Sunday, October 30, 2011
The Mexican government's war on U.S. Border Patrol
See my assessment at the end:
Posted: October 28, 2011
4:08 pm Eastern
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=361437
© 2011
Down in Gov. Perry's backyard in west Texas, where they supposedly have the Mexican border under control, another Border Patrol agent has been prosecuted and sentenced to prison for doing his job in arresting drug smugglers. His name is Jesus Diaz, and if you rely on the mainstream media for news of the border region, you have never heard of him.
In October of 2008, Diaz, a seven-year veteran of the Border Patrol, was part of a team of border agents who apprehended a small group of young drug smugglers. They had crossed the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas, carrying backpacks filled with marijuana.
In questioning one of the apprehended smugglers, officer Diaz allegedly tugged or lifted the young man's handcuffed wrists and caused the smuggler some discomfort. Later that day, while being processed back at the Border Patrol station, the smuggler lodged a complaint with the Mexican consul, which resulted in prosecution of Diaz over a year later by the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. According to the Mexican government's written complaint, the man had been "beaten," yet photos taken at the time showed no bruises, cuts or other signs of abuse.
Now, it is important to interject here a bit of information not routinely shared with the public by our enterprising news reporters. Smugglers caught with less than 75 pounds of marijuana are seldom prosecuted by the local U.S. attorneys in border regions because that "small amount," which has a street value in Denver of over $300,000, does not meet their "threshold test." They are simply put back across the border.
The drug cartels know these various "thresholds" and so do the smugglers, so no individual carries more than 50 pounds. The young smuggler in all probability was not facing jail time, only a swift return to Mexico, and he knew it. Nevertheless, he and his Mexican government compatriots pressed charges against agent Diaz for being "roughed up."
Diaz was cleared of any wrongdoing by two investigations – one by the Border Patrol's own Office of Professional Responsibility and then a second investigation by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general.
If it had not been for the pressure from the Mexican government, it would have ended there. But apparently, when the Mexican government demands a prosecution in west Texas, you just keep investigating until you get the results you want.
Under that persistent pressure from Mexico, the U.S. attorney convened a grand jury and brought an indictment against Diaz. After the first prosecution ended in a mistrial, Diaz was prosecuted a second time. He was convicted after the government gave immunity to the drug smuggler in exchange for his testimony against Diaz – even though the smuggler admitted in a deposition that he had lied at the first trial.
Earlier this month Diaz was sentenced to 24 months in prison for use of "excessive force" and depriving the smuggler of his civil rights.
Does this scenario sound familiar? We remember two other Border Patrol agents working on the Rio Grande near El Paso, Ignacio Ramous and Jose Compean, who were prosecuted by the U.S. attorney for shooting a drug smuggler. They were sentenced to prison – again under pressure from the Mexican government and again with a grant of immunity for the drug smuggler's testimony.
By treaty, the nearest consulate of the government of Mexico is notified whenever any Mexican national is arrested for any crime inside the United States. This means that any one of the 300,000-plus Mexican nationals apprehended by the Border Patrol each year can lodge a complaint with his government, and the Mexican government can pursue that complaint through the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 2008 on the Arizona border, officials from a nearby Mexican consulate were notified of a shooting incident and arrived on the scene quickly. They were allowed to question witnesses prior to the arrival of local U.S. law-enforcement investigators. The Border Patrol officer involved in the shooting had been working alone, and the only other witnesses were three other illegal aliens, one of whom was a relative of the victim. The officer had to endure two criminal trials and a civil trial because the three witnesses were coached in their testimony and assisted at trial by Mexican officials.
Mexican newspapers give full coverage to these complaints and continually portray the U.S. Border Patrol as a gang of armed hooligans who regularly beat and mistreat people. Yet, Mexican officials are loathe to admit that migrants crossing the border unlawfully are routinely raped, robbed and often murdered by their fellow citizens, the "coyotes" working for the drug cartels.
Recently Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder protesting the prosecution of Diaz. But predictably enough, we have heard not a word from Gov. Rick Perry, who also remained silent through the trial, sentencing and imprisonment of agents Ramos and Compean. Evidently Gov. Perry's self-proclaimed devotion to border security does not include standing up for Border Patrol agents who are targeted for retaliation by the Mexican government.
At any given hour of the day, we have fewer than 5,000 Border Patrol agents on patrol on over 6,000 miles of land borders with Mexico and Canada. These brave men and women put their lives on the line daily to protect this country. It's time we let them do their jobs without having to worry about politically inspired prosecutions encouraged by the Mexican government.
========================================================================================================================
1. This tactic was known as far back as 2006 -
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/zieve/060713
Sher Zieve: "US citizens whose property is located close to the Mexican border are under siege from the illegals' crossings into the country. Why are so many of them being sued?"
David Stoddard: "Each Mexican Consulate in the United States keeps a group of lawyers on retainer. The Mexican Consulate is much like a big city pimp who keeps a stable of prostitutes. These lawyers are U.S. educated but they work for the Mexican government within the U.S. judicial system. By treaty, whenever a Mexican citizen is encountered by U.S. law or a U.S. citizen, the Mexican Consul is notified. If a U.S. Citizen border resident detains a trespasser who turns out to be a Mexican illegal alien, he is turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. The Border patrol submits a report to the Mexican Consul containing all the details such as names and location. The Consul then consults with one of his U.S. lawyers. The lawyer then brings a suit in civil court against the U.S. Citizen usually for some contrived "civil rights" violation. The result is that U.S. border residents are reluctant to protect themselves against illegal alien thugs, thieves and vandals. The court costs are simply too much for most of us, so why take a chance? This is the way the Mexican government assures the free passage of its citizens across privately owned U.S. property."
2. Look for another multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Agent and the Border Patrol. This is one of the last sources of money for Mexico
Mexico HAD three sources of their economy:
OIL-- The Government nationalized the Oil Industry, thereby killing that industry
TOURISM--Cartels with their terror tactics killed that. You don't go to Mexico anymore. If you do, your head and body might come back in separate containers
THEIR CITIZENS--who entered the US Illegally, and sent money home.
3. The Mexicans are very aggressive. I was a Calif Highway Patrol Officer in San Diego County, and patrolled routes that were heavily trafficked by smugglers of illegals.
The vehicles used transport those illegals were usually stolen (So the smuggler lost nothing if that vehicle was stopped), and were driven by drivers who skills didn't match the mechanical deficiencies and the overloading of the vehicle. A good percentage of the time, the "Load" vehicle" crashed, spraying Illegals across the countryside. The car carrying several Mexican government officials, who came and coached the injures from the crash, almost always came close to beating the ambulance to the scene
Posted: October 28, 2011
4:08 pm Eastern
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=361437
© 2011
Down in Gov. Perry's backyard in west Texas, where they supposedly have the Mexican border under control, another Border Patrol agent has been prosecuted and sentenced to prison for doing his job in arresting drug smugglers. His name is Jesus Diaz, and if you rely on the mainstream media for news of the border region, you have never heard of him.
In October of 2008, Diaz, a seven-year veteran of the Border Patrol, was part of a team of border agents who apprehended a small group of young drug smugglers. They had crossed the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas, carrying backpacks filled with marijuana.
In questioning one of the apprehended smugglers, officer Diaz allegedly tugged or lifted the young man's handcuffed wrists and caused the smuggler some discomfort. Later that day, while being processed back at the Border Patrol station, the smuggler lodged a complaint with the Mexican consul, which resulted in prosecution of Diaz over a year later by the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. According to the Mexican government's written complaint, the man had been "beaten," yet photos taken at the time showed no bruises, cuts or other signs of abuse.
