Crime and Justice: The Fast and Furious Failure of Eric Holder

The Romanian-made DRACO 7.62mm

     Sometimes, (well, more often than sometimes I imagine!) our government’s various agencies do something so incredibly stupid, so humongously humiliating, that it takes at least as many taxpayer dollars to do the “damage control” as it cost for the action itself! This is definitely turning out to be the case where Operation Fast and Furious is concerned. The U.S. Department of Justice is calling this a “botched operation.” Wow, ya think!? The U.S. “top cop,” Attorney General Eric Holder, has denied even knowing about Fast and Furious while it was going on.⁽¹⁾ This whole thing is a “poster child” case of poor asset control by the DOJ.

     This case reminds me more and more of the whole “Iran-Contra Affair” back in the eighties. Whenever I hear AG Holder say that he didn’t know what was going on, I hear Ronald Reagan again, telling the American public:

“…a few months ago, I told the American people that I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and the evidence tell me [that] it is not.”⁽²⁾

     Do I think that it’s possible that Holder didn’t know what people like ATF Group Supervisor David Voth were doing during FandF? Short answer…yes.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder

     At any rate, the ATF failed miserably, and at certain points on purpose to keep track of the weapons that it was providing, using our tax dollars, to the drug cartels. Now the Mexican government has launched not one, but two criminal investigations into the failed operation.⁽³⁾ (In my humble opinion, instead of continuously blaming the U.S. for its “roach problem”, Mexico needs to step up and start taking positive control. Keep in mind that this is the same Mexican government that a few years back, published a guide for people wanting to illegally cross our border!⁽⁴⁾) The DOJ and Eric Holder have suggested that forceful inquiry into the failures of the ATF and the DOJ in this case are possibly politically motivated.

     The saddest part of all of this, is that had it not been for the death of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, we might not know about any of this. How many more of our public servants have to become martyrs to the cause of Homeland Security because of people “going rogue” like David Voth, or remaining ensconced  in blissful ignorance like Attorney General Holder?
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References:

1) Holder Denies Prior Knowledge of ‘Fast and Furious’ (Fox News, September 7th, 2011)

2) Transcript of Reagan Iran-Contra Address, March 4th, 1987 (Scripps Archive)

3) U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds To Buy, Sell Weapons During ‘Fast and Furious’, Documents Show (Fox News, September 26th, 2011)

4) How To Be An Illegal (WorldNet Daily, January 2nd, 2005)

Facebook: The Ultimate Rumor Mill?

Zuckerberg's Monster

“Jean, Jean, made a machine. Jo Jo made it go. Art, Art, he blew a fart, and blew the whole damned thing apart.” (Attribution unknown.)

     I’ve given up. No matter how often or how kindly I’ve tried to encourage my friends on Facebook to do their due diligence and research before blind-posting things, the rumors keep spreading. Yes my fine young readers, you know which rumors I’m talking about. Things like Facebook charging for access, some girl named Amy Bruce dying of Cancer, this October having some 5-5-5 configuration only once every 823 years, little lost kids being used by rapists to lure victims…“and the hits just keep on coming.”

     The reason that it’s growing is because it seems like people would rather believe the lie than hear the truth, or try finding out the truth before spreading the lie. On Facebook, this is happening with increasing frequency. I find myself trying to understand just why it is that people, including those I know to be intelligent people would unwittingly help to propagate these false stories. I’ve already lost one friend (just last night, and it was a vicious betrayal, let me tell you!) over this kind of thing. I don’t want to lose any more, so I’ve decided to keep my mouth shut, at least on Facebook. Here on my WordPress blog however, it’s my show, and I don’t have to “shut up.”

     I’ve always tried to espouse the seven Army values. These are; Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless service, Honor, Integrity and Personal courage. Notice that if you take each first letter, they spell out the acronym “LDRSHIP.” The U.S. Army grooms leaders, or at least they try to. For those of us who honestly adopt these values and do our level best to live by them, we can be effective leaders, parents and spouses. The value that applies in this case, is Integrity.

     Given the choice between the easy path of believing and spreading the lie, and the more difficult path of de-bunking the lie and spreading the truth, I would always choose the latter. It’s just who I am. The only problem with that is what one is supposed to do when the majority doesn’t seem to give a “hoot and a holler.” That’s where a lot of us that try to exercise values of integrity are finding it hard to truly make the difference.

     By the way, Facebook isn’t going to charge for access anytime soon. There IS NO Amy Bruce, and the “Make A Wish” Foundation does NOT raise money for medical costs. Octobers with 5-5-5 happen with much more frequency, the last time being 2005, the next will be 2022. Rapists would never use the “little lost kid” method, because it robs them of the power to pick their victims.

“I think I’ll write my congressman,
and tell him to pass a bill;
the next time they catch
somebody starting rumors, shoot to kill”
(Timex Social Club, from the 1986 release, “Rumors”.)