The politics of politics. Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, has just pressed ahead with contempt charges against Attorney General Eric Holder. Attempting to argue that AG Holder somehow withheld information with regards to the Fast and Furious case, Issa has engaged in a political witch hunt that proves only one thing: the hypocrisy of GOP members for personal and Party benefit.
The highest officer of law and order in this nation has been ridiculed, scapegoated and handled as some sort of criminal throughout this 'investigation.' Turning over thousands of documents and overextending himself, AG Holder was spoken to and mistreated as if he were a child, and reminded that despite his esteemed position, he can and would be profiled. AG Holder was in essence 'stopped & frisked' without probable cause, and after he cooperated, he was made an example of. What Issa just showed us is that no matter what our stature in this world, someone can easily try to 'put us in our place.' What could be more outrageous?
First things first, let's remember that Fast and Furious was created under the Bush Administration. While Republicans are busy denouncing the practice for its flaws, they fail to mention that AG Holder was the one who ended the program. Since the so-called investigation (a.k.a. witch hunt) began, the Justice Department has handed over more than 140,000 documents, 7,600 pages and participated in 8 hearings before Congress. Not only did Issa and his counterparts never go after previous attorneys general or the Bush Administration itself, but they continue to treat AG Holder as if he is indeed guilty of the most egregious crime. It is the same sort of tactic we see utilized against the hundreds of thousands of innocent individuals stopped and searched by police. They have no weapon, haven't committed an offense, yet somehow 'appear' as a culprit.
As I marched this past Sunday with tens of thousands in New York in opposition to the abhorrent practice of stop & frisk,' I couldn't help but think of our attorney general. Tattered down and publicly humiliated, AG Holder has been mishandled just like the young Black and Latino men (and women) who are demonized on our streets everyday. Chris Matthews of Hardball on MSNBC concurred: AG Holder is being profiled, stopped and searched. Where was Issa's government reform when the ATF gun program began in '06 under the Bush Administration and was called Operation Wide Receiver? Or when it was the Hernandez case in '07? Or the Mendrano case in '08? Why hasn't anyone from the previous administration been held accountable? Why is it only this AG a few months before election time? The answer is glaringly obvious.
The American people should be very clear as to what they are watching. At a time when we have an endless number of questions concerning high violence rates, oppressive voter ID laws and voter suppression tactics, as well as other serious life and death questions, Issa and others would rather play a game of politics. Have there been mistakes made under AG Holder's watch? Yes. But was he responsible for creating the Fast & Furious program, or has he been non-cooperative? No. Is he being unfairly targeted and dragged through the mud as a method of delay from other pressing issues? Undoubtedly for sure.
We, the voting public will not be fooled. Instead of resolving some of this country's dire challenges like high unemployment rates, foreclosure rates, struggling educational system and more, these politicians would rather waste time creating hysteria. And instead of representing the interests of the American people, these GOP officials are once again playing games at a time when we need real leadership. It's a good thing the citizens of this nation know the difference between politics and due process.
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Dennis A. Henigan: How About If We Hold Congress in Contempt?
I quote:
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We exist to secure two fundamental principles. First, Americans have a right to know that the money Washington takes from them is well spent. And second, Americans deserve an efficient, effective government that works for them. Our duty on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is to protect these rights.
Our solemn responsibility is to hold government accountable to taxpayers, because taxpayers have a right to know what they get from their government. We will work tirelessly, in partnership with citizen-watchdogs, to deliver the facts to the American people and bring genuine reform to the federal bureaucracy.
This is the mission of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
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Source: http://oversight.house.gov/about-the-watchdogs/
Nothing about judging the last government - this is not their job. If the Bush administration didn't get the same treatment - tough - take it up with the previous chairman.
What is their job, though, is investigating the corruption, waste and abuse of the power of the current government, which is exactly what they are doing. They would, in fact, be derelict of their duty if they'd dropped the case, even if it might make somebody look bad.