Now, it is important to interject here a bit of information not routinely shared with the public by our enterprising news reporters. Smugglers caught with less than 75 pounds of marijuana are seldom prosecuted by the local U.S. attorneys in border regions because that "small amount," which has a street value in Denver of over $300,000, does not meet their "threshold test." They are simply put back across the border.
The drug cartels know these various "thresholds" and so do the smugglers, so no individual carries more than 50 pounds. The young smuggler in all probability was not facing jail time, only a swift return to Mexico, and he knew it. Nevertheless, he and his Mexican government compatriots pressed charges against agent Diaz for being "roughed up."
Diaz was cleared of any wrongdoing by two investigations – one by the Border Patrol's own Office of Professional Responsibility and then a second investigation by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general.
If it had not been for the pressure from the Mexican government, it would have ended there. But apparently, when the Mexican government demands a prosecution in west Texas, you just keep investigating until you get the results you want.
Under that persistent pressure from Mexico, the U.S. attorney convened a grand jury and brought an indictment against Diaz. After the first prosecution ended in a mistrial, Diaz was prosecuted a second time. He was convicted after the government gave immunity to the drug smuggler in exchange for his testimony against Diaz – even though the smuggler admitted in a deposition that he had lied at the first trial.
Earlier this month Diaz was sentenced to 24 months in prison for use of "excessive force" and depriving the smuggler of his civil rights.
Does this scenario sound familiar? We remember two other Border Patrol agents working on the Rio Grande near El Paso, Ignacio Ramous and Jose Compean, who were prosecuted by the U.S. attorney for shooting a drug smuggler. They were sentenced to prison – again under pressure from the Mexican government and again with a grant of immunity for the drug smuggler's testimony.
By treaty, the nearest consulate of the government of Mexico is notified whenever any Mexican national is arrested for any crime inside the United States. This means that any one of the 300,000-plus Mexican nationals apprehended by the Border Patrol each year can lodge a complaint with his government, and the Mexican government can pursue that complaint through the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Department of Justice.
In 2008 on the Arizona border, officials from a nearby Mexican consulate were notified of a shooting incident and arrived on the scene quickly. They were allowed to question witnesses prior to the arrival of local U.S. law-enforcement investigators. The Border Patrol officer involved in the shooting had been working alone, and the only other witnesses were three other illegal aliens, one of whom was a relative of the victim. The officer had to endure two criminal trials and a civil trial because the three witnesses were coached in their testimony and assisted at trial by Mexican officials.
Mexican newspapers give full coverage to these complaints and continually portray the U.S. Border Patrol as a gang of armed hooligans who regularly beat and mistreat people. Yet, Mexican officials are loathe to admit that migrants crossing the border unlawfully are routinely raped, robbed and often murdered by their fellow citizens, the "coyotes" working for the drug cartels.
Recently Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder protesting the prosecution of Diaz. But predictably enough, we have heard not a word from Gov. Rick Perry, who also remained silent through the trial, sentencing and imprisonment of agents Ramos and Compean. Evidently Gov. Perry's self-proclaimed devotion to border security does not include standing up for Border Patrol agents who are targeted for retaliation by the Mexican government.
At any given hour of the day, we have fewer than 5,000 Border Patrol agents on patrol on over 6,000 miles of land borders with Mexico and Canada. These brave men and women put their lives on the line daily to protect this country. It's time we let them do their jobs without having to worry about politically inspired prosecutions encouraged by the Mexican government.
========================================================================================================================
1. This tactic was known as far back as 2006 -
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/zieve/060713
Sher Zieve: "US citizens whose property is located close to the Mexican border are under siege from the illegals' crossings into the country. Why are so many of them being sued?"
David Stoddard: "Each Mexican Consulate in the United States keeps a group of lawyers on retainer. The Mexican Consulate is much like a big city pimp who keeps a stable of prostitutes. These lawyers are U.S. educated but they work for the Mexican government within the U.S. judicial system. By treaty, whenever a Mexican citizen is encountered by U.S. law or a U.S. citizen, the Mexican Consul is notified. If a U.S. Citizen border resident detains a trespasser who turns out to be a Mexican illegal alien, he is turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. The Border patrol submits a report to the Mexican Consul containing all the details such as names and location. The Consul then consults with one of his U.S. lawyers. The lawyer then brings a suit in civil court against the U.S. Citizen usually for some contrived "civil rights" violation. The result is that U.S. border residents are reluctant to protect themselves against illegal alien thugs, thieves and vandals. The court costs are simply too much for most of us, so why take a chance? This is the way the Mexican government assures the free passage of its citizens across privately owned U.S. property."
2. Look for another multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Agent and the Border Patrol. This is one of the last sources of money for Mexico
Mexico HAD three sources of their economy:
OIL-- The Government nationalized the Oil Industry, thereby killing that industry
TOURISM--Cartels with their terror tactics killed that. You don't go to Mexico anymore. If you do, your head and body might come back in separate containers
THEIR CITIZENS--who entered the US Illegally, and sent money home.
3. The Mexicans are very aggressive. I was a Calif Highway Patrol Officer in San Diego County, and patrolled routes that were heavily trafficked by smugglers of illegals.
The vehicles used transport those illegals were usually stolen (So the smuggler lost nothing if that vehicle was stopped), and were driven by drivers who skills didn't match the mechanical deficiencies and the overloading of the vehicle. A good percentage of the time, the "Load" vehicle" crashed, spraying Illegals across the countryside. The car carrying several Mexican government officials, who came and coached the injures from the crash, almost always came close to beating the ambulance to the scene
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Did WaPo Get Spurned by WH Press Office?
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/did-wapo-get-spurned-by-wh-press-office_b54029
By Betsy Rothstein on October 24, 2011
This morning WhiteHouseDossier.com’s Keith Koffler casts the White House press office in a dark light as he writes about the “petty treatment” WaPo allegedly received for writing a story they disliked. He says White House press aides all but ensured the pub would get scooped.
Koffler points to a story WaPo published today that says President Obama didn’t fulfill his promises regarding the housing market. As a result, he writes, the press office appeared to give news of a Las Vegas jaunt today to outline borrowers refinance to “chief” WaPo competitors such as WSJ and NYT.
The incident hit home for the former longtime White House reporter, who had his own rough experiences. What happens to a reporter who crosses them? An excerpt: “I assume Post White House Reporter Zachary Goldfarb reporter, who wrote the story, got the full fusillade of profanity-laced fake fury from the White House press office, which is routinely served up to those who write articles the White House doesn’t like. The purpose of such treatment, and the denial of the housing ‘scoop’ to the Post, would be to get inside Goldfarb’s head so that he doesn’t try this again.”
Koffler told FishbowlDC that he believes White House press aides continue to bully reporters into reporting what they want. He recalled his own bad memories, saying, “Some of it was funny. One told me, ‘You’re really going to win a fucking Pulitzer Prize for this one.’ Another, less funny, remarked that my article was ‘horseshit,’ demanding to know sources.”
We requested comment from the White House Press Office. Deputy Press Secretary Joshua Earnest replied blandly, “I talked to Keith occasionally when he worked for Roll Call, but I haven’t really heard from him since he left to start his own blog a year or so ago.”
More on Koffler’s charges against the WH press office…
Koffler: “I was on the receiving end of profane verbal abuse from White House press aides over stories they didn’t like several times during my coverage of the Obama campaign and Obama White House for Roll Call from about mid-2008 until January 2010,” he said. “But I understand from others the practice continues, with the most recent public example being the nasty treatment of CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson for her reporting on possible perjury by Eric Holder in testimony about the Fast and Furious case.
