Transparency For Thee, but None For ME!

The morning that Attorney General Eric Holder was to testify (yesterday) before Congress, and was extremely likely to face a Contempt of Congress citation for failing to cooperate, the Department of Justice (which Holder leads) called the White House and was told they could claim Executive Privilege to prevent further disclosures in the Fast & Furious gunwalking cover-up investigation.

On Sipsey Street Irregulars, there is a report that one of the President's MOST influential advisors, who is in on literally everything important and who has the President's ear, is on paper as part of the scandal. Denis McDonough (remember that name, folks) is now outed as one of the people who heard the complaints coming in up the chain of command, that we were letting guns walk - and then the guns were still ordered to be allowed to continue walking. If this McDonough guy knew, it is very likely it was mentioned to the President face-to-face. If this guy knows the President knew, that is also possibly on paper somewhere. They don't just shred the e-mails like they used to. Somewhere, in a file or a hard drive, is a very interesting communication. But we don't get to see it (yet?).

We now have the Chief Executive claiming Executive Privilege to prevent disclosure by the Department of Justice of documents related to Operation Fast and Furious. His personal advisor is in on the Operation. We are officially ONE degree of separation from blaming the President himself for this illicit program. Conspiracy theorists may now be excused for going on and on about how the international-act-of-war-gun-smuggling-program-for-political-advantage-gone-wrong-because-it-was-found-out was truly known to Obama, if not directly his idea.

But don't be surprised.

I heard several people call in to Boortz's show today and say it (the F&F scandal) is just a conspiracy by the Republicans. A distraction.

Hold on there.

If it is a Republican invention, your boy just made a stupid move. This is the FIRST time in his entire Presidency that President Obama has invoked Executive Privilege as a reason not to have documents disclosed. But wait. Executive privilege is to protect disclosure of WHITE HOUSE communications. It is just not the way things are done, to have lower members of the Executive branch protected by Executive Privilege claims. What this privilege claim is telling the world is:

"I don't want you to know what I knew, when I knew it, and/or what I said, did, or didn't do about it. Piss off; you Republicans are not going to nail this one on me." -Barack Obama (paraphrased)

But you know what? This Privilege claim puts us only that single degree from Obama being in deep on Operation Fast and Furious. The last degree, if it can be closed, means that the President of the United States was responsible* for the illegal (by national laws on both sides and international treaty) smuggling of guns into Mexico, where hundreds or thousands of Mexican nationals were murdered. Furthermore, the drug wars were perpetuated by the use of these guns. And allowing these horrors to take place . . . was the whole reason for Operation Fast & Furious.

This is an act of war. On our nearest neighbor and one of our main trading partners. And he did it for domestic political purposes. The idea was that you would be outraged by the Mexican gun violence and demand tighter regulation of American civilian-owned guns. But then the gun smuggling (by the USA government) was found out - and then the reason for it was found out. And now we have a cover-up in progress.

THAT, friends, is why Obama doesn't want you to close that last degree of separation. This if nothing else would be an impeachable offense, if not a cause for open warfare between our nations.

Ouch.

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(*everything his government does is ultimately his responsibility)

It Takes A Team to Play Ball

So it's bad enough that you spent stimulus money on the BATFE program that illegally smuggled guns into Mexico, right? Well, no, it's not. The Department of State was ALSO selling guns to Mexican drug gangs, but -here's the kick in the nuts- they did it directly.

Pajamas Media says we made large-scale MILITARY weapons sales to a company tied to the Zs.

To rephrase, we have TWO major organizations in the Executive branch under President Obama that knew or should have known that thousands and thousands of military weapons were being delivered to narco-terrorist gangs in Mexico, and they continued to let it happen. One might wonder what the People (and the government) of Mexico would think about that. One phrase that comes to my mind is "Crimes against Humanity."

This all, by the way, is allegedly tied to an effort by the Democrats in the USA to get more control over guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens in the U.S.

Wow.
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Hat tip: Instapundit.

Wow, That's A Lot of Weed.

Yahoo/AP are reporting Police in Mexico have seized at least 105 tons of marijuana. Marijuana is typically consumed in amounts measured in grams. One ounce is dozens of grams. One pound is 16 ounces.

The officer in the photo below is holding one pound of marijuana.

Multiply this by at least 210,000.



Image source: Detection K-9 of America

This amount of weed boggles the mind, and not just the minds of those "guarding" the burning of the seized drugs.

It's Not That I Have Nothing To Hide

. . . It's that you shouldn't be watching.

Leon, Mexico to be infested with iris scanners. Police to scan criminals, with non-criminals to be encouraged to opt-in to the system.

Scratch Leon right off the list of places I'll ever be, then.

Bombs. Time for Bombs.

Well . . . not quite time for bombs. It's getting to the point of Something Must Be Done, anyhow. This is America. You can't run national politics like you run Chicago politics, and you can't run border town police men like you do down there.

The drug cartels run Mexico. We understand that and don't like it. We really don't like how the Presidente de Mexico is trying to disarm the civilians in America because he can't crack down on crime in his own country. After I am elected President, the conversation may* go something like this:

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President VFD: Hey Calderon, I've got a deal for you.

Presidente Calderon: Que tal, VFD?

President VFD: We're going to send two divisions to Matamoros. We're going to kick ass, take names, and hold the city with a regiment, then move on to Reynosa. Once we get all the way to Tijuana, we're going to push South until we get to Puerto de San Bonito or thereabouts. During this time, we'll be giving free arms to everyone who will take an oath of loyalty to the government of Mexico, and teaching them how to use them. Cash bounties will be put on the heads of major drug lords, and small-time dealers, smugglers, mules, and other traffickers will be shot on the spot. Corrupt local and federal policemen in cahoots with the drug gangs will be hanged in the town square of their jurisdictions. Then we'll leave, and God help you if you try to disarm all those Mexicans we just gave guns to.

