I have added some updates to the Fast and Furious blog. For those of you who read the original post, I have added the updates at the bottom, in bold font, just like what you’re reading now.
The first acting job I had after college was with a fledgling dinner theater in Virginia, about thirty miles south of Washington, DC. Dinner theaters don’t pay well. Fledgling dinner theaters are painfully unclear as to the meaning of the words “payment” or “salary.” I barely earned enough to cover the gas expenses for my drive back and forth to the theater, and this was in the long ago halcyon days when gasoline cost twenty-nine cents a gallon. (Yes, Virginia, there was a time like that in America.) Because I had a strange fetish about eating from time to time, I had to work other jobs during the day. I drove a taxi. I worked as a gardener. My gardening skills were non-existent, so the only people dumb enough or kind enough to hire me were friends of my family. One of these was a retired associate deputy director of the CIA. He had retired because of a massive heart attack and at that time was still recuperating. On pleasant days he would sit in the garden and talk to me while I worked. He claimed he enjoyed talking to me, but I suspect he really wanted to ensure I didn’t mistake flowers for weeds and vice versa. I usually did.
It just so happened that the day the Watergate scandal hit the news I was working at his house. I was cutting the blossoms off his camellias and he was sitting outside in his usual chair with a newspaper in his lap. I was too poor to afford a newspaper and too self-absorbed to care much, but I had seen the headlines and at one point I said, “Can you believe Nixon was dumb enough to have guys break into the DNC (Democratic National Committee) headquarters?”
“No,” he said. “I can’t.”
I stopped uprooting his perennials and looked at him. If anyone had his finger on the pulse of Washington’s inner circles and echelons of power, it was this man. “What do you mean?”
“Think about it.” He tapped the paper with the back of his hand. “It’s too obvious.”
“What are you saying?”
He smiled patiently, a remedial teacher with an exceptionally dull student. “If you were the head of the DNC, responsible for getting your candidate into the White House, what would you do? If you had an opportunity to make yourself look like the victim, and the Republican incumbent look like a villain, what would you do? Why not stage an exceptionally clumsy and amateurish break-in, get caught, and make it all look like a Republican plot to grab power?”
As it turned out, he was wrong. He grotesquely overestimated the intelligence of both the Democrats and Richard Nixon, but it was an eye-opening moment for an exceptionally naïve young fool, a revelation into the deviousness and dirt and—oh, just add whatever adjectives you want—of politics.
I was thinking about all this as I watched the congressional vote today on Ron Holder and the coverage of the “Fast and Furious” scandal.
Have you been following the Fast and Furious debacle? If you haven’t—and if you live in a country other than America there’s no reason why you would—let me try to give you a brief explanation and timeline.
First the explanation: Fast and Furious was an operation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF, a federal law enforcement agency within and under the aegis of the US Department of Justice) intended to allow illegally purchased firearms to be smuggled into Mexico, ostensibly to lead law enforcement to the arms-trafficking networks (or at least to high-level buyers) for the drug cartels who were ultimately responsible for purchasing the weapons. This was meant to be a sting operation known as “walking.” It was modeled on a similar, earlier and unsuccessful, operation conducted by the ATF during 2006 and 2007. The earlier operation was known as “Wide Receiver” and it involved several hundred guns (between four and five hundred). A desultory and unsuccessful attempt was made then to track the straw buyers by placing tracking devices on their vehicles. Since American law enforcement has no jurisdiction in Mexico, Mexican law enforcement was—or may have been; there is reason to doubt the ATF’s own assertions on this—informed of operation Wide Receiver and was supposed to be responsible for following the firearms from the border to the drug cartels. The whole operation failed, for a variety of reasons, and was shut down. It has been claimed that the Bush administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) was in charge of Wide Receiver, just as the Obama administration’s DOJ was in charge of Fast and Furious, but an email from the senior counsel in charge of field operations in 2007 indicates that the DOJ had never approved the operation, and in fact was responsible for terminating it. Wide Receiver was, apparently, a rogue ATF operation.