“I didn’t mind it personally because I understood it was a tactic to intimidate. Some of it was funny. One told me, ‘You’re really going to win a f___g Pulitzer Prize for this one.’ Another, less funny, remarked that my article was ‘horsesh*t,’ demanding to know sources.
“What really angered me is that this is ultimately suppression of speech. They are clearly trained to attack reporters, and it’s a strategy designed to keep journalists from uncovering facts and reporting the news. This from the ‘openness’ administration. And reporters are in a bind because they need to have good relations with the press office in order to get information that might otherwise go to competitors, which might obviously invite some nasty comments from their editors.”
Read here.
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2011/10/24/petty-punishment-washington-post/
By Betsy Rothstein on October 24, 2011
This morning WhiteHouseDossier.com’s Keith Koffler casts the White House press office in a dark light as he writes about the “petty treatment” WaPo allegedly received for writing a story they disliked. He says White House press aides all but ensured the pub would get scooped.
Koffler points to a story WaPo published today that says President Obama didn’t fulfill his promises regarding the housing market. As a result, he writes, the press office appeared to give news of a Las Vegas jaunt today to outline borrowers refinance to “chief” WaPo competitors such as WSJ and NYT.
The incident hit home for the former longtime White House reporter, who had his own rough experiences. What happens to a reporter who crosses them? An excerpt: “I assume Post White House Reporter Zachary Goldfarb reporter, who wrote the story, got the full fusillade of profanity-laced fake fury from the White House press office, which is routinely served up to those who write articles the White House doesn’t like. The purpose of such treatment, and the denial of the housing ‘scoop’ to the Post, would be to get inside Goldfarb’s head so that he doesn’t try this again.”
Koffler told FishbowlDC that he believes White House press aides continue to bully reporters into reporting what they want. He recalled his own bad memories, saying, “Some of it was funny. One told me, ‘You’re really going to win a fucking Pulitzer Prize for this one.’ Another, less funny, remarked that my article was ‘horseshit,’ demanding to know sources.”
We requested comment from the White House Press Office. Deputy Press Secretary Joshua Earnest replied blandly, “I talked to Keith occasionally when he worked for Roll Call, but I haven’t really heard from him since he left to start his own blog a year or so ago.”
More on Koffler’s charges against the WH press office…
Koffler: “I was on the receiving end of profane verbal abuse from White House press aides over stories they didn’t like several times during my coverage of the Obama campaign and Obama White House for Roll Call from about mid-2008 until January 2010,” he said. “But I understand from others the practice continues, with the most recent public example being the nasty treatment of CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson for her reporting on possible perjury by Eric Holder in testimony about the Fast and Furious case.
“I didn’t mind it personally because I understood it was a tactic to intimidate. Some of it was funny. One told me, ‘You’re really going to win a f___g Pulitzer Prize for this one.’ Another, less funny, remarked that my article was ‘horsesh*t,’ demanding to know sources.
“What really angered me is that this is ultimately suppression of speech. They are clearly trained to attack reporters, and it’s a strategy designed to keep journalists from uncovering facts and reporting the news. This from the ‘openness’ administration. And reporters are in a bind because they need to have good relations with the press office in order to get information that might otherwise go to competitors, which might obviously invite some nasty comments from their editors.”
Read here.
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2011/10/24/petty-punishment-washington-post/
Petty Punishment for the Washington Post
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Fox News Panel Gasps As Fox Business Anchor Calls Joe Biden ‘Numb Nuts’
Early morning weekend television is tough. There’s probably a lot of sleeplessness and caffeine involved, and looking lively is a must. That must have been what Fox Business anchor Dagen McDowell was striving for this morning on Fox News’ morning panel with Neil Cavuto, when she called Vice President Joe Biden “numb nuts” and accused him of “talking out of his backside.” Have to keep things spicy, right?
The topic, loosely, that the panel discussed were comments by the Vice President suggesting crime rates would go up if the Obama jobs bill was not passed, because police officers would have to be fired and criminals would be out on the streets. Panelists Charles Payne and Ben Stein were interrupted in their discussion of why crime rates today were so low (Stein arguing because prison population has skyrocketed) by McDowell, who had a point to make.
While President Obama was out claiming “folks are rewarded for saying irresponsible things to win elections,” she argued, “lecturing and hectoring (?),” while “Numb Nuts [is] on the campaign trail talking out of his backside.” Charles Gasparino tried to make the point in a more modified way, calling Biden “off his rocker,” while Cavuto tried to regain control of the panel and Adam Lashinsky interjected, “I object to calling the Vice President a ‘numb nut,’ just to state that for the record.”
This kind of language is prima facie unacceptable in political discourse, clearly, but the video is still something of a marvel, as the rest of the panel tries to initially understand what just happened and then distance themselves from it in some sort of dignified fashion.
IT DOES NOT PAY TO BE ARMED IN LIBERAL LAND
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/10/they-called-him-nigger-they-pulled.html
They called him a "nigger." They pulled knives. He showed, but did not pull, his legal pistol. He gets arrested. Of course.
More from the peaceful collectivists of the forces of Occupation. Police arrest man in dispute at protest.
I guess he should have let himself be stabbed and cut. Now THAT would have satisfied the Portland police, I'm sure
Police arrest man in dispute at protest
http://www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/27056920-41/protesters-parker-police-camp-displayed.html.cspPORTLAND — A man who displayed a handgun at Occupy Portland’s downtown encampment after a dispute with protesters has been arrested, police said in a statement Thursday.
The argument took place Wednesday afternoon when 32-year-old Jason C. Parker was challenged verbally by protesters after filming tents, police said. One of the protesters used a racial epithet against Parker, who is black, police said.
A witness said Parker was filming inside tents without permission and displayed the gun more than once after protesters at the camp displayed knives.
“He pulled his shirt halfway up and showed me he had a piece,” said Jason Kersten, who works in the camp’s security group. “This is a peaceful protest. You don’t bring a gun.”
Kersten acknowledged that someone used a racial epithet.
“The N-word was used by some people in the camp,” he said.
Parker had a license to carry the concealed handgun. He was charged with second-degree disorderly conduct.
Protesters have occupied two square blocks in the city’s downtown business district for several weeks
Fly with a Hawk
The Hawk featured in the video is a female Harris’ Hawk, Shanti Maria.
To learn more about these amazing hawks click here.
Contact: kirk@parahawking.org
We would like to thank everyone who has helped to make Parahawking in the United States possible. Thus far the public interest of whom we have come across during the training process has been almost staggering and a continual inspiration. Posted above we are pleased to show you our first official video. It was shot at the historic Torrey Pines Glider Port and Blossom Valley in San Diego County.
This site is still under construction as are we. We are currently figuring out the best and most appropriate way to make accessible the joy of flying with raptors and other birds to the American public. Our aims don’t stop there, with the unique ability to capture captivating images of birds in flight we plan to use ParahawkUSA as tool in promoting raptor conservation and education.
Sincere Thanks,
The ParaHawk USA Team
http://www.parahawkusa.com/Home.html
To learn more about these amazing hawks click here.
Contact: kirk@parahawking.org
We would like to thank everyone who has helped to make Parahawking in the United States possible. Thus far the public interest of whom we have come across during the training process has been almost staggering and a continual inspiration. Posted above we are pleased to show you our first official video. It was shot at the historic Torrey Pines Glider Port and Blossom Valley in San Diego County.
This site is still under construction as are we. We are currently figuring out the best and most appropriate way to make accessible the joy of flying with raptors and other birds to the American public. Our aims don’t stop there, with the unique ability to capture captivating images of birds in flight we plan to use ParahawkUSA as tool in promoting raptor conservation and education.