Presidente Calderon: . . .

President VFD: Then, if you let the drug cartels take over your country again, we're going to steamroll through again and just annex it all the way to Guatemala. Your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated, but not necessarily required. Oh, and we'll be appropriating fuel from your refineries down there to operate our vehicles with it. Y'all have a nice day now!

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*or not. You sometimes have to use a little more politically-correct speech with foreign dignitaries.

The whole situation is so unnecessary, but their culture was built up on different religious roots than ours. Mexico should by rights be a prosperous first-world economy, with their mineral resources and tourist attractions, and vast pools of willing low- and semi-skilled labor. Instead, you have drug cartels running gun wars in the streets and corrupt politicians from top to bottom preventing any real reforms. It's a real pity, but what are you going to do?

Razzle Dazzle, Border Control Edition

More nuclear reactors . . . as part of Cap & Trade.
More insurance for healthcare . . . as part of Socialized medicine

and now (drumroll please) . . .

Fewer National Guard troops than requested, in non-security roles, on the US/Mexico border . . . as part of comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty) bill?

The President says he wants to send 1,200 (of 6,000 John McCain was pushing for) National Guardsmen to lend a hand in supporting roles (vs. actually making the border secure). This WILL be spun by the national leftist media as an amazing great good response and the border will surely be secure after this just wait after all he is sort of god!

It will also be a typical Obama response: do something that sounds good in a properly-worded headline, but not enough to actually help, besides being too little, too late.

Mexican Government To Arizona: It Worked

Arizona, a couple of weeks ago, was dumb. If a policeman stopped a van for speeding North from the border, with no plates, the driver and all 20 passengers speaking zero English, he couldn't ask any of the passengers if they were in the country legally.

Now, with the new law in Arizona, he can. This, apparently, somehow, is racist and racial profiling and Al Sharpysharp head asplode.

United States federal law requires that non-citizens visiting the country MUST carry on their person, at all times proof of their legal status in the country. Mexico has issued an advisory telling their citizens to carry their immigration or visa paperwork with them, or risk arrest by the US authorities. I see this as a hugely positive development. The dinosaur news media outlets are trying to spin this into some horrible thing, but it is *exactly* what Arizona would have wanted from Mexico anyhow.

Great success. How's that n+1 foot ladder coming along?

Don't You Believe It!

If you are the phone-calling type, keep calling
If you are the letter=writing type, keep writing
If you are a Christian, keep praying.

"Healthcare" is on the ropes and its knees are looking wobbly. Don't give up.

The leftist news organizations are making my supper not sit well. It's all rah-rah we're almost to the point of a vote on Obamacare and it's gonna pass 4 sho!

BS

Obama is putting off his daughters' spring break trip to Asia for 3 days so he can try to twist enough arms to get a bill through the House with his own party in the majority. The know this is a very, very heavy lift indeed.

He will, however, be 100% sure to be out of D.C. by the 21st, because the illegals are having a rally that day (!) and it just wouldn't do for him to appear sympathetic to illegals before he pushes for amnesty. Or something.

Sure, Why NOT? Illegal Aliens Can Vote In Georgia.

Yet another deafening, echoing, resounding -silence- from the mainstream press over an issue that *will* lead eventually to the balkanization of the U.S.A. To choose from an unbiased and completely uncontroversial source for your further reading: Atlas Shrugs. She, the Georgia press, and Boortz are the ONLY sources I have heard/seen mention this story.

Cliffs:
In Georgia, the State worked a deal with the Bush Justice Department:
When someone applies for a drivers license, they state whether or not they are a US Citizen.
When someone registers to vote, they are checked against the list to see if they said they were a citizen. If they said they were not, the State looks closer.
If they are not a citizen, they are not allowed to register to vote.

Unsurprisingly, the preponderance of those thus "disenfranchised" in this manner were illegal Mexican immigrants medium brown so this is CLEARLY raaaaaacism.

Now that the leftiest of the lefties is in the oval orifice, the DOJ has reversed itself and said Georgia MUST ALLOW ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO VOTE.

Are you going to call the producers of your nightly newscast and ask them why this doesn't merit their broadcast time? No. Ho-hum, oh well, America was kinda nice while it lasted.

Mexicans Fear Threat to Way of Life From Growing Gringo Population

From wfaa.com:

The mexicans are concerned that their culture is being diluted because of all the gringos moving to may-hee-ko. Well boo-[deleted]-hoo a single bitter tear rolls down my battle-scarred cheek.

It's almost like a parody. Is somebody in Dallas trying to make a sick joke, writing things like this?

"Not everyone is rolling out the welcome mat to Americans. Many Mexicans complain about the rapid growth of the American population in their neighborhoods, the threat they see to Mexican culture and language, and the possible drain on Mexico's inexpensive health care."

. . . google up the reconquista movement and you'll see that this set of concerns is mirrored North of the border, except with Mexican and American reversed in the above quote.

You've GOT to be kidding me.

Mexico: It Doesn't Have To Be This Way.

The corruption and drug wars are so bad in Mexico, they won't even believe a plane crash could have been an accident.

Mexico is a nation with all the necessary ingredients to be ranked among the world's super-power nations. Oil chiefly, plus other mineral and water wealth, location, and don't even get me started on tourism.

They also have a corrupt government and a huge drug trafficking problem complete with warring drug lords. One could wish that the people of Mexico had access to arms and the protection of the law. Then, perhaps, when drug runners got shot for their trouble and you couldn't bribe a cop to get out of literally anything, the country of Mexico could really shine. Let us pray for them.