The Forgotten, Murdered Federal Agent in Fast and Furious

There have been two federal agents murdered by drug cartels during the time that Operation Fast and Furious was in effect. One of them - Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry - has become more widely cited when the details of the scandal come up. The other - ICE Agent Jaime Zapata - doesn't get as much attention. In large part, that's because two guns from the actual operation were found at Terry's murder scene. It's not as clear-cut when it comes to Zapata, who was killed in Mexico City. The gun used to kill Zapata came from Texas and the details of any operation run out of that state aren't as well known as Fast and Furious, which was run out of Phoenix. Zapata's family is working to change that.

Via LA Times:

Five months after U.S. immigration agent Jaime Zapata was shot to death by a Mexican drug cartel, his family is demanding to know whether the weapons were purchased in the United States and smuggled into Mexico under the now-defunct Fast and Furious operation.

The family complains that U.S. authorities in Washington and Texas have refused to answer crucial questions about the Feb. 15 ambush on a four-lane highway in northern Mexico.

"What happened with Jaime needs to come out," the family's lawyer, Raymond L. Thomas of McAllen, Texas, said in a telephone interview Sunday. "And the likelihood that these were Fast and Furious guns is certainly plausible."

Mexican authorities have announced nine arrests in the high-profile case. Among them was Jesus Rejon Aguilar, a Zetas cartel leader who was captured near Mexico City this month.

In Washington, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is seeking information on the Zapata slaying.

The article ends thusly:

Zapata, a 32-year-old Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent, was based in Laredo, Texas. He and fellow agent Victor Avila were on the Pan-American Highway in Mexico when they were stopped by at least eight men in two vehicles. The Americans identified themselves and the attackers opened fire, killing Zapata and wounding Avila.

In March, ATF officials in Texas told reporters that one of the weapons believed to have been used in the assault — a Romanian-made AK-47 — was bought in October at a Texas gun shop. The shop purportedly sold 40 firearms that wound up with the Zetas cartel.

On June 14, Thomas, the Zapata family lawyer, asked the FBI, the U.S. attorney's office and Homeland Security agents for FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration documents on the Zetas cartel and the slaying, and for an inspection of the bullet-riddled vehicle.

It's already known - h/t Sipsey Street - that Janet Napolitano pledged in March of 2009 to go after gun dealers who sell weapons to bad guys who take them into Mexico. If it can be proven that the gun used to kill Zapata was purchased in Texas, the gun store owner responsible should have been arrested and charged by now. That is, unless there was indeed a Fast and Furious operation - which looks increasingly likely - run out of Texas. When that is uncovered, this scandal gets ratcheted up a big notch. In fact, if it is true, Eric Holder's Justice Department may have been better off revealing it a long time ago because the screws have tightened significantly since Fast and Furious became a story.

Read it all.

Video: Registered Socialist Jesse Jackson Jr. is Certifiably Insane

The left's tired attempts to compare Barack Obama to Abraham Lincoln just got a whole lot more pathetic. It's amazing how the hatred for the principles of the Republican Party simply will not stop Democrats from invoking Republican presidents like Lincoln and Reagan whenever it suits their twisted agenda. In this case, Jesse Jackson, Jr. attempts to make the argument that Obama needs to go around Congress to get Stimulus II passed because Congress is rebelling just like the confederate states did in the Civil War. Perhaps the most insane part of this is Jackson's assertion that the 'Congress is in rebellion.' The opposite is indeed true; the Congress has been neutered.

Before watching this video, take note that Jesse Jackson, Jr. has been a registered member of the Democratic Socialists of America caucus (DSA). Translation: he's a communist. This video should further demonstrate that. It's also an interesting add-on to North Carolina's governor - Bev Perdue - suggesting that elections should be suspended so Congress can focus on jobs and Peter Orzag's argument that the US needs a little less Democracy.

Via Daily Caller:

Anthony Weiner / Huma Abedin Update

Based on what was learned about Anthony Weiner's wife - Huma Abedin - after the sexting scandal that broke earlier this year, questions arose about whether Weiner had to convert to Islam in order to marry Abedin, a practicing Muslim. It was either that or Huma - as former Muslim terrorist Walid Shoebat said - had a 'higher calling.' According to Shoebat, there was a fatwa issued by Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi that permitted Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men if it was for such a purpose. If a new book written by one of Weiner's sexting partners is any indication, the marriage to Huma did not involve the former.

Via UK Telegraph:

In the exchanges he complained that spending time with his wife's parents is 'exhausting' as 'they are a bit backwards thinking'.

Mrs Abedin, 35, a personal aide and deputy chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, revealed she was pregnant in the middle of Weiner's Twitter photo fiasco.

'I wish I had an escape route sometimes,' Weiner wrote in the messages to Ms Nobles.

'Well a lot has to do with religion,' he wrote. 'Lots of restrictions and how I've never been accepted by them.'

'Touchy is a good word for this. It's been touchy and worse from the beginning,' he added.

'They just believe I should be Muslim or convert… it makes for a lot of uncomfortable meetings.'

'When you're religion is something that is hated from the beginning it doesn't inspire much confidence,' he wrote.

On another note, it was learned that Huma's mother - Saleha Abedin - is actually a card-carrying member of the Muslim Brotherhood (a group called the Muslim Sisterhood). It's also known that Huma's father has been dead for several years (since before her marriage to Weiner). Is the Telegraph misquoting about Huma's parents or did Saleha re-marry?

h/t Daily Caller