Sincere Thanks,
The ParaHawk USA Team
http://www.parahawkusa.com/Home.html
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Holder on Hot Seat for Fast and Furious Documents
http://biggovernment.com/tfitton/2011/10/18/holder-on-hot-seat-for-fast-and-furious-documents/#more-353812
by Tom Fitton
The Fast and Furious scandal may be the final undoing of Obama Attorney General Eric Holder. Fast and Furious is a Department of Justice (DOJ)/Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) “gun-running” operation in which guns were sold to Mexican drug cartels in hopes that they would end up at crime scenes! Well, they did, such as the crime scene of the murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry – and countless others in Mexico.
Last Wednesday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued a subpoena to force Holder to testify about Fast and Furious. Fox News reported:
Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a subpoena Wednesday to Attorney General Eric Holder as part of his investigation into the gun trafficking operation known as “Fast and Furious.”
“Top Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Holder, know more about Operation Fast and Furious than they have publicly acknowledged,” the California Republican said in a statement. “The documents this subpoena demands will provide answers to questions that Justice officials have tried to avoid since this investigation began eight months ago. It’s time we know the whole truth.
And why would Rep. Issa have reason to believe Holder and his minions at DOJ have been less than truthful?
Recently, new allegations emerged that Holder lied to Congress about what he knew and when he knew it concerning the operation, prompting calls for a special counsel to investigate.
Here’s how Holder got himself into trouble.
On May 3, 2011, in a House Judiciary Committee hearing chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) Holder testified: “I’m not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.” But newly released documents show he was receiving weekly briefings on Fast and Furious as far back as July 5, 2010! (See the documents here.)
Holder subsequently said he misunderstood the question. Not many are buying that excuse. It is now up to Holder to explain how his own Justice Department can credibly investigate him for lying to Congress.
Reps. Issa and Lamar Smith and others in Congress, including Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), should be congratulated for taking Fast and Furious so seriously. But, at the same time, if we’re ever going to get to the bottom of this we need an independent investigation.
Last Tuesday, Judicial Watch sued the DOJ and the ATF to obtain Fast and Furious records. Back on July 13, our investigations team submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking:
All records of communication, contracts and correspondence between ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson and any official, officer, or employee of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) regarding ATF Phoenix Operation Fast and Furious.
All records regarding, concerning, or related to, the October 26, 2009 meeting/telephonic conference call between DAG David Ogden, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Lanny Breuer, ATF Director Melson, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michelle Leonhart, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller, and other DOJ officials regarding the Southwest Border Strategy (including, but not limited to, any agendas, minutes, transcripts, notes, or presentations).
All records prepared for, or submitted to, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding, concerning, or related to, ATF Operation Fast and Furious.
(Judicial Watch filed a similar FOIA request with ATF on the same day. Neither agency responded within the time the law requires – prompting our lawsuits.)
With these lawsuits we’re trying to get to the genesis of the Fast and Furious operation, which was reportedly discussed during that October 26, 2009, telephonic conference call, as well as information being provided to and/or withheld from Congress by the Obama administration.
The requests we’ve made are very basic, and yet we haven’t received one document from the DOJ or ATF regarding Fast and Furious. Given their dissembling, DOJ and ATF are apparently in cover-up mode. Now they’ll have to answer to a federal court for their obfuscation.
Make no mistake; this seems to be one of the most egregious examples of corruption and malfeasance inside of the Obama administration we’ve seen yet.
In Fast and Furious, the ATF, with the full approval of the DOJ, allowed guns to be sold and sent to the Mexican drug cartels.
It’s called letting guns “walk.” And it remained a well-kept Obama administration secret until the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010. Terry was killed in a shootout with Mexican criminals who were armed with Fast and Furious guns found at the crime scene. After Terry’s murder, “ATF agent John Dodson blew the whistle on the operation,” CBS News wrote.
These same Mexican drug cartels seem now to be available for hire for terrorist operations here in the United States.
Once Fast and Furious splashed into the news, the man at the head of ATF, Kenneth Melson, reportedly told Rep. Issa that the senior officials at the DOJ were trying to suppress information about the scandal – an admission that surely earned Melson a transfer to a make-work position at DOJ. The U.S. Attorney in Phoenix who helped run the operation was forced to resign. And the Los Angeles Times reported that two more high ranking ATF officials have been demoted as the DOJ attempts to clean up the mess.
So how is it that Holder, the supervisor of all these men, has kept his job?
Remember, we saw similar behavior from Holder’s DOJ regarding the Black Panther scandal. At least one Obama administration official testified to Congress that no political appointees were involved in the decision at the DOJ to abandon the voter intimidation lawsuit against the Black Panthers. Judicial Watch obtained the evidence proving this was a bald-faced lie. Even Holder himself was a recipient of email updates on the Black Panther case.
Again, a discrepancy between what an Obama administration official said and what the evidence shows.
By now you know my thoughts on Holder. He should resign. In the meantime, we’re going to do our part to uncover the truth behind Fast and Furious.
Judicial Watch hosted a special discussion today, October 18, with Senator Grassley at Judicial Watch’s headquarters in DC to discuss Fast and Furious and other current challenges to the rule of law (such as stealth amnesty). You can view the presentation here.
by Tom Fitton
The Fast and Furious scandal may be the final undoing of Obama Attorney General Eric Holder. Fast and Furious is a Department of Justice (DOJ)/Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) “gun-running” operation in which guns were sold to Mexican drug cartels in hopes that they would end up at crime scenes! Well, they did, such as the crime scene of the murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry – and countless others in Mexico.
Last Wednesday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued a subpoena to force Holder to testify about Fast and Furious. Fox News reported:
Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a subpoena Wednesday to Attorney General Eric Holder as part of his investigation into the gun trafficking operation known as “Fast and Furious.”
“Top Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Holder, know more about Operation Fast and Furious than they have publicly acknowledged,” the California Republican said in a statement. “The documents this subpoena demands will provide answers to questions that Justice officials have tried to avoid since this investigation began eight months ago. It’s time we know the whole truth.
And why would Rep. Issa have reason to believe Holder and his minions at DOJ have been less than truthful?
Recently, new allegations emerged that Holder lied to Congress about what he knew and when he knew it concerning the operation, prompting calls for a special counsel to investigate.
Here’s how Holder got himself into trouble.
On May 3, 2011, in a House Judiciary Committee hearing chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) Holder testified: “I’m not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.” But newly released documents show he was receiving weekly briefings on Fast and Furious as far back as July 5, 2010! (See the documents here.)
Holder subsequently said he misunderstood the question. Not many are buying that excuse. It is now up to Holder to explain how his own Justice Department can credibly investigate him for lying to Congress.
Reps. Issa and Lamar Smith and others in Congress, including Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), should be congratulated for taking Fast and Furious so seriously. But, at the same time, if we’re ever going to get to the bottom of this we need an independent investigation.
Last Tuesday, Judicial Watch sued the DOJ and the ATF to obtain Fast and Furious records. Back on July 13, our investigations team submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking:
All records of communication, contracts and correspondence between ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson and any official, officer, or employee of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) regarding ATF Phoenix Operation Fast and Furious.
All records regarding, concerning, or related to, the October 26, 2009 meeting/telephonic conference call between DAG David Ogden, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Lanny Breuer, ATF Director Melson, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michelle Leonhart, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller, and other DOJ officials regarding the Southwest Border Strategy (including, but not limited to, any agendas, minutes, transcripts, notes, or presentations).