I'd also like to remind you that the US Attorney General has clearly demonstrated that his integrity might be seriously compromised. You'd tolerate that from the person in charge of the FRIKKIN' JUSTICE system???
Let's review the Fast And Furious program and correct some of your obvious.....errrors?
Operation Wide Reciever started under the Bush Administration. The guns were tracked and when they were entering Mexico the Mexican police were involved. The guns were not simply allowed to disappear. The program ended when the Mexicans were found to be incompetent.
Fast And Furious was a complete failure and no attempt was ever made to follow the guns into Mexico. The Mexican police were never notified or included in the investigation. The guns simply disappeared once they crossed the border and were never found unless they were recovered from a crime scene.
An estimated 2000 guns "Walked." At least 2 US law enforcement offcers were killed and 200 others. The program ended when BATF whistleblowers started talking about this failure and they have been harrassed for following their conscience and reporting this incompetence.
No one has been fired for this program. No one in authority has been charged. A few have been reassigned and actuallly promoted.
If Holder didn't know about it then he's either incompetent or he's lying to us. No one has been punished, fired, charged, etc. Who is he protecting?
Himself
BTW, I've seen the hearings. The Justice Dept documents often consisted of binder after binder of blacked out pages. He's given them everything except for what they've asked for.
--love how you all come up with everything from top-notch police work to GPS tracking to explain why "Bush was better than Obama"---
The rest is just as skewed and inaccurate... you all just cut and paste from the same blogs and spread disinformation....
Yes, the operations failed but that happens.
Under Fast And Furious the illegal guns were allowed to flow directly to the drug cartels without the Mexican gov being told. There was no chance for this to work. Basically our gov facilitated the arming of drug lords.
There is a difference between a failed operation and one that is stupid and criminal.
You won't see the difference due to blind partisan support for the Dems or perhaps just the Obama Administration.
Yes, it's difficult to coordinate with the Mexican authorities. That's why the earlier operations were discontinued. The fact remains however that the BATF under Bush at least tried to run an operation the right way. The BATF under Obama just let guns walk across the border. Not only did they repeat failure they took it up a notch.
So what disinformation is in my post?
Eric Holder has testified 9 times and has produced some 15,000 documents....
How many time has Mukasey testified?.... zero.... How many documents has Mukasey provided? zero.... Follows a pattern doesn't it.... "miraculous machines, perfect police work and no guilt magically happens if you're republican---But democrats--- conspiracy" and then you have the nerve to play victim.... pathetic
If I'm audited tomorrow by the IRS I can produce a ton of documents. It doesn't do any good if they don't include the tax returns and reciepts they ask for.
There is a big difference in the two operations. Wide Reciever failed but was at least run like a police operation. It's hard to work with the Mexicans as their gov and LEO's are corrupt. There is always a chance of failure and leaks. Regardless of this the BATF tried and ran Wide Reciever like a law enforcement operation. They involved the Mexicans when guns crossed the border.
Fast And Furious was run like a gov sponsored gun running scheme. Illegal guns were allowed to flow into a foreign country without that gov even being notified. There was absolutely no way that it could work. Remember that this operation was so badly run that it was the agents that blew the whistle. If you can't see the difference between simple failure and criminal incompetence in the two programs then you're blinded by politics.
Well, when Holder decided to dismiss the voter initmidation charges against the Black Panthers during their voter initimidation scandal, I lost all respect for him and I now I think everything he ever says or does is purely politically motivated.
Oh yeah....CNN and MSNBC either aren't covering it or they're busy covering it up.
It is the only Official finding of fact to come out on the issue. Issa has not produced any official reports... Mainly because, while you may lie on the floor of congress, or the steps of the house, or Fox news without any consequence-- You cannot put anything into a committee finding report that is not supported by evidence or sworn testimony.
