Posts Tagged ‘Eric Holder’

LinkSwam for May 31, 2013

Friday, May 31st, 2013

The season has switched from not Summer to Summer here in Texas, so here’s a hot, humid LinkSwarm:

  • In Europe, youth unemployment is climbing to scary, stratospheric heights. So scary I’m going to swipe their chart:

    Notice how countries that have kept their deficit spending relatively low (Germany and even the UK, where deficits has at least decreased under Cameron) are doing much better than the PIIGS. Again, Austerity hasn’t failed in Europe, it’s been declared difficult and left untried.

  • Harry Reid calls his close personal friend and business associate Harvey Whittemore (and his wife) “wonderful people.” Oh, and Whittemore is now also a convicted felon.
  • Eric Holder: Obama’s sin eater. “The attorney general has done little in his tenure to protect civil liberties or the free press. Rather, Holder has supervised a comprehensive erosion of privacy rights, press freedom and due process. This ignoble legacy was made possible by Democrats who would look at their shoes whenever the Obama administration was accused of constitutional abuses.”
  • Pentagon Papers lawyer James Goodale talks about just how bad Obaama is for freedom of the press.
  • ObamaCare rates next year in California: “Obamacare will increase individual-market premiums by an average of 116 percent.”
  • Britain remains in denial over Islamic terror.
  • The Gang of 8 proposal implements amnesty and gives conservatives nothing in return.
  • Ted Cruz actually tries to fix the bill. Gang of 8 tells him to get stuffed.
  • The Chicago Sun-Times lays off their entire staff of photographers. Including a Pulitzer Prize winner.
  • Droning On and On

    Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

    Senator Rand Paul has launched an old-fashioned filibuster against Obama’s CIA nominee John Brennan to protest the Obama Administration’s refusal to rule out drone strikes against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.

    Under questioning by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Eric Holder admitted that he thought Obama could indeed launch a drone strike against American citizens on American soil.

    Funny how far you can stretch unlimited power when the Constitution is a living document.

    Hell, even some liberals are appalled.

    Here’s the first hour of Rand Paul’s filibuster:

    And here’s Cruz getting in on the filibuster action:

    This is potentially even a bigger story than it’s being made out to be (and it’s already plenty big). There’s lots of support for Rand and Cruz coming from some unusual quarters. I don’t have time to go into all the ramifications now, but this could be the issue on which finally the vast majority of Americans look at the unchecked growth of federal power under Obama and finally yells “Enough!”

    Obama Asserts Executive Privilege Over Fast and Furious Documents

    Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

    Backing up Eric Holder’s stonewall of congressional investigation of Fast and Furious, today Obama asserted Executive Privilege over subpoenaed Fast and Furious documents. As Judge Napolitano noted, executive privilege only applies if the President was personally involved. That does rather suggest that Obama himself was involved in the decision to let guns walk across the Mexican border to drug cartels, doesn’t it?

    I believe this cartoon by Nate Beeler of the Washington Examiner is good:

    But I liked this altered version better:

    I haven’t been doing much coverage of Fast and Furious, mainly because bloggers like Sipsey Street and Snowflakes in Hell/Shall Not Be Questioned were doing such good jobs moving the story forward I didn’t feel a need. But now that the Obama Administration is in full cover-up mode, well, bring the swarm.

    Remember: Over 200 innocent people have died due to Fast and Furious. So when liberals tell you that “It’s not Watergate,” they’re right. It’s much worse.

    And the Ted Cruz campaign emailed a reminder that Cruz was on top of the Fast and Furious scandal before anyone else in the Senate race.

    Some Texas Counties Have More Registered Voters Than Vote-Eligable Citizens

    Monday, April 9th, 2012

    According to this article in the Houston Chronicle, “Sixteen small counties across Texas appear to have more registered voters on their rolls as of 2010 than qualified citizens of voting age.”

    In a completely unrelated story, the Obama Administration opposes Texas’ voter ID act. I’m sure this is a highly principled stand that has nothing to do with making it easier for illegal aliens to vote.

    Interestingly, six of those sixteen counties (Brooks, Culberson, Duval, Kenedy, Maverick, Presidio) were among the 28 Texas counties Obama won in 2008.