In 2009, with an unsuccessful operation as their paradigm, the ATF decided to run another, larger sting operation called “Fast and Furious.” There were several key differences: 1) Fast and Furious involved thousands of firearms, not hundreds; 2) neither the Mexican government nor any branch of their law enforcement was ever informed of the operation; 3) no attempt (such as tracking devices on guns or cars) was made to follow the weapons; 4) when ATF field agents attempted to track the straw purchasers, to arrest them and the next level of cartel buyers up the food chain, they were ordered by their superiors to “stand down” (i.e. do nothing and let the guns walk); 5) field agents within the ATF who voiced objections to the obvious ineffectiveness and potential danger of the operation were rebuked by their superiors; 6) there was at least some DOJ involvement, the extent of which has yet to be determined.
Now the timeline:
October 2009: A conference call was held between the DOJ, ATF, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and federal prosecutors, with the intent of discussing strategies for eliminating the arms trafficking network(s) that supply guns to the drug cartels.
November 2009: Surveillance of straw purchasers began under the operation named Fast and Furious. Licensed American gun dealers who were involved in gun sales to straw purchasers voiced concerns about the operation and the possibility of guns falling into the wrong hands.
March 2010: Complaints from field agents about letting guns walk reached such a crescendo that a supervisor in Phoenix rebuked field agents in an email, and implied they might be fired.
June 2010: With somewhere between 1500 and 2000 firearms “walked” into Mexico and beginning to turn up at crime scenes in Mexico, ATF agents stationed in Mexico also expressed their objections to the operation. American gun dealers began to demand reassurances from the ATF that guns wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands.
December 14, 2010: US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed in a firefight with illegal immigrants in Arizona armed with semi-automatic rifles traced back to Fast and Furious. ATF field agents immediately contacted ATF headquarters in Washington and the Office of the Inspector General. Receiving no reply, they then contacted Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and began leaking information to conservative bloggers, notably Mike Vanderboegh of the blog, “Sipsey Street Irregulars,” and David Cordrea of the blog, “The War on Guns,” and “Examiner.com.”
January 25, 2011: the US Attorney for the District of Arizona and the ATF special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division held a joint news conference in which they announced indictments against twenty straw purchasers, called operation Fast and Furious a huge success, and denied that any gun had ever been allowed to walk into Mexico.
February 4, 2011: Assistant Attorney General Robert Weich, in a letter to Senator Chuck Grassley, denied that the ATF had ever allowed guns to walk into Mexico. Later that same month, Attorney General Eric Holder asked the DOJ Inspector General to conduct an investigation of operation Fast and Furious. That investigation has not yet been completed.
February 15, 2011: Homeland Security Special Agent Jaime Zapata, on assignment with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement was killed in Mexico by the Los Zetas cartel with a gun purchased in Texas by a known straw buyer supposedly under surveillance by the ATF.
March, 2011: President Barack Obama gave an interview in which he denied that either he or Attorney General Eric Holder had ever authorized or discussed operation Fast and Furious.
May, 2011: Attorney General Holder appeared before Congress and reiterated he did not know who authorized Fast and Furious, and also stated that he had only heard about the operation for the first time within “the last few weeks.”
June, 2011: One of the whistleblowers within the ATF was fired for leaking documents to bloggers about Fast and Furious, but the ATF denied the firing was retaliatory.
August, 2011: Three of the ATF supervisors of Fast and Furious were transferred from Phoenix to the Washington, DC office into management positions. The ATF Director was reassigned to the DOJ, and the US Attorney for the District of Arizona resigned.
October, 2011: Documents from the National Drug Intelligence Center (a branch of the DOJ) and from the Assistant Attorney General were discovered that proved Attorney General Holder had been briefed on Fast and Furious as early as July, 2010, contradicting his statement that he had only heard about it a few weeks before the May, 2011 hearing.
November, 2011: Attorney General Holder testified before Congress that gunwalking had in fact been allowed in Fast and Furious, and that his office had “inaccurately” described the program previously. He denied he had been briefed or shown memos about the operation.
December, 2011: An email was discovered, written by the Assistant Director of Field Operations at ATF, showing agents had discussed using Fast and Furious as evidence in support of stronger gun regulation.
January, 2012: The criminal division chief of the Phoenix office of the US Attorney’s Office was reassigned. He subsequently retired and invoked his Fifth Amendment privileges to avoid testifying to Congress.
June 7, 2012: Attorney General Holder appeared again before Congress and again denied his personal knowledge of gunwalking being allowed in Fast and Furious. He has consistently refused to turn over documents requested by Congress.
