Fast and Furious: Of Ignoring Subpoenas and Ignoring the need for them

In the wake of the IRS scandal, the AP Reporter scandal, and the James Rosen scandal, we now have a new one, involving CBS Reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who was practically the only mainstream media reporter to doggedly pursue the gun-walking operation known as Fast and Furious. In addition to CBS confirming that Attkisson's computers have been breached, she says that it started during the time she was investigating Fast and Furious.

Here is an excerpt from an exchange with Bill O'Reilly:

O’REILLY: Which was what? What big stories were you working on?

ATTKISSON: Well, at the time I was doing Fast and Furious of course, some green energy debacle sort of stimulus spending stories, and then later on the Benghazi story.

Here is the exchange between O'Reilly and Attkisson, via NewsBusters:



In June of last year, Attorney General Eric Holder was found in both criminal and civil contempt of Congress for not turning over documents related to Operation Fast and Furious demanded by a Congressional subpoena. As the contempt votes were taking place, President Barack Obama asserted Executive Privilege to prevent them from being turned over.

In that case, the Obama administration thumbed its nose at the notion of honoring a subpoena.

Even after being held in contempt, the arrogance of Holder was on full display during a statement he made to the press:



If it comes to light that the Obama administration had anything to do with the breach of Attkisson's computer, we can logically conclude that it was done so without a warrant or subpoena.

Conversely, Barack Obama himself asserted Executive Privilege to prevent Eric Holder from having to honor one. As for suspicions that Obama and Company were involved in breaching Attkisson's computers, they certainly would have had a motive. Otherwise, why go to such great lengths to ignore a Congressional subpoena?

There's a fine line between ignoring a subpoena and ignoring the need for one. That line is made even finer when subpoenas and the absence of subpoenas both appear to involve Fast and Furious.

NSA Leaker reveals himself as an angry Leftist mad at Obama for not closing Gitmo

First of all, regardless of your feelings about the actions of NSA leaker Edward Snowden, he's not very bright; he believed Obama's campaign promises in 2008. Anyone who couldn't see that Obama was wrong for America even back then, with all of the associations he had (Frank Marshall Davis, Tony Rezko, Rashid Khalidi, Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Valerie Jarrett, George Soros, etc.), was simply denying reality and wasn't being truthful with himself.

Snowden seems to be someone looking for quite a bit of attention. He revealed his identity when most would prefer to remain anonymous and now he's conducting Q and A sessions via chat rooms to further explain his motives.

That's where we learn that Snowden appears to be an angry, disenfranchised leftist, embittered by Obama's empty promises.

Via POLITICO:

NSA leaker Edward Snowden on Monday criticized President Barack Obama for empty promises in a wide-ranging online interview, saying that the president’s alleged failings influenced his decision to release the secret information on government surveillance.

“Obama’s campaign promises and election gave me faith that he would lead us toward fixing the problems he outlined in his quest for votes. Many Americans felt similarly. Unfortunately, shortly after assuming power, he closed the door on investigating systemic violations of law, deepened and expanded several abusive programs, and refused to spend the political capital to end the kind of human rights violations like we see in Guantanamo, where men still sit without charge,” Snowden said in a response to a question from a commenter on The Guardian’s website.

Ever since this NSA leak was made public, I've seen two very separate - and perhaps equally significant - issues. One is - based on all of the other Obama scandals (particularly IRS-gate, AP Reporter-gate, James Rosen-gate, and now Sharyl Atkisson-gate) - the issue of what the federal government is doing relative to information / data on law-abiding citizens. The credibility gap in this regard is cavernous with this administration; White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is reduced to lying his face off at practically every daily briefing.

The other issue has to do with the legality of Snowden's behavior. Many have seen fit to conflate the other Obama scandals with what Snowden has revealed and deemed him a patriot. I must admit, I'm coming around to Cliff Kincaid's position relative to Snowden's behavior being treasonous, not patriotic. That Snowden has such a bleeding heart for Islamic jihadists in Cuba says quite a bit.

Kincaid looks at both Snowden and the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald, the writer who published Snowden's leaks. Greenwald is a far leftist who, like Snowden, doesn't have a clue about the Islamic threat to America.

Via USA Survival:

The fingerprints of America’s enemies and adversaries are all over the disclosures about the NSA’s terrorist surveillance program. It is significant that NSA contract employee Edward Snowden would flee to Hong Kong—controlled by China—and that he would select Glenn Greenwald, a far-left columnist, as his mouthpiece.

Greenwald, an open homosexual now living with his “husband” in Brazil, came to our attention in 2009 when he proudly received an award named after I.F. Stone, a leftist journalist exposed as a Soviet agent.

After first giving Greenwald and his then-secret source tons of favorable publicity and softball coverage, the media seem to be having second thoughts, with CNN asking about Snowden, “Is this guy a hero or a traitor?” Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, told the channel that Snowden is “a defector” from the U.S.

Former CIA officer Robert Baer told CNN that Edward Snowden may be a Chinese agent under the control of the Chinese regime. Referring to the fact that Snowden has fled to Hong Kong, Baer said the region is “controlled by Chinese intelligence” and that “I’ve talked to a bunch of people in Washington today in official positions and they are looking at this as a potential Chinese espionage case.”

Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian columnist who used Snowden as his source, is no fan of the United States. He specializes in articles protesting tough treatment of terrorists bent on destroying the U.S. and Israel. In an exchange with Bill Maher, a fellow left-winger, Greenwald even disputed the view that Islam is uniquely violent and threatening.

One thing is clear; Snowden broke the law. There are ways for "whistleblowers" to be protected if they follow the proper channels. Snowden did not do this; that is a fact. Indications are that the NSA leaker did what he did out of anger from Obama's left-wing, not out of patriotism.