All records prepared for, or submitted to, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding, concerning, or related to, ATF Operation Fast and Furious.
(Judicial Watch filed a similar FOIA request with ATF on the same day. Neither agency responded within the time the law requires – prompting our lawsuits.)
With these lawsuits we’re trying to get to the genesis of the Fast and Furious operation, which was reportedly discussed during that October 26, 2009, telephonic conference call, as well as information being provided to and/or withheld from Congress by the Obama administration.
The requests we’ve made are very basic, and yet we haven’t received one document from the DOJ or ATF regarding Fast and Furious. Given their dissembling, DOJ and ATF are apparently in cover-up mode. Now they’ll have to answer to a federal court for their obfuscation.
Make no mistake; this seems to be one of the most egregious examples of corruption and malfeasance inside of the Obama administration we’ve seen yet.
In Fast and Furious, the ATF, with the full approval of the DOJ, allowed guns to be sold and sent to the Mexican drug cartels.
It’s called letting guns “walk.” And it remained a well-kept Obama administration secret until the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010. Terry was killed in a shootout with Mexican criminals who were armed with Fast and Furious guns found at the crime scene. After Terry’s murder, “ATF agent John Dodson blew the whistle on the operation,” CBS News wrote.
These same Mexican drug cartels seem now to be available for hire for terrorist operations here in the United States.
Once Fast and Furious splashed into the news, the man at the head of ATF, Kenneth Melson, reportedly told Rep. Issa that the senior officials at the DOJ were trying to suppress information about the scandal – an admission that surely earned Melson a transfer to a make-work position at DOJ. The U.S. Attorney in Phoenix who helped run the operation was forced to resign. And the Los Angeles Times reported that two more high ranking ATF officials have been demoted as the DOJ attempts to clean up the mess.
So how is it that Holder, the supervisor of all these men, has kept his job?
Remember, we saw similar behavior from Holder’s DOJ regarding the Black Panther scandal. At least one Obama administration official testified to Congress that no political appointees were involved in the decision at the DOJ to abandon the voter intimidation lawsuit against the Black Panthers. Judicial Watch obtained the evidence proving this was a bald-faced lie. Even Holder himself was a recipient of email updates on the Black Panther case.
Again, a discrepancy between what an Obama administration official said and what the evidence shows.
By now you know my thoughts on Holder. He should resign. In the meantime, we’re going to do our part to uncover the truth behind Fast and Furious.
Judicial Watch hosted a special discussion today, October 18, with Senator Grassley at Judicial Watch’s headquarters in DC to discuss Fast and Furious and other current challenges to the rule of law (such as stealth amnesty). You can view the presentation here.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
U.S. Bridges, Roads Being Built by Chinese Firms
Cities hire Chinese instead of American workers for building projects.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/us-bridges-roads-built-chinese-firms-14594513?tab=9482930§ion=1206853&playlist=14594944
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Secret mission: The Horse Soldiers of 9/11
It was the news the world breathlessly waited for immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks: a report of the first American troops on the ground in Afghanistan.
All at once the world’s attention focused on an iconic photo of those Special Operations Forces doing something no American military had done in nearly a century: They rode horses into combat.
Their secret mission: secure northern Afghanistan by advising the warring tribal factions that formed the Northern Alliance. During the 2011 Veterans Day Parade on November 11, a new monument to these men — and to all Americans in uniform — will make its way down New York City’s famed Fifth Avenue on the way to its final home, a stone’s throw from Ground Zero.
Military men and women, along with New York City firefighters, policemen, emergency responders and other marchers, 50,000 in all, will escort the monument on its televised journey. The spectacle will feature members of the three original Special Operations teams — some on horseback, others walking alongside surviving spouses of fallen heroes.
Retired Army general and current CIA director David Petraeus will be among the parade marshals. Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer is producing a future movie about America’s “Horse Soldiers.”
The spirit of the elite forces who rode on that dangerous and unprecedented mission in Afghanistan — the men depicted in this short film — was the monument’s inspiration. War reporter Alex Quade tracked down some of those courageous American commandos. She obtained their permission, and that of their commanding officers, to share their personal stories, their names, their faces, and their mission photos. This footage and most of these photos have never been seen before.
John Vigiano is a former marine and retired New York fire captain who lost two sons at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. John Jr. was a firefighter. Joe was a New York City police officer.
“We are all in this equally, but in a different capacity,” Vigiano told Quade. “President Bush called us [in New York] ‘the first casualties of the war’ … we may have responded first to the attack, but the Special Forces took it to them on their turf,” Vigiano says. “The Horse Soldiers picked up the standard from us, here in the USA, and brought it to them in Afghanistan.”
“In every sense of the word,” he said, “they were an extension of our sons.”
Join Alex Quade as she takes us along for a ride with “The Horse Soldiers of 9/11” — brought to you exclusively by The Daily Caller.
Note: The Green Beret Foundation is helping subsidize the creation and transportation of this remarkable monument to America’s uniformed heroes. To make a tax-deductible contribution, click here.
——
ABOUT ALEX QUADE:
War Reporter Alex Quade recently returned from nearly 18 months covering U.S. Special Operations Forces on combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Quade worked at Fox News Channel before heading overseas in 1998 to cover war zones and hostile environments as a freelance journalist, mostly for CNN. She embeds with elite combat units for several months at a time to produce special series and documentaries.
During her career, Quade has been embedded with every branch of the U.S. military.
She is the recipient of the Congressional Medal Of Honor Society’s Tex McCrary Award For Excellence In Journalism, awarded “for her courageous reporting and honest news coverage” in war zones. Prior recipients of this prestigious award include Tom Brokaw, Mike Wallace, Tim Russert and Paul Harvey.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/14/secret-mission-the-horse-soldiers-of-911/#ixzz1au9Rqz5Y
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
"We. Serve. Germany." - New Bundeswehr recruitment commercial
Wow. A Bundeswehr ad that's actually somewhat inspiring - a huge step into the right direction.
Translation from the Video:
We. We are daughters and sons, mothers and fathers, friends and neighbours.
We. Are one team.
We. Are the Bundeswehr.
Serve. We serve a good cause: Our constitution.
Serve. Voluntarily and with determination.
Serve. Service deserves credit.
Germany. Germany is unique - colourful and diverse.
Germany. That's what we serve for.
Germany. Is free and at peace.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/lawrence-odonnells-racially-charged-attacks-a-political-gift-to-herman-cain/
Based on his interview with GOP supernova Herman Cain, a cynical person might think that MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell is trying to push the upstart candidate over the finish line for the Republican presidential nomination. On Thursday night’s The Last Word, O’Donnell conducted an interview that surpassed unfair, sped through the tollbooth at offensive, and came to rest in the parking spot marked “Reserved For Despicable.”
If being attacked by a liberal is throwing gasoline on a fire to the conservative base, O’Donnell just threw liquid oxygen on that gasoline.
Let me start by saying this: I like Lawrence O’Donnell, and not just for his contribution to the ultimate liberal television show, The West Wing. O’Donnell is part of a new breed of liberal commentator who doesn’t talk himself into a corner, and viewers into a coma. He takes strong positions, and expresses them with aggression and clarity.
I also don’t like Herman Cain, for a variety of good reasons, some of which O’Donnell touched on in his interview. His victory in the GOP primary race would be great for America, as it would keep a party, hell-bent on fundamentally crippling the government’s ability to govern, out of the White House for at least four more years.
That’s why my reaction to O’Donnell’s interview with Cain was so shocking. I’m not the kind of person who says things out loud to himself, or to the TV screen, but throughout O’Donnell’s grilling of Cain, I found myself doing just that. “What the f***?…Are you f***ing kidding me?”