June 20, 2012: Congress voted to recommend Holder be held in contempt for refusing to turn over the documents in question, and President Obama invoked executive privilege over the same documents.
(Executive privilege is defined as the principle that members of the executive branch of government cannot legally be forced to disclose their confidential communications when such disclosure would adversely affect the operations, decision-making, or functions of the executive branch. [emphasis mine])
“The privilege disappears altogether when there is any reason to believe government misconduct occurred.” District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 2004
June 28th, 2012: Congress voted along partisan lines to hold Attorney General Holder in both criminal and civilian contempt, the first time such a thing has occurred in American history. Opposing Democrats made a show of walking out, hand in hand, in protest. Since the criminal charge must, by law, come under the jurisdiction of the DOJ, the outcome is a foregone conclusion. The civil charges are a different matter, but it is highly unlikely anything will come of it before the upcoming election.
July 3, 2012: Senator Charles Grassley revealed that a memo had been sent by an ATF field agent, up the chain of command, to the DOJ, prior to Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich’s letter stating the ATF had never allowed guns to walk into Mexico. The memo in question confirmed licensed gun store owners had in fact reported straw purchases to the ATF; it revealed a bizarre request from Supervisor in charge of Fast and Furious that redundant tracing of weapons that had not been recovered be done for purposes of a paper trail; and it also revealed wire tap irregularities. The memo cause such a stir that the ATF in Washington intended to put together a panel to investigate the allegations, but were instructed not to by someone higher up with the DOJ.
So what does all this mean? Damned if I know. Some people have described this as another Watergate, but I find that comparison inaccurate at best and fallacious at worst. After all, no one, American or Mexican, died as a result of Watergate, and Fast and Furious resulted in two American deaths and—according to most estimates—several hundred Mexican deaths. Is it all a vast left-wing conspiracy at the highest levels of government to indirectly attack the Second Amendment of the Constitution? I have a hard time believing anyone could be stupid enough to concoct such a scheme, let alone think it might work, and I have a harder time believing anyone other than a sociopath could concoct a scheme so clearly destined to have fatal consequences. (The gun dealers asked to cooperate with the ATF immediately raised red flags about potential fatalities.) On the other hand, is it all, as Nancy Pelosi and others have claimed, a vast right-wing conspiracy, racially and politically motivated, and designed to somehow allow Republicans to engage in voter suppression? I have a hard time believing anyone could be stupid enough to concoct such a scheme, let alone think it might work. If Obama releases the documents he has claimed come under the executive privilege umbrella and there is nothing in them, every single member of congress who voted to find Holder in contempt will look like a breathless idiot. If the documents are turned over to congress by legal mandate and there is evidence incriminating Obama, Holder, or any other high-ranking official in the administration, then Nancy Pelosi and the other dissenting Democrats will all look like breathless idiots.
Of course, one could argue that everyone in congress, the senate, and the executive branch is very much a breathless idiot, but that would take us into Mark Twain territory. The thing that concerns me most is the issue of executive privilege. It only applies to the functions and operations of the executive branch.
Then again, perhaps I too am overestimating the intelligence of the all parties concerned, on both sides of the aisle.
Update, July 16, 2012:
An internal DOJ memo was uncovered showing that as early as February 3, 2011, even as the DOJ was drafting a letter to Congress and Senator Charles Grassley denying guns had ever been “walked” into Mexico, the then ATF Assistant Director Mark Chait was asking an ATF attorney, Joel Roessner, to draft instructions to field officers instructing them not to retaliate (in accordance with Federal law) against Fast and Furious whistleblowers.
Update, July 19, 2012
Recently appointed Acting ATF Director B. Todd Jones sent out a video message to ATF employees warning that “…there would be consequences…” for whistleblowers who went outside the ATF chain of command. Not only is a contradiction of Federal law, it is also a contradiction of President Obama’s own pledge that whistleblowers could safely go outside their own agencies to report wrong-doing, and apparently a contradiction of former Assistant Director Mark Chait’s own instructions to his field officers (see previous update, above). It would also seem to indicate that the Fast and Furious debacle has not made the ATF a kinder, gentler place to work.
