. This is especially true in California where they have been particularly active and many communities have adopted their Model Laws.

In the video clip below, Leftwich is being interviewed by Omar Samaha. He is with MAIG’s National Initiative to Fix Gun Checks. Samaha’s sister was one of the victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech. Samaha is something of a media darling like Colin Goddard and has done “undercover buys” for ABC’s 20/20.

Samaha asks Leftwich if she has seen a change in “gun violence” since California has adopted its restrictive gun control laws. Leftwich responds that “unfortunately there is not a lot of great data out there.” However, she does try to put a good spin on it saying that the rate of “gun violence” in California has gone down more than in the rest of the country. And then she makes this admission, “But it is always hard to prove causation because gun laws are a very complicated issue.”

To recap, she says there is not good data, there are only a few studies, and that causation is hard to prove from the studies that do exist. This is a bit of a startling admission from a leading gun control advocate.

H/T J.D. Berger

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“In this case, a well-earned gun permit “

March 27, 2011 by 3 Comments

The Star-Ledger of Newark is the largest newspaper in the state of New Jersey. It calls itself “The Voice of New Jersey”.  It has traditionally been very pro-gun control.

I wrote a few days ago about the denial of a concealed carry permit for Jeff Muller by Judge David Ironson. Judge Ironson found that Mr. Muller failed to provide proof “of justifiable need”. This despite Mr. Muller being a kidnapping victim who still fears violence from his kidnappers or their families.

I thought Judge Ironson’s decision was ridiculous. I am not alone. The Star-Ledger Editorial Board agrees. In an editorial entitled In this case, a well-earned gun permit, the Star-Ledger said:

Even the staunchest proponents of gun control must admit Jeffrey Muller has a good reason for wanting to pack a handgun.

After describing the ordeal that Mr. Muller endured, they noted he felt unsafe.

Now, lo and behold, the man feels unsafe. He wants a gun permit, because he fears avenging family members of the arrested kidnappers may attack him again. But a Superior Court judge in Morristown this week denied his second request for the permit, saying he provided “no proof of justifiable need” to carry a weapon.

Come again? This guy has more reason than anyone to take advantage of his Second Amendment rights. For God’s sake, give this poor Muller his gun.

If even the Star-Ledger Editorial Board can see that Mr. Muller has a good reason for a concealed carry permit, then what is wrong with the judges in the state of New Jersey that they fail to comprehend that Jeff Muller still faces danger? Does living in a world where their own security is provided for by the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey in the form of armed court bailiffs blind these judges to the real dangers faced by ordinary people? The answer is unfortunately but obviously yes.

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Move Over Tiger Moms

March 26, 2011 by

And make way for Irish Setter Dads!

P. J. O’Rourke says he is an Irish Setter Dad  in The Weekly Standard.

I just wasn’t cut out to be a Chinese Tiger Mom. I’m more of an Irish Setter Dad. Here are some of the things my daughters, Muffin and Poppet, and my son, Buster, were never allowed to do:

• go to Mass naked

• attend a sleepover at Charlie Sheen’s house

• mix Daddy a martini using sweet vermouth

• play the violin within earshot of me

Have you ever heard a kid learning to play the violin? A cat in the microwave is nothing to it. And let me add an addendum to the things my children were never allowed to do​—​put a cat in the microwave. I’m not saying it didn’t happen; I’m just saying they weren’t allowed to do it.

If you are a parent and feeling you’ll never measure up to Amy Chua’s Tiger Mom, just read O’Rourke and you’ll feel better. Or have your spouse and kids rolling their eyes because you are laughing at the computer again.

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Fun Time Waster

March 26, 2011 by

The New Zealand Army has a flash marksmanship game on their YouTube page. The game is based upon their recruit training. You “fire” a Steyr Aug at ranges from 25 meters to 600 meters. You have to adjust for heart rate, wind, distance, and your breathing. It is a lot harder than most of these type of games.

The game is located here. Below is a screen shot of it.

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National Medal Of Honor Day

March 25, 2011 by

Today is National Medal of Honor Day. Congress has designated March 25th as the day we honor those brave individuals who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. This day was chosen as March 25th was the day the first Medals of Honor were presented in 1863.

A number of years ago I noticed an elderly gentleman parking his car at a local grocery store. What caught my eye was his license plate. It was a specialized plate from the State of North Carolina and it said “Congressional Medal of Honor”.