Rather than debate Herman Cain on his substantive weaknesses, O’Donnell opted to pull at symbolic threads from Cain’s own personal history. The portion of the interview that will cause most stomachs to churn will probably be when O’Donnell tried to shame Herman Cain for “sitting on the sidelines” during the Civil Rights movement.
Setting aside the fact that this would never be asked of a white candidate from either party, it was the inaction of generations of white people, who “sat on the sidelines” as black people were oppressed and murdered, that made the Civil Rights movement necessary in the first place. As anyone who lived through that era will tell you, just being black in America at that time was a militant act that carried perils that Lawrence O’Donnell will never know. He’s in no position to question, or judge, the miles walked in shoes he will never put on.
To me, though, the most sickening part of the interview was when O’Donnell tried to twist what Herman Cain’s father told his son in an attempt to keep him safe from the murder and oppression that O’Donnell invoked. I suppose it would have been fair to ask how the caution that Cain’s father instilled in him affected his choices, but O’Donnell despicably framed the elder Cain’s instinct to protect his child as racial cowardice:
Now, there are people with standing to question the advice Cain’s father gave him, but I doubt there were many parents during the Civil Rights era who were anxious to see their own children martyred, even to a cause they supported. Lawrence O’Donnell will never have that standing.
Cain handled the whole thing with surprising grace, and was aided by an off-camera cheering section at the Texas Barnes & Noble from which he was being interviewed. He finished off O’Donnell when the host went fishing for a “draft-dodger” meme, only to have Cain inform him that he had served his country during Vietnam, as a civilian employee of the Navy, who felt he was more valuable in that capacity.
O’Donnell owes Cain an apology, even if the effect of this interview is to make Herman Cain an even greater hero on the right. Maybe Rick Perry’s campaign ought to get on the phone to O’Donnell’s booker
===================================================================
http://www.nbra.info/DYK-HistoryTest
BLACK POLITICAL HISTORY: THE UNTOLD STORY
NOTE: All answers are "b."
1. What Party was founded as the anti-slavery Party and fought to free blacks from slavery?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party
2. What was the Party of Abraham Lincoln who signed the emancipation proclamation that resulted in the Juneteenth celebrations that occur in black communities today?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party
3. What Party passed the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U. S. Constitution granting blacks freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party
4. What Party passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875 granting blacks protection from the Black Codes and prohibiting racial discrimination in public accommodations, and was the Party of most blacks prior to the 1960’s, including Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Booker T. Washington, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party
5. What was the Party of the founding fathers of the NAACP?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party
6. What was the Party of President Dwight Eisenhower who sent U.S. troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools, established the Civil Rights Commission in 1958, and appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court which resulted in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending school segregation?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party
7. What Party, by the greatest percentage, passed the Civil Rights Acts of the 1950’s and 1960’s?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party
8. What was the Party of President Richard Nixon who instituted the first Affirmative Action program in 1969 with the Philadelphia Plan that established goals and timetables?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party
9. What is the Party of President George W. Bush who appointed more blacks to high-level positions than any president in history and who spent record money education, job training and health care to help black Americans prosper?
[ ] a. Democratic Party
[ ] b. Republican Party
NOTE: All answers are "b."
10. What Party fought to keep blacks in slavery and was the Party of the Ku Klux Klan?
[ ] a. Republican Party
[ ] b. Democratic Party
11. What Party from 1870 to 1930 used fraud, whippings, lynching, murder, intimidation, and mutilation to get the black vote, and passed the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws which legalized racial discrimination and denied blacks their rights as citizens?
[ ] a. Republican Party
[ ] b. Democratic Party
12. What was the Party of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Harry Truman who rejected anti-lynching laws and efforts to establish a permanent Civil Rights Commission?
[ ] a. Republican Party
[ ] b. Democratic Party
13. What was the Party of President Lyndon Johnson, who called Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “that [N-word] preacher” because he opposed the Viet Nam War; and President John F. Kennedy who voted against the 1957 Civil Rights law as a Senator, then as president opposed the 1963 March on Washington by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. after becoming president and the FBI investigate Dr. King on suspicion of being a communist?
[ ] a. Republican Party
[ ] b. Democratic Party
14. What is the Party of the late Senators Robert Byrd who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, Ernest “Fritz” Hollings who hoisted the Confederate flag over the state capitol in South Carolina while governor, and Ted Kennedy who called black judicial nominees “Neanderthals” while blocking their appointments?
[ ] a. Republican Party
[ ] b. Democratic Party
15. What was the Party of President Bill Clinton who failed to fight the terrorists after the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, sent troops to war in Bosnia and Kosovo without Congressional approval, vetoed the Welfare Reform law twice before signing it, and refused to comply with a court order to have shipping companies develop an Affirmative Action Plan?
[ ] a. Republican Party
[ ] b. Democratic Party
16. What is the Party of Vice President Al Gore whose father voted against the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960’s, and who lost the 2000 election as confirmed by a second recount of Florida votes by the “Miami Herald” and a consortium of major news organizations and the ruling by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission that blacks were not denied the right to vote?
[ ] a. Republican Party
[ ] b. Democratic Party
17. What Party is against school vouchers, against school prayers, and takes the black vote for granted without ever acknowledging their racist past or apologizing for trying to expand slavery, lynching blacks and passing the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws that caused great harm to blacks?
[ ] a. Republican Party
[ ] b. Democratic Party
Friday, October 7, 2011
10 Arizona Sheriffs Demand ‘Fast & Furious’ Investigation – Call For Holder to Step Down or Be Fired (Video)
10 elected Arizona sheriffs held a press conference today and demanded an investigation of the Fast and Furious program.
The sheriffs called for Attorney General Eric Holder to step down or be fired.
Sheriffs Want Truth About ‘Fast and Furious’: MyFoxPHOENIX.com
The Sheriffs are demanding that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder reveal the truth behind the scandal, and believe that those responsible should be criminally accountable for allowing 2,000 guns to be purchased on U.S. Soil and turned over to the Mexican drug cartels.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu led the press conference today in Phoenix.
MyFOX Phoenix reported:
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu and nine other elected sheriffs held a press conference Friday morning in Phoenix.
They demanded the truth from the federal government, and they asked for a special council to conduct a criminal investigation into what really happened during and after the failed operation, which let guns into Mexico.
They believe the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Attorney General Eric Holder bungled the operation and then tried to cover it up.
This week, Holder said he just found out about the controversial operation, but those inside the justice department said that he knew months ago.
The operation allowed guns into Mexico that the ATF hoped to track drug cartel activities.
Some 2,000 guns were sent there, but about 1,400 guns are still unaccounted for.
“In law enforcement, this is unacceptable — the fact that our own government has given weapons — some of these weapons not only semi-automatic, some transitioned to fully automatic, and 50-caliber rifles — rifles my deputies and our deputies don’t even have on the street, and they put them into the hands of the criminals that we’re fighting,” Babeu said.
The sheriffs said they want Holder to be held accountable for the lost law enforcement lives in Arizona and Mexico.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/10/10-arizona-sheriffs-demand-investigation-and-possible-prosecution-against-eric-holder-video/
The sheriffs called for Attorney General Eric Holder to step down or be fired.
Sheriffs Want Truth About ‘Fast and Furious’: MyFoxPHOENIX.com
The Sheriffs are demanding that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder reveal the truth behind the scandal, and believe that those responsible should be criminally accountable for allowing 2,000 guns to be purchased on U.S. Soil and turned over to the Mexican drug cartels.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu led the press conference today in Phoenix.