Update, August 1, 2012
In one of the appendices to the report on Operation Fast and Furious released by Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressman Darrell Issa, is a copy of a memo written by then Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Kenneth Melson, to Attorney General Eric Holder, informing Holder of the top twelve states that were sources for guns subsequently recovered in Mexico. Since the memo was dated March 26, 2010, it predates Holders denial of any of knowledge of Fast and Furious by almost a year. Since the memo recommends a program of demanding letters from FFLs (gun stores) reporting sales on multiple semi-automatic long guns in calibers above .22, and since the memo also references illegal purchases of large numbers of firearms in the Phoenix area, it requires a willing suspension of disbelief to imagine Eric Holder being ignorant of Operation Fast and Furious. A second memo from Melson to Holder, dated December 6, 2010, a little more than a week prior to Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder in Arizona, and also prior to Holder’s denial of any knowledge of Fast and Furious, recommends limiting the proposed “demand letter” to FFLs in the four border states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California.
Also in the appendices are emails and memos showing that as early as January of 2011, the ATF was already preparing to deal with fallout from Fast and Furious and Brian Terry’s murder.
And also in the appendices are multiple email exchanges between ATF Phoenix Special Agent in Charge William Newell and Kevin O’Reilly, Director of North American Affairs in the National Security Council (part of President Obama’s administration, i.e. the executive branch) all of which discuss various aspects of ATF operations in the Phoenix, Arizona area. The existence of the emails raises two questions: First, why was a senior NSC member exchanging emails with a low-ranking ATF agent about a relatively small-time operation; and second, why was Dr. O’Reilly suddenly transferred from the NSC to position in Iraq of such sensitivity that he is immune to congressional subpoena?
I’m not a political person, however, Mr. Parker I would have to agree with the term “breathless idiots”. I find that the American government over the years have made some horrible mistakes this being one of them. They originally had Osma bin Laden as an ally and trained him. This is just another example of how government officals have no clue in what they are doing. In my opinion this mess in Mexico is another example of what I like to dub as the x files. There is so much going on behind the scenes of all governments not just America that we as public citizens are not aware of.. Wikileaks came about because of this. The government is still trying to jail the owner for this. The no fly list was created for whistle blowers not just terrorists.
Tena French, Nova Scotia Canada
This particular issue seems to be hitting you close to home for you to do so much research on it. Is it the issue of the availability of guns? Is it the issue of apparent stupidity on the part of the government officials whom we elected for them to believe such an activity could work out the way they think it will? Is it the stupidity on the part of the American public that they don’t do their research on the person running for the political vacancies before blackening that oval on the paper?
I appreciate that you have put it much of the information on one page. I have read through this at least twice. I have heard the name of this activiity mentioned in the news, but that is about all that I have heard. LIke you, I am also puzzled. I imagine it was all supposed to be ‘top secret’ so it is going to be difficult to find any information about it released.
Beverly
I will try to explain why this hits close to home for me.
I am not a fan of conspiracy theories. When the Fast and Furious debacle was first made public (by ATF whistleblowers who notified two conservative independent bloggers, David Codrea of The War on Guns, and Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars) it was quickly used by some right-wing extremists as a basis for a conspiracy theory that went something like this:
Barack Obama is anti-gun; he has appointed anti-gun zealots to positions of power within his administration; he appointed anti-gun judges to the Supreme Court; he is slick enough and smart enough to learn from Jimmy Carter’s mistakes and will try to create an anti-gun legal framework that will pass under the radar and effectively curtail the second amendment in future administrations if not in his; to help him achieve this, he wanted to build up a case involving illegal gun trafficking that would give him reason to reinstate the so-called “assault weapon ban.” (There’s more to it, but I’m trying to keep it simple.) I essentially relegated this to the same pile of nonsense that holds Obama was born in Kenya (or Indonesia or Mars or wherever), that he’s a Muslim mole working to undermine the American way of life, that he wants to impose sharia law, that he yadayadayada. Even when Sharyl Attkinson of CBS News picked up on the Fast and Furious story and gave it mainstream legitimacy, I still did not believe in any conspiracy nonsense.
But two things strike me as being particularly troubling about Fast and Furious.