The gentleman in question was Max Thompson who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in battle near Haaren, Germany. I regret that I didn’t stop to speak with Sgt. Thompson and thank him but I wanted to respect his privacy while he was doing the mundane chore of grocery shopping. His citation is below:

On 18 October 1944, Company K, 18th Infantry, occupying a position on a hill near Haaren, Germany, was attacked by an enemy infantry battalion supported by tanks. The assault was preceded by an artillery concentration, lasting an hour, which inflicted heavy casualties on the company. While engaged in moving wounded men to cover, Sgt. Thompson observed that the enemy had overrun the positions of the 3d Platoon. He immediately attempted to stem the enemy’s advance single-handedly. He manned an abandoned machinegun and fired on the enemy until a direct hit from a hostile tank destroyed the gun. Shaken and dazed, Sgt. Thompson picked up an automatic rifle and although alone against the enemy force which was pouring into the gap in our lines, he ??fired burst after burst, halting the leading elements of the attack and dispersing those following. Throwing aside his automatic rifle, which had jammed, he took up a rocket gun, fired on a light tank, setting it on fire. By evening the enemy had been driven from the greater part of the captured position but still held 3 pillboxes. Sgt. Thompson’s squad was assigned the task of dislodging the enemy from these emplacements. Darkness having fallen and finding that fire of his squad was ineffective from a distance, Sgt. Thompson crawled forward alone to within 20 yards of 1 of the pillboxes and fired grenades into it. The Germans holding the emplacement concentrated their fire upon him. Though wounded, he held his position fearlessly, continued his grenade fire, and finally forced the enemy to abandon the blockhouse. Sgt. Thompson’s courageous leadership inspired his men and materially contributed to the clearing of the enemy from his last remaining hold on this important hill position.

Sgt. Thompson passed away in 1996 at the age of 74. So on this day we should remember the bravery and sacrifice of men like Sgt. Thompson and living recipients like Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta. This country would not be what it is without men like them.

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Former ATF Attache In Mexico City On Operation Fast And Furious

March 25, 2011 by

Darren Gil served as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Attache in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. He was recalled to Washington late in 2010 after he started asking questions about Operation Fast and Furious.Gil subsequently retired in December 2010. His replacement was the former Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division William Newell who’s actions are at the center of Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker).

Mr. Gil hasn’t spoken out publicly about the gun walking. That is, until now. Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News has just published an interview with him in which he says that knowledge of the gunwalking went higher than ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson.

In an exclusive interview with CBS News, the lead ATF official in Mexico at the time Darren Gil says somebody in the Justice Department did know about the case. Gil says his supervisor at ATF’s Washington D.C. headquarters told him point-blank the operation was approved even higher than ATF Director Kenneth Melson.

“Is the director aware of this,” Gil asked the supervisor. Gil says his supervisor answered “Yes, the director’s aware of it. Not only is the director aware of it, D.O.J.’s aware of it… Department of Justice was aware of it.”

Gil goes on to say senior Justice official Lanny Breuer and several of his deputies visited Mexico amid the controversy last summer, and spoke to ATF staff generally about a big trafficking case that they claimed was “getting good results.” Gil says Melson, ATF’s Acting Director, also visited Mexico City. Gil’s Deputy Attache and his Analyst questioned Melson about the case that surrounding all the weapons showing up in Mexico. “His response was ‘it’s a good case, it’s still going on,'” recalls Gil, “and we’ll close it down as soon as we possibly can.”

One of the reasons that Gil is speaking out is because Mexican politicians are threatening to bring charges against ATF agents in Mexico. Gil says that would be wrong because the ATF agents in Mexico were specifically excluded from having knowledge of the gunwalking. They were frozen out of their normal computer access to case files. He notes that some of his conversations with officials in Washington became “screaming and shouting matches” over this lack of access. He did note that many of their serial number traces went back to the Phoenix area – where SAC William Newell was running Operation Fast and Furious.

Mike Vanderboegh has mentioned Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, head of the Criminal Division at DOJ, many times on his blog Sipsey Street Irregulars as involved in Project Gunwalker. Gil’s interview is confirmation that Breuer was probably up to his neck in it. The question now is whether he or Melson will be thrown under the bus to protect Attorney General Eric Holder.

As mentioned a few days ago, ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson will be appearing before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee’s  Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotics Affairs. Now that Darren Gil has gone on the record with CBS’s Sharyl Attkisson about higher-ups being involved, it would be a shame if the screws weren’t put to Melson to testify under oath on just how high it went.

UPDATE: Video of the interview is now available.