MyFOX Phoenix reported:
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu and nine other elected sheriffs held a press conference Friday morning in Phoenix.
They demanded the truth from the federal government, and they asked for a special council to conduct a criminal investigation into what really happened during and after the failed operation, which let guns into Mexico.
They believe the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Attorney General Eric Holder bungled the operation and then tried to cover it up.
This week, Holder said he just found out about the controversial operation, but those inside the justice department said that he knew months ago.
The operation allowed guns into Mexico that the ATF hoped to track drug cartel activities.
Some 2,000 guns were sent there, but about 1,400 guns are still unaccounted for.
“In law enforcement, this is unacceptable — the fact that our own government has given weapons — some of these weapons not only semi-automatic, some transitioned to fully automatic, and 50-caliber rifles — rifles my deputies and our deputies don’t even have on the street, and they put them into the hands of the criminals that we’re fighting,” Babeu said.
The sheriffs said they want Holder to be held accountable for the lost law enforcement lives in Arizona and Mexico.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/10/10-arizona-sheriffs-demand-investigation-and-possible-prosecution-against-eric-holder-video/
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Now Even Jon Stewart is Defending Hank Williams Jr.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/now-even-jon-stewart-is-defending-hank-williams-jr/
Texas Tea Party to Rick Perry: ‘We are fed up’
http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/09/texas-tea-party-to-rick-perry-we-are-fed-up/
Texas Tea Party leaders are unhappy with Gov. Rick Perry’s immigration-related positions and want him to call another special legislative session to give state lawmakers a third opportunity to ban sanctuary cities.
“This is an issue that is simmering and bubbling up to the surface … We are tired of lip service. We are fed up. We are fed up, too, Gov. Perry,” Texas Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee chair JoAnn Fleming of Tyler said Monday.
Perry declared sanctuary cities an emergency issue in January and put it back on the legislative agenda in June after lawmakers failed to approve legislation during the regular session. Legislation to ban so-called sanctuary cities – and subject anyone stopped for a traffic violation to document their citizenship – also failed during the special session.
Tea Party leaders said they thought they had Perry’s support following a June 28th meeting in the governor’s Capitol office.
“I left the room with the impression that a second special session would be an option,” said Katrina Pierson, founder of the Garland Tea Party and a member of the Dallas Tea Party steering committee.
Do Tea Party leaders actually think Perry will temporary sideline his presidential campaign to preside over a contentious special session on illegal immigration?
“I think there’s a possibility. There are so many calls from people from other states. People really want to know what’s going on in Texas,” Pierson said.
The response from the governor’s office is not likely to satisfy Tea Party leaders.
Blame lawmakers for not acting on Perry’s efforts to ban sanctuary cities, said Lucy Nashed, spokeswoman for the governor.
“The governor appreciates their support for this and would encourage them to talk to their legislators in the Legislature,” she said of the Tea Party leaders. “The governor already made this a priority, and the Legislature didn’t pick it up. Let their legislators know.”
Fleming said she and other Tea Party leaders are not concerned that a special legislative session would conflict with Perry’s presidential campaign.
“It’s not our business to run his campaign and to figure out his polticial strategy, spin or whatever on any issue,” she said. “We want to make sure that our colleagues around the country in the Tea Party grassroots movement have their questions answered.
“We figured there might not be a good chance of that happening unless we called it out,” she said.
Maria Martinez, executive director of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas, and others believe that legislative leaders conspired to ensure that sanctuary cities legislation would die. Several business leaders in the home building and food industries opposed it.
“We witnessed the use of tricks, delays and special deals to (help) cheap-labor advocates,” Martinez said.
More than 40 immigration-related bills were introduced this year, but only 21 got a hearing and all but two died, she complained.
“He needs to address whether he is serious about illegal immigration,” Martinez said.
Tea Party leaders told Perry during their June 28th meeting that it “wouldn’t look good” if he tried to run a national campaign with a failed illegal immigration policy hanging around his neck.
Pushing legislation that some perceive to be anti-immigrant also could hurt Perry.
Many Texas police chiefs did not support the sanctuary city ban.
Some religious leaders from Hispanic congregations also opposed the sanctuary cities legislation out of fear it would tear apart families when a parent is deported. They also warned that members of their congregations would not report crimes to police or participate as witnesses for fear of being questioned about their citizenship
Pastor William Ross Fowler, leader of a Fort Worth Hispanic church, described himself as a Republican during a recent legislative hearing when he asked GOP lawmakers why they would want to alienate Hispanics.
He called the legislation “a political grandstand for somebody’s future political career.”
In addition to calling a special session, Perry also has the option of issuing an executive order to address some of the immigration-related problems, said Ken Emanuelson, Dallas Tea Party coordinator.
For example, Perry would direct Department of Public Safety troopers to ask motorists about their immigration status after making lawful traffic stops, Emanuelson said.
He blames ”crony capitalism” for defeat of the sanctuary cities bills.
“There is a cheap labor lobby in this state that is getting rich off of this,” Emanuelson said.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
James Richard "Rick" Perry (born March 4, 1950) is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full gubernatorial terms in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
==============================================================================
Johoan Rodriguez: Illegal Immigrant, MS-13 Gang Banger, Cop Killer
Posted by Robbie Cooper at 2:35 pmAdd comments
Jun02 2011
In a just world, he would have died in a shootout while trying to "resist arrest."
Stories like this one make me want to mule kick illegal immigration and sanctuary city proponents right in their gaping pie holes.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said the man accused of killing a Houston police officer last weekend is an admitted gang member and an illegal immigrant from Mexico who twice was deported.
Assistant Harris County District Attorney Catherine Evans said Johoan Rodriguez, 26, is a member of Mara Salvatrucha, a notorious international street gang from El Salvador. She said he is a Mexican citizen.
“He’s an admitted member of MS-13,” Evans told visiting state District Judge Mike Anderson.
Rodriguez is accused of driving through a police barricade on the 610 North Loop freeway and striking HPD Officer Kevin Will, who was investigating an accident Sunday.
Rodriguez was arraigned Wednesday on charges of intoxication manslaughter, evading arrest and drug possession. His mother, stepfather and other family members attended the hearing but did not comment.
Which means that the last six HPD officers killed in Houston were killed by illegal immigrants. How many more cops and innocent citizens have to be killed by illegal immigrants before we’ve had enough? Oh, and by the way, Officer Wills leaves behind two young children and a wife who’s six months pregnant. Johnson has this advice.
This illegal piece of shit has been allowed to live here in the United States, getting to go to our schools (Sam Houston High School) since he was 6 years old. Because cities like Houston and their sanctuary city policies make it easy for illegal immigrants — entire families and neighborhoods filled with ‘em — to live, work, and go to school without fear of arrest or deportation.
Why do we need a border fence that rivals the one between Israel and Palestine? This:
FOX 26 News obtained federal court recorders dating back to 2005. They show Rodriguez was deported once but claimed he was from Houston and even had a Texas drivers license. He eventually pleaded guilty to entering the country illegally and paid a $10 fine. It’s not clear if he was once again deported.
A $10 fine. Yeah…huge deterrent. Huge!
According to the Houston Chronicle article, “his mother, stepfather and other family members attended the hearing but did not comment.” What are the chances that most or all of those family members sitting in that courtroom to support their cop-killing son/brother/cousin are also illegal immigrants? And yet they’ll be allowed to freely waltz in and out of the courtroom and back to their illegal life in Houston.
These are the people that Obama wants to give blanket amnesty to.
If you’re not sufficiently outraged over this, then you might be a Liberal.