First, one of the reasons I opened that blog with the reference to the Watergate scandal is that, whatever Richard Nixon’s motives might have been (political, financial, who knows for certain?) no one was killed. But Nixon was run out of office. Bill Clinton shtupped a girl in the oval office (like damn near every other president with the possible exception of Calvin Coolidge) and then lied about it, and he got impeached. But no one got killed because of his amorous tendencies. Fast and Furious has resulted in the deaths of two American law enforcement officers, the death of the brother of the Mexican Attorney General, and the deaths of hundreds (no one knows how many) Mexican citizens, and yet the bulk of the mainstream press is paying no attention to it, and some (notably “Fortune Magazine”) have spun information and twisted facts to make it all look like a meaningless minor mistake. I doubt very much if the family of murdered Border Patrol agent Brian Terry regards it as meaningless or minor, to say nothing of the family of ICE officer Jaime Zapata, or the families of unknown numbers of Mexicans.
Second, the moment Barack Obama invoked executive privilege to protect the documents pertaining to Fast and Furious, the conspiracy theory suddenly became viable. Executive privilege covers only communications within the executive branch, so—by definition—there are only two reasons why President Obama would invoke that privilege. One is that he is protecting Eric Holder, in which case he (Obama) has broken the law by invoking executive privilege for communications outside the executive branch. Or, two, he is protecting himself, which means he lied to the American people, the people he is supposed to serve and who pay his salary, when he stated he had never heard or known about Fast and Furious. If he did know about it, it would give credence to the conspiracy theories, because there is no reasonable explanation for why a relatively minor and low-level ATF operation should be discussed in the White House.
Mendacity (see today’s blog) would be extremely troubling even if it didn’t involve the deaths of many people, but it does involve many deaths, including those of American citizens, and nobody seems to give a damn.
JP
Eventually the truth will be revealed as all other political issues! maybe Wikileaks!
First the strong parties involved will make sure they are immuned!!
but being an Arab Muslim I’d like to point this correction using Arabic language even knowing of course your readers understood what you meant!!
you wrote: “that he wants to impose sharia law” we say Sharia Algab- means the jungle Sharia!, or Sharia hammurabi means the era of hammurabi- or Sharia Al Yahood means the Jews Sharia so this word Sharia is used for any historic era or religion or God’s law-Sharia- in earth in general,so you have to say Islamic Sharia!
I truely didnt like this sentence or the other one after,but I think you meant well and were just referring to what was said so cant held a grudge there!
comments written are usually misunderstood!!
finally I do hope the families of the victims get justice.
Naeema
Naeema,
Like most Western Christians, I am woefully ignorant of other religions, including Islam, and I appreciate both your tolerance and your willingness to explain, whether it is about what a burka really is, or about the meaning of “Sharia.” However, just to be absolutely clear, what I was attempting to do in my reply that you commented on, was poke fun (or contempt) at the idiots who believe every conspiracy theory that makes its way around the internet, and especially the idiots who use Islam to (incorrectly) demonize President Obama. America’s greatest strength is, and always has been, its diversity. To be an American is to stand shoulder to shoulder with other races and other religions (consider the outpouring of support for the Sikh community in Wisconsin after that evil moron’s shooting) and it is unfortunate that Islam has become a scapegoat for the ignorant, and that “Sharia” has become synonymous with rigid and intolerant. I happen to disapprove of much of what Obama has done in his presidency, especially his invocation of executive privilege in Fast and Furious, but he should be condemned for his actions, not for his race or for his religious beliefs, and especially not for religious beliefs he doesn’t hold in the first place. That was all I was saying.
JP
I read your response, and it just made me angry. I cannot tell you exactly why I was angry. I have not figured that out yet myself. It kept me awake most of the night.
Maybe I am too busy seeing these other shooting incidents; Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Aurora, Colorado, and Tucson, Arizona just to mention the more recent ones. Now these incidents probably cannot be compared to Fast and Furious because there is no government cover up involved. All the weapons used in these cases appear to have been purchased legally, but surely the shooters had some awful purpose in mind at the time of purchase.
‘Mendacity (see today’s blog) would be extremely troubling even if it didn’t involve the deaths of many people, but it does involve many deaths, including those of American citizens, and nobody seems to give a damn.’
It’s not that I don’t give a damn, but what can one person do? We found out too late what the politicians were doing. These politicians seem so far above the common person, so far out of reach. They seem to do what they want once they obtain their positions, and it’s not necessarily what is best for us.