If this report, or one from Issa departs from the facts in a provable way-- those who signed onto the report may face criminal charges, and certainly are going to be brought up for censure. Maybe even dismissal.
Right now their is a ridiculous NRA conspiracy theory circulating, all the evidence needed to prove it is untrue was available 10 months ago... but by stretching it out and making a big stink-- Issa hopes the GOP will get some political gain from it.
It keeps the NRA tin-foils worked up... FOX has been pushing this story for over a year... It is hoped, by the GOP, that even the people that don't even care about this case will have negative feelings towards the White House if they can keep it going...
Read:http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/images/stories/minority_report_13112.pdf
There is evidence that Mike Mukasey might have known the details. Darrell Issa isn't interested in finding out and won't call Mukasey.
Previous to it becoming public, no one outside the Phoenix offices knew the operational tactics that were being used. The operational tactic "gunwalking" is the "Bad" part. Other than that there would be no issue at all. Issa would have been subpoenaing something else in order to have an investigation of the Obama Administration going. For political fodder....
Holder made a statement to congress that he NEVER even knew it was there, in 2011
Then after 7 months later on in 2011 he said he stopped it in 2010
This was being handled entirely by the Phoenix offices. Holder might have and I think it was probably said meant the DOJ, not himself personally stopped it in 2010. Unfortunately field agents didn't stop until 2011-- probably because it was an operation they had invested 5 years into. When the tactic of "Gunwalking" went public washington stepped in. The offices in Phoenix were the only ones aware of the operational tactics before then. Except Mike Mukasey, but we have no idea what he knew-- he's never testified.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/21/eric-holder-spits-on-brian-terrys-grave/
This is not about racism ....
Sharpton you should be ashamed of yourself for pulling the race card on this.
If you want something official read : http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/images/stories/minority_report_13112.pdf
It's the Report of the Minority Staff, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
U.S. House of Representatives, filed in January. It is a full accounting of the evidence to date.
Do the math.. Could this story be part of a political play?
If they want to start with facts--they can go to congress: http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/images/stories/minority_report_13112.pdf
If they want to pile on in the GOP spin, they can stick to the NRA narrative...
Even if this wasn't a lie it still does not excuse Holder and Obama from obstructing a Congressional Oversight Committee. Holder knew about the illegal activities prior to it becoming public. That's what Issa is trying to establish, and rightfully so.
Really, any op that sends weapons into enemy territory with the inane concept of "tracking" them, was conceived and executed by a central planner who hasn't stepped out into the real world for decades.
You can track weapons of honest people like gun shop owners, because they are required to keep records.
I don't think the drug gangs keep records and report whenever one of their arsenal is used in a crime.
HEY! Maybe if they passed a law...
Yet Issa isn't going after Gonzalez, the AG under Bush. Why not? If Holder is guilty, certainly seems like Gonzalez would be guilty as well, considering that these operations all used the same tactics.
Our BATF agents don't have jurisdiction south of the border.
On the other hand the guns were allowed to disappear into Mexico in Operation Fast And Furious and the Mexicans were never told of the operation. There was no way for them to track them and this is gross incompetence. It should be criminal.
There is an obvious difference in the two operations and while Wide Reciever failed there was absolutely no way that Fast And Furious could ever succeed.
“”My main message is to the parents of Border Agent Brian Terry: If I had a son, he'd look like Brian,"” Obama said. “ "I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves, and we're going to get to the bottom of what happened."”
------------------------OH HECK, I misquoted the President. I “meant” Trayvon. BIG DIFFERENCE. ..apparently.
Like the Sanford Police Chief, hopefully Holder AND his boss will be fired.
http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/images/stories/minority_report_13112.pdf
It may be too long a read for some, but before you throw ignorance all around the web, you should have an idea of what is in it...
I do blame Issa, and the GOP for using the tragic death of an officer to further a blatantly political agenda, and for partisan gain.
The only thing blamed in the Trayvon case beyond his killer was the law that permitted it...