Justice Delayed
And this is what drives me most crazy about the slow grind of justice in Texas. His crime was capital murder, and hopefully he will be sentenced to death for his crime.
There is no defense for his crime, there is no denying or doubting his guilt. There are no doubts that he was driving the car that intentionally killed a Houston Police Officer. The trial should take half a day. The jury should need less than 15 minutes to find him guilty as charged and less than 5 minutes to sentence him to death. At which point he should be dragged outside of the courthouse and hanged from the nearest tree until he is dead.
But instead he will sit on Texas’ death row for 14-15 years (or more), continuing to be a tax burden on the legal citizens of Texas (like he has been for his entire life). Getting a cot and three hots everyday while the memory of the slain officers diminishes
Texas Tea Party leaders are unhappy with Gov. Rick Perry’s immigration-related positions and want him to call another special legislative session to give state lawmakers a third opportunity to ban sanctuary cities.
“This is an issue that is simmering and bubbling up to the surface … We are tired of lip service. We are fed up. We are fed up, too, Gov. Perry,” Texas Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee chair JoAnn Fleming of Tyler said Monday.
Perry declared sanctuary cities an emergency issue in January and put it back on the legislative agenda in June after lawmakers failed to approve legislation during the regular session. Legislation to ban so-called sanctuary cities – and subject anyone stopped for a traffic violation to document their citizenship – also failed during the special session.
Tea Party leaders said they thought they had Perry’s support following a June 28th meeting in the governor’s Capitol office.
“I left the room with the impression that a second special session would be an option,” said Katrina Pierson, founder of the Garland Tea Party and a member of the Dallas Tea Party steering committee.
Do Tea Party leaders actually think Perry will temporary sideline his presidential campaign to preside over a contentious special session on illegal immigration?
“I think there’s a possibility. There are so many calls from people from other states. People really want to know what’s going on in Texas,” Pierson said.
The response from the governor’s office is not likely to satisfy Tea Party leaders.
Blame lawmakers for not acting on Perry’s efforts to ban sanctuary cities, said Lucy Nashed, spokeswoman for the governor.
“The governor appreciates their support for this and would encourage them to talk to their legislators in the Legislature,” she said of the Tea Party leaders. “The governor already made this a priority, and the Legislature didn’t pick it up. Let their legislators know.”
Fleming said she and other Tea Party leaders are not concerned that a special legislative session would conflict with Perry’s presidential campaign.
“It’s not our business to run his campaign and to figure out his polticial strategy, spin or whatever on any issue,” she said. “We want to make sure that our colleagues around the country in the Tea Party grassroots movement have their questions answered.
“We figured there might not be a good chance of that happening unless we called it out,” she said.
Maria Martinez, executive director of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas, and others believe that legislative leaders conspired to ensure that sanctuary cities legislation would die. Several business leaders in the home building and food industries opposed it.
“We witnessed the use of tricks, delays and special deals to (help) cheap-labor advocates,” Martinez said.
More than 40 immigration-related bills were introduced this year, but only 21 got a hearing and all but two died, she complained.
“He needs to address whether he is serious about illegal immigration,” Martinez said.
Tea Party leaders told Perry during their June 28th meeting that it “wouldn’t look good” if he tried to run a national campaign with a failed illegal immigration policy hanging around his neck.
Pushing legislation that some perceive to be anti-immigrant also could hurt Perry.
Many Texas police chiefs did not support the sanctuary city ban.
Some religious leaders from Hispanic congregations also opposed the sanctuary cities legislation out of fear it would tear apart families when a parent is deported. They also warned that members of their congregations would not report crimes to police or participate as witnesses for fear of being questioned about their citizenship
Pastor William Ross Fowler, leader of a Fort Worth Hispanic church, described himself as a Republican during a recent legislative hearing when he asked GOP lawmakers why they would want to alienate Hispanics.
He called the legislation “a political grandstand for somebody’s future political career.”
In addition to calling a special session, Perry also has the option of issuing an executive order to address some of the immigration-related problems, said Ken Emanuelson, Dallas Tea Party coordinator.
For example, Perry would direct Department of Public Safety troopers to ask motorists about their immigration status after making lawful traffic stops, Emanuelson said.
He blames ”crony capitalism” for defeat of the sanctuary cities bills.
“There is a cheap labor lobby in this state that is getting rich off of this,” Emanuelson said.
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James Richard "Rick" Perry (born March 4, 1950) is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full gubernatorial terms in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
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Johoan Rodriguez: Illegal Immigrant, MS-13 Gang Banger, Cop Killer
Posted by Robbie Cooper at 2:35 pmAdd comments
Jun02 2011
In a just world, he would have died in a shootout while trying to "resist arrest."
Stories like this one make me want to mule kick illegal immigration and sanctuary city proponents right in their gaping pie holes.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said the man accused of killing a Houston police officer last weekend is an admitted gang member and an illegal immigrant from Mexico who twice was deported.
Assistant Harris County District Attorney Catherine Evans said Johoan Rodriguez, 26, is a member of Mara Salvatrucha, a notorious international street gang from El Salvador. She said he is a Mexican citizen.
“He’s an admitted member of MS-13,” Evans told visiting state District Judge Mike Anderson.
Rodriguez is accused of driving through a police barricade on the 610 North Loop freeway and striking HPD Officer Kevin Will, who was investigating an accident Sunday.
Rodriguez was arraigned Wednesday on charges of intoxication manslaughter, evading arrest and drug possession. His mother, stepfather and other family members attended the hearing but did not comment.
Which means that the last six HPD officers killed in Houston were killed by illegal immigrants. How many more cops and innocent citizens have to be killed by illegal immigrants before we’ve had enough? Oh, and by the way, Officer Wills leaves behind two young children and a wife who’s six months pregnant. Johnson has this advice.
This illegal piece of shit has been allowed to live here in the United States, getting to go to our schools (Sam Houston High School) since he was 6 years old. Because cities like Houston and their sanctuary city policies make it easy for illegal immigrants — entire families and neighborhoods filled with ‘em — to live, work, and go to school without fear of arrest or deportation.
Why do we need a border fence that rivals the one between Israel and Palestine? This:
FOX 26 News obtained federal court recorders dating back to 2005. They show Rodriguez was deported once but claimed he was from Houston and even had a Texas drivers license. He eventually pleaded guilty to entering the country illegally and paid a $10 fine. It’s not clear if he was once again deported.
A $10 fine. Yeah…huge deterrent. Huge!
According to the Houston Chronicle article, “his mother, stepfather and other family members attended the hearing but did not comment.” What are the chances that most or all of those family members sitting in that courtroom to support their cop-killing son/brother/cousin are also illegal immigrants? And yet they’ll be allowed to freely waltz in and out of the courtroom and back to their illegal life in Houston.
These are the people that Obama wants to give blanket amnesty to.
If you’re not sufficiently outraged over this, then you might be a Liberal.
Justice Delayed
And this is what drives me most crazy about the slow grind of justice in Texas. His crime was capital murder, and hopefully he will be sentenced to death for his crime.
There is no defense for his crime, there is no denying or doubting his guilt. There are no doubts that he was driving the car that intentionally killed a Houston Police Officer. The trial should take half a day. The jury should need less than 15 minutes to find him guilty as charged and less than 5 minutes to sentence him to death. At which point he should be dragged outside of the courthouse and hanged from the nearest tree until he is dead.
But instead he will sit on Texas’ death row for 14-15 years (or more), continuing to be a tax burden on the legal citizens of Texas (like he has been for his entire life). Getting a cot and three hots everyday while the memory of the slain officers diminishes
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