I am one of those persons busy getting by day-to-day and sometimes I do not always catch the news until it is old news. When the news began to become available about these recent shooting incidents closer to home, I will admit my eyes wanted to skip over the words and the pictures. Thanks for helping us see this much.
Beverly
“It’s not that I don’t give a damn, but what can one person do? We found out too late what the politicians were doing. These politicians seem so far above the common person, so far out of reach.”
Huh? Say what? What do you mean, “above the common person?” Are you joking? Let me try to put this in perspective for you. If you hired someone to come in and wash your windows, would you pay him to do a sloppy, half-assed job? Would you allow him to take your money and go off without even bothering to try and wash the windows? I don’t think so. But that’s what you and I and everyone else are doing when we allow our servants to take advantage of us, and that’s what politicians are – our servants. Don’t ever, not even for a moment, think a politician is “above you.” You pay their damn salaries, and ninety percent of them aren’t worth minimum wage, never mind $200,000 a year. The United States Congress and Senate have both become international embarrassments, the stuff of jokes all over the world. Anthony Weiner was once described by his fellow Democrats as the most intelligent man in Congress. Anthony Weiner!?!? That’s the man our public servants looked up to as the brightest and the best?! Please. Politicians aren’t “above the common person;” most of them aren’t worth the mud on the common person’s boots.
And as for “what can one person do,” never forget that an army is made up of lots and lots of individuals. Find groups or organizations or other people who think the way you do and who have the same concerns you do and join them. One plus one plus one and so on becomes a potent force. Gandhi brought the British Empire to its knees without ever firing a shot.
I truely wasnt expecting a reply! I so much appreciate your clarification of this matter, gave me better understanding of what you meant, and you actually said what was in my mind.
unfortunatelly if you express them other place than this blog you’ll be crucified by comments for sure!!
and I don’t want you getting a headache or high pressure! so I wont speak further of this complicated matter!
Arabic language is so hard to learn even for Arabs specially the Qurayshi arab language-wich is the Quran language-,its usually misinterpreted by non Arabs and some Arabs as well,as you return to english dictionary we do the same in Arabic so its my absolute delight to simplify what I know for you Mr Parker,after all I learned lots of English words,expressions,and facts from your blog,wich I’m truely thankfull to you.
Naeema
Well, JP, IDEALLY, politicians are SUPPOSED to be our servants, but make no mistake, we ARE their servants at this time, like it or not! Nothing very new historically about THAT! Not that we should curl up and submit and just accept it–but one must choose one’s tactics and times CAREFULLY to accomplish much, or survive long! Take it from a long-term, died-in-the-wool guerrilla(and gorilla) barbarian(moi), that has been Monkey-Wrenching one way or the other for decades–and survived–so far(dang, I’m glad I blundered into this blog!). A favorite movie quote of mine is from a most favorite character of mine–none other than Robin Hood hisself! In the classic Errol Flynn movie version, in one scene Lady Marion, aghast, exclaims to Robin, “Sir! You Speak TREASON!”–how does Robin reply? “FLUENTLY!”. I also JUST saw for the first time that most excellent, BESTEST anti-(bad)government control movie “V For Vendetta”!!!! Dang, I MUST order me a Guy Fawkes mask, just in case I needs it someday. Not to stir up any sedition here or anything, folks, I’m just sayin’……L.B.
Mr Parker please allow me – even though I’m not a US citizen- to comment on your reply to Beverly
you said:
“Gandhi brought the British Empire to its knees without ever firing a shot”
%100 True!!
BUT how many of Gandhi’s followers were shot at during this?excuted? how many were put in jail? how many were exiled from thier country?
It is true we say in our religion:
if you are silent against the right thing than you are a dumb-mute- Evil !
but in a country like Syria for instance people are fighting against the unjustice of the politicians,and every day we are forced to see the casualties!
Yes in a country like the US people are allowed to use thier right to condemn politiciens on magazines or news papers or even peaceful protesting, Still dirty games are often inevitable and hard to miss!
eventually you’ll get them exposed maybe punished but at what price?
just wishing you a safe life Mr Parker!
Naeema
Its true Mr. Parker that Naeema’s faith and mine of Islam have become a scapgoat for injustice by the “breathless idiots” in government positions. I want to thank you for recognizing that. Not to many do. It touched my heart to see what you wrote.
