Chandler says vote for contempt is in defense of congressional oversight

Comments

• Ed Marksberry wrote on June 29, 2012 10:15 AM :

  Ben sure isn’t a Happy Chandler, is he?

• Bruce Layne wrote on June 29, 2012 12:11 PM :

  Holder called the vote a grave disservice to the country?!?

  Hundreds of people died as a direct result of the Fast & Furious operation, Congress tries to do its job to learn why this tragedy happened, and Holder thumbs his nose at Congress and Obama invokes executive privilege and somehow Congress is at fault for finding Holder in contempt of Congress?!? Really?

  And please stop saying that “the Department of Justice approved the sale of guns to illegal buyers in order to track them. A majority of those guns have been lost and one was used to kill a border agent last year.” That makes it sound as if this was simply another case of federal government incompetence. It’s far more sinister than that.

  Early in his first term, president Obama made the claim that 90% of guns used in the Mexican drug war violence originated in the US, and we need to do more to keep US guns from arming Mexican drug cartels. This was parroted by other high ranking officials in the administration. Then it was learned that 90% OF THE 7% OF THE MEXICAN GUNS THAT COULD BE TRACED came from the US, and many of those were sold in the 1960s and 1970s. They were a far cry from the military styled weapons that were accompanying the administration’s bald faced lie as it was broadcast by the sensationalistic and anti-gun media. The facts showed that despite record gun sales during the Obama administration (the only industry this administration has managed to help), there is no real problem with legally purchased US firearms crossing the border.

  Here’s where it gets interesting. Rather than slink away and wait for their lies to dissipate, this administration doubled down on a bad bet. They cynically and with malicious intent, used the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to deliberately “walk guns across the border”, and other DHS agencies were in on the plan as well. It wasn’t a rogue agency with a dangerously inept operation. It was a directive from way up in the administration to use government agencies in a manner that was diametrically opposed to their charters, with callous disregard for human lives that they knew would be forfeited in order to advance this administration’s political objective.

  That objective was to further circumvent the second amendment of our Constitution and infringe the right of the People to keep and bear arms.

  The low level agents knew this plan of walking guns across the border was insane and made no sense. It was exactly the opposite of what they had been doing. The only reasonable explanation, disgusting as it is to admit, is that this administration needed hundreds or thousands of innocent people to die so that US gun sales could be blamed in order to force gun control on the American people, just as they forced universal health care on us.

  This isn’t about incompetence. It’s about evil. That’s why this administration is doing everything it can to prevent Congress from doing its job and exercising their constitutional power to provide a meaningful check against tyrannical executive power.

  Speaking of political motivations… I’m glad that Ben Chandler voted for Holder to be held in contempt of Congress, even if he crossed party lines to do so in order to prevent Andy Barr from attacking him for not doing so. This is one of the few times when his constituents were watching and Chandler was forced to actually represent them instead of being Nancy Pelosi’s lap poodle.

• waybert17 wrote on June 29, 2012 01:49 PM :

  It’s too bad the 100+ Congressional Democrats are not as concerned about the Terry family (the border patrol agent killed by “Fast & Furious)” as they are about Mr. Holder. You would think that Polosi & company would want to find answers for the Terry family?

• Cat Balz wrote on June 29, 2012 05:00 PM :

  N.R.A.

• daveydavey wrote on July 09, 2012 03:13 PM :

  Bruce, I guess you think it looks impressive when you copy and paste entire paragraphs from Mica Sims (http://micadaily.blogspot.com/2012/06/operation-fast-furious-obamas-watergate.html).

  It was nothing but a kangaroo-court show trial designed to embarrass Obama in an election year. But Chandler could have shown that he has sense enough to recognize that and repudiate it, and not cower in fear of the NRA.

  Chandler failed us, again, as usual.