Operation Fast and Furious: CBS News Deserving of Credit

A senior ATF Agent named John Dodson became so disgusted with what his agency was doing that he came forward. CBS Reporter Sharyl Attkisson has been one of Dodson's primary news contacts and she has done a phenomenal job of reporting the facts of the case. To sum up, Project Gunrunner is an ATF program that is supposed to prevent weapons from crossing the border into Mexico and ending up in the hands of drug cartels. An apparent offshoot of that larger project is Operation Fast and Furious. According to Dodson, ATF leadership mandated that they 'let guns walk' into Mexico.

This news report is a must-watch:



As if it wasn't enough that two of the guns the ATF allowed to 'walk' were found at the scene of Border Agent Terry's death, just prior to the fatal shooting, Border Agents there were firing bean bags at the assailants.

Via Arizona Daily Star:

Border Patrol agents shot beanbags at a group of suspected bandits before the men returned fire during a confrontation in a remote canyon, killing agent Brian Terry with a single gunshot, records show.

And an illegal immigrant wounded in the gunbattle who is now the only person in custody linked to the slaying contends he never fired a shot, according to FBI search warrant requests filed in the U.S. District Court in Tucson.

The documents provide the most detailed version yet of what happened in the deadly gunbattle Dec. 14 in Peck Canyon, northwest of Nogales.

The documents say the group of illegal border entrants refused commands to drop their weapons after agents confronted them at about 11:15 p.m. Two agents fired beanbags at the migrants, who responded with gunfire. Two agents returned fire, one with a long gun and one with a pistol, but Terry was mortally wounded in the gunfight.

Border Patrol officials declined to answer questions about protocol for use of force, citing the ongoing investigation.

Though hinted at in the video report, American Thinker takes it a step further and points the finger directly at Attorney General Eric Holder.

Speaking of Holder, how about this from March of 2009, via the Tucson Citizen:

With related kidnappings and killings occurring in the U.S., the Obama administration is likely to shift dozens of enforcement agents and millions of dollars to the fight against Mexican drug cartels.

Yet when Attorney General Eric Holder suggested reinstituting a U.S. ban on the sale of certain semiautomatic weapons, many lawmakers balked. The 1994 ban expired after 10 years.

If Holder wanted to ban the sale of certain guns because they made their way into Mexico and in the hands of drug cartels, why was his Department encouraging the behavior?

Was this a matter of creating a crisis in order to not let it go to waste?

American Thinker piece.

Video: Rep. Lt. Col. Allen West Hits Another Home Run

The star of Lt. Col. Allen West is rising very quickly, more so after being sworn in - yes, that's a slap at Scott Brown - and he continues to endear himself to the Tea Party. Republicans scoff at the notion that West might be electable in 2012 as president; they're probably right but it's based on a false premise that he doesn't have the experience required. Then again, how many presidential candidates have battlefield experience?

West has been in the military for decades and in these times, the next president of the United States needs to have that kind of experience, frankly.

The next best thing would be West's selection as a running mate. Newt Gingrich has already hinted at the possibility. Such a selection would most assuredly do for the Republican presidential campaign in 2012 what Sarah Palin did for McCain in 2008.

Here's another in a long line of examples proving that Allen West 'gets it.'

Via The Blaze

RINO Alert in Texas State Senate

How's this for thick-headedness? Texas State Senator Robert Deuell (R-Greenville, TX) has a solution for the deficit problem in Texas - spend the majority of the rainy day fund and raised taxes on gasoline so that cuts can be made elsewhere. How is this different than floating checks hoping that they get cashed in the right order? These people simply don't get it. An argument can be made to dip into the rainy day fund to pay part of existent debt from budget shortfalls past but it should absolutely NOT be used to make up for any future budget shortfalls.

Via Texas Tribune:

State Sen. Robert Deuell, R-Greenville, would rather raise taxes a little bit than make the cuts lawmakers are considering now, he said this evening.

Deuell has been a proponent of a 10-cent increase in gasoline taxes for some time — since before his Republican primary and general election victories last year — and said he would support a broader sales tax too. He also said the state should use "most" of the $9.4 billion Rainy Day Fund.

"I think it's raining, and I would hate to make cuts this session and come back in two years and find out we didn't have to make those cuts," he said.

As a Texan who is watching gas prices soar past $3 / gallon, the idea of the State Government contributing to that figure in any way is irresponsible and should not fly.

Video: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Admits Obamacare a Fraud

Perhaps this is why politicians don't give one word answers very often. In this case, Kathleen Sebelius was questioned by Representative John Shimkus (R-IL) during a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing about the funding of Obamacare and the charges of double counting, which the opponents of Obamacare have been screaming about for nearly two years now. On one hand, the administration has touted savings of $500 Billion in cuts to Medicare but it's also using that $500 Billion to fund Obamacare, making the law far more costly than they've been saying.

Watch as Shimkus presses Sebelius on what amounts to an issue of 'cooking the books.' Her one word answer is an admission that the administration has done just that.

Shocking



Via Fox Nation

Again, Joe Wilson's two words in 2009 continue to age very, very well.