Tena French Halifax, NS Canada
How votes stacked up in the 2008 election:
Electoral Votes:
Obama: 349
McCain: 163
Popular votes:
Obama : 64,639,738
McCain: 56,899,510
Total popular votes 121,539,248
Population of the US in mid-2008 305 million
Approximately 64% of population voted 195,200,000
Those who did not vote and cannot complain 109,800,000
I hope my numbers are right. I hate to be embarrassed by looking smart and not quite achieving the image.
‘If you hired someone to come in and wash your windows, would you pay him to do a sloppy, half-assed job? Would you allow him to take your money and go off without even bothering to try and wash the windows? I don’t think so. But that’s what you and I and everyone else are doing when we allow our servants to take advantage of us, and that’s what politicians are – our servants. Don’t ever, not even for a moment, think a politician is “above you.”’
Thank you. I think I love you yet.
My question is how can one ‘servant’, Obama, possibly attempt to please so many people, especially those who didn’t vote for him or those who did not vote at all? How can he meet all the needs and wants of the US population. In all these years it has never occurred to me to ask our senators or representatives or even the president for anything, but I imagine that someone else has asked in my place. I guess I have always been accustomed to what they are offering me just so they can get elected. Then after they are elected, many times they cannot carry through with their offers because congress is too evenly split Republicans to Democrats and they won’t give an inch. It is no wonder that I hear so many people say how they don’t like Obama and they blame him for every bad thing that has occurred in the United States; the failing economy, the raging unemployment, the loss of home and the feeling of security. Personally I think these troubles began before Obama.
Do you suppose there is a job description for the position of president, a listing of job duties. I cannot understand exactly what would motivate anyone to take the job. Get ready because here we go again, another election around the corner..
Beverly
This is probably really going to set off your temper.
Obama’s salary is $400,000/year plus a $50,000 expense account
This according to Presidents of the United States website.
Not $200,000. I think that is their retirment pay. There is also still a $50,000 expense account.
Beverly
My understanding is there is no such thing as an honest politician. They all say one thing and do another. And I’m not an American, so you see it is universal. Do you remember the 60′s and the 70′s? Here in Australia, there were marches and demonstrations left, right and centre. Where did all that enthusiasm for change go?
We have had leadership hoo ha in this country of late and I would like to slap a few people silly. So I guess it’s our job to try and keep them honest. (You missed a spot on that window there.) We have the right to complain, demand answers and expect the best, otherwise… we sack them. And we can – never under estimate the power of the people.
Delphine
Obama’s salary is $400,000/year plus a $50,000 expense account
Wow! that is far less than what I expected! its high but read the amount of salary the presidents in the Middle East region take its much much higher! not to mention the ministers!
with less improvement unfortunately!!
Mr Parker,I appreciate your kind reply to me but please allow me to say I noticed you were a little harsh replying to some of your fan readers who happens to have same subject interests as you and support your opinions!
I know you are upset over the political and economic issues and how its harsh and annoying talking about them so it might reflect your replies, but so are your fans other wise they wont have bothered to comment.
as I observed the excitement in their first reply before getting yours! an intelligent writer like you surly knows that!
plus I surely know from what I read how gentle and kind you are,specially to female fans!
Naeema
I would like to disagree, Naeema. I believe that opinions should be stated freely. As long as there is little swearing and I am out of range of any gunfire, I think I can handle it. I will admit that I was actually frightened enough to close my laptop when I saw that Mr. Parker had responded to me. When I first found this blog, I thought it would be nice to hear from him, but still it was unexpected. I used to have great political conversations with a friend if mine who is about Mr. Parker’s age. I do not have many opportunities to talk to him anymore because he is very busy operating his own business. All I would have to say is two words to him, and he would begin telling me his thoughts and opinions on politics, and I would sit back and listen and observe his facial expressions and the way he talked with his hands. It is more interesting to learn politics from someone older and wiser than to read about it in books.
Also I don’t think I would know how to spend $400,000 a year. It is interesting to discover that this is a small amount compared to what leaders in other countries are paid. I think the point Mr. Parker is attempting to make is are they doing enough work for what they are getting paid.
‘plus I surely know from what I read how gentle and kind you are,specially to female fans!’
Really? I like that.
It is also interesting reading your posts.
Beverly
Beverly,glad you are not upset with Mr Parker,I know I might have been!