    As the icing on top of the voter fraud cake, here’s James O’Keefe (who you may know from such classics as ACORN’s Hardest Working Pimp) obtaining Eric Holder’s ballot.

    And the cherry? “I’ll be back faster than you can say furious.”

    LinkSwarm for March 13, 2012

    Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

    A bunch of news popping up, including some from the Middle East:

  • Here’s the actual Dewhurst denial of the Tony Podesta/Democratic fundraising story.
  • A left-wing Irish documentary maker sets out to make a documentary about the plight of the Palestinians, but gets waylayed by those annoying facts, and instead decides to tell both sides of the story. Guess what? His friends aren’t interested. “The problem began when I resolved to come back with a film that showed both sides of the coin. Actually there are many more than two. Which is why my film is called Forty Shades of Grey. But only one side was wanted back in Dublin. My peers expected me to come back with an attack on Israel. No grey areas were acceptable.”
  • Israel and Hamas declare a ceasefire after four days of fighting. Honestly, maybe because I was traveling, or because I no longer feel the need to consult MSM news sources on a daily basis, I was actually unaware that there was slightly more violence than usual in the Middle East. The fact that Hamas cried uncle after a mere four days, despite the fact that Israel set it off by giving Hamas leader Zuhair al-Qaissi an express ticket to paradise, tells you that they must really have been getting their asses kicked by the IDF. Maybe Zuhair al-Qaissi really was important, or possibly Iran and Syria have had their hands too full to dole out the Qassam rockets with their customary generosity.
  • Speaking of Syria, Michael Totten talks to Andrew Tabler about what it’s like under the Assad regime in Syria, as covered in Tabler’s new book In the Lion’s Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington’s Battle with Syria.
  • That whole “force Catholics to pay for contraception” deal? Turns out it’s not working out so well for Obama.
  • Eric Holder seems desperate to let illegal aliens vote.
  • Good evening, I’m Chevy Chase for Weekend Update. California is still screwed. So is New York. Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.
  • Forget TVs and car radios: The hot item for thieves these days is bottles of Tide.
  • Welcoming Eric Holder to Austin

    Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

    Several Austin bloggers are suggesting that people gather to “welcome” Eric Holder to Austin, where he’ll be speaking at the LBJ Library on UT campus. I won’t be able to, due to commitments with my new job, but I encourage others to do so if it fits into their schedule.

    And here’s a related cartoon from Frugal Cafe:

    Fast and Furious Update for December 8, 2011

    Thursday, December 8th, 2011

    Some cleaning-up after yesterday’s bombshell:

  • Holder stonewalls today on both fast and Furious and Elena Kagan’s role in ObamaCare.
  • Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner suggests impeachment of administration officials involved with Fast and Furious. he’s right. Breaking the law in a way that results in the deaths of innocent Americas solely to justify a cynical political ploy is indeed an impeachable offense.
  • Say Uncle pointed out that the U.S. House of Representatives now has a Fast and Furious webpage. Including this handy PDF listing all the fast and Furious players, and this one listing the victims. A very good start, though this scandal begs for some sort of interactive web widget to follow all the threads of evidence…
  • Obama gives Holder the dreaded vote of confidence.
  • Sipsey Street also provides an email thread between former ATF head Kenneth Melson and former United States Attorney for the District of Arizona Dennis Burke on getting their Fast and Furious stories straight.
  • Also from Sipsey Street (really, if you’re only going to follow one source for Fast and Furious, it should be them) comes further news of Obama’s war on the ATF whistle-blowers.
  • Republicans House members to Holder: Heads must roll.
  • Fast and Furious Update for December 1, 2011

    Thursday, December 1st, 2011

    I’m feeling a bit under the weather, so here are some random and no doubt woefully late updates on Fast and Furious just to prove that I’m not totally out of it:

  • The U.S. government may be the biggest supplier of guns to Mexican cartels. (Hat tip: Say Uncle.)
  • A long leaked email leads Sipsy Street to conclude that they knew And by “they” he means “everyone”:

    EVERYBODY in ATF and DOJ along the border knew, and they knew it before the murder of Brian Terry, for it obviously is no surprise to the highly-placed AUSA Cook, and he doesn’t mind using this common knowledge to achieve the desired result from Phoenix.

  • Rick Perry blasts Fast and Furious and says Holder must go: “America simply cannot tolerate an attorney general who arms the very criminals he is supposed to protect us from and then refuses to comfort the grieving parents of a slain Border Patrol agent. Nor can we tolerate a president who lacks the courage to take decisive action in restoring justice to the Department of Justice.”
  • Michelle Bachmann has also called for Holder to resign.
  • Reporter: “Mr. Holder, why are so many people asking for your resignation?” “Shut up, that’s why!”
  • Zeta Certel violence comes to Harris County.
  • The Obama Administration seals documents related to the murder of border patrol agent Brian Terry. Just imagine if the Bush Administration had done the same for the Valerie Plame. The difference, of course, is that nobody died in the Plame Kerfluffle…
  • A confidential information evidently knew that a “rip crew” was looking to hijack a drug convoy. Supposedly the “third gun” that disappeared from the scene (an SKS carbine) belong to that informant.
  • So what happened to ATF agents with a knowledge of Fast and Furious? The ones responsible got promoted, while the whistle-blowers got screwed.
  • LinkSwarm for Friday, November 11, 2011 (11/11/11)

    Friday, November 11th, 2011

    I hope you’re celebrating both Veterans Day and Nigel Tufnel Day (11/11/11) today. A few bits of news:

  • Willisms debunks a lot of false claims about Texas jobs.
  • He also notes that Texas leads the nation in exports.
  • Care for a disabled child in Michigan? The SEIU can deduct union dues from your social security check. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades.)
  • I’ve not been keeping up with the situation in Killeen, but evidently City Council members voted to give the City Manager a $750,000 buyout, then refused to justify their actions to the taxpayers. The result? All five remaining City Council members were successfully recalled. Note to politicians across the state: Texas is not California. Try to get away with this sort of self-dealing here and we will boot your ass out of office. (Hat tip: Blue Dot Blues.)
  • Mexican cartel gunmen crossed into the small Texas town of Escobares in the Rio Grande Valley.
  • Speaking of cartel violence, the Mexican government evidently has the La Familia Michoacana drug gang on the ropes. La Familia was previously allied with the Gulf Cartel, but more recently worked with the Zeta cartel. I’d previously mentioned La Familia (and their activity in Austin) here.
  • Obama to tax Christmas trees in order to pay for a board to promote Christmas trees.
  • Democrats on the “SuperCommittee” propose…wait for it…wait for it…spending more money! Remember, any time a congressional Democrat says they want to cut spending, they’re lying. (If a Republican says they want to cut spending, there’s at least a possibility that they’re telling the truth.)
  • David Brooks praises Mitt Romney as “smart” and “sophisticated.” Yeah, like conservatives needed another reason to vote against Romney…
  • By contrast, George Will says that in Romney “Republicans may have found their Michael Dukakis.” (What’s the difference between David Brooks and George Will? One is a well-dressed, articulate, sophisticated, respected conservative columnist, and the other is David Brooks.)
  • Related.
  • Search and Rescue trailer stolen from NW Austin. Contact your local police if you spot the trailer shown in the picture.
  • I already mentioned this yesterday, but here’s the video of Sen. John Cornyn laying the smackdown on Eric Holder as to the difference between Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious.

  • I’ll try to do a Greek/Euro debt update just as soon as I figure out just what the hell Europe is actually doing…

    Fast and Furious Update for November 10, 2011

    Thursday, November 10th, 2011

    Been a while since I put one of these up, and since I start a new job today, I thought it high time to catch people at least semi-up-to-date on Fast and Furious developments:

  • The complete text of Eric Holder’s testimony before the Senate judiciary committee. Count the red herrings, and notice, as always, the push for more gun control. Because all the old laws were so effective at keeping Holder and the ATF from breaking them in the first place.
  • Once again, CBS’ Sharyl Attkisson is the only MSM member covering Fast and Furious.
  • The family of murdered U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry were not