I believe he has been a little harsh on other fans as well! Im I right Mr Parker?!
little swearing is ok but gunfire! God he sure is lucky not to be facing you! Lol!
as for presidents Salary,in 2006 Kuwaiti Parliament approved to raise the salary of the Amir Shikh Sabah to become fifty million Dinars KWD per year, equivalent to
$ 150 million annually.
the parliament approved the raise of all citizen salaries as well few times these couple of years due to increase of living costs.same was made at the countries of the Gulf.
if I owned millions I would simply quit my job!
and Beverly I enjoy reading your posts as well.
Naeema
‘Beverly,glad you are not upset with Mr Parker,I know I might have been!
I believe he has been a little harsh on other fans as well! Im I right Mr Parker?!
little swearing is ok but gunfire! God he sure is lucky not to be facing you! Lol!’
Naeema, I am sad to say that I have become accustomed to other people’s harsh words in my line of work. I manage an income tax office. I assist people with getting their income tax refunds from the government or making arrangements to pay the government if they have a balance due. I visit with many more people who are poor than those people who have money. Over the past few years, many of these people have become frustrated and angry about their employment and poor financial situations. Eventually harsh words are spoken, and sometimes the words are directed toward me. As I am in a customer service positition, I must listen to all that they have to say even if I am not to blame. Sometimes I can sympathize with some of the people’s situations. Others I cannot, but I try to say nothing to them unless it is to apologize or provide words of encouragement. Sincerity can be difficult to express at times like that.
Of course, I am kidding about the gunfire. My family worries about me, though. If someone can bring weapons into a movie theater, they certainly can bring a weapon into an income tax office. I try not to think about that.
What is more important to express in words; respect or honesty?
Beverly
Beverly
I did reply to your post two days before but I see Mr parker didnt post it!!
so hope he post this just to let you know I did!
Naeema
There is a lot of partisan hype out there, from all sides. There is little information and too much misinformation at this point in time, it seems.
Some points:
DOJ is on the executive branch. ATF is an organization that is within the Dept of Treasury which itself is on the executive branch. Correct? So, has any law been violated? If it has, why is the judiciary silent? The interpretation of ‘executive privilege’ may be tricky here- don’t know enough here to say for sure but can the President not use it to seal ‘sensitive’ communications that don’t include him but do occur anywhere within the executive branch? Shrewd tactics to clamp negative politics, probably. A coverup of sloppy management ? Maybe. Incompetent oversight? Possibly. But intentional criminal acts or conspiracies at the highest levels? These, at the moment, seem quite substantial projections based on very limited data.
CSM ‘reported’ helicopters in Mexico coming under fire by 0.50-in caliber weapons ‘likely’ traceable to F&F. Not only does this seem a sloppy use of ‘likely’, but also the shots (unless clearly proven to be otherwise) could have come from guns of a common type (Browning M2?) used by the military all over the world, including Mexico. Also, if straw buyers obtained such large-caliber guns, that may be an indictment of the lax gun laws in the US and/or unscrupulous sellers, quite independent of F&F. What’s needed is cold, hard, investigative reporting and analysis (including non-partisan sources to back-up all evidence, forensic or otherwise) in order to correctly associate criminal acts with any F&F weapon. Actual straw-buying/gun-walking incidents need to be followed up throughly in order to attribute cause accurately. Anything less is a waste of time and a regression to the good old ‘court of public opinion’ which is not losing any jurisdiction. Gun smuggling and trafficking within and without Mexico has been happening long before F&F. Of course this does not save F&F itself from being characterized as a misbegotten operation that occurred on the current president’s watch.
If we bought guns and gave them to known crmianils with the intent that they would be used to kill and maim we would be charged with murder and attempted murder. Federal law makes the head of a criminal gang responsible for kills made on his knowledge and direction. Differently than many State laws, accessories or facilitator are charged as Principals in federal offenses.TITLE 18(Criminal Code) > PART I > CHAPTER 1 > a7 2. Principals(a) Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.(b) Whoever willfully causes an act to be done which if directly performed by him or another would be an offense against the United States, is punishable as a principal.Holder and his hacks should be treated no differently than mob bosses. Would Holder cop a plea and name WH co-conspirators? Extricate him to Mexico to save the expense in the USA. Holder can tell the Mexicans if Mexicans were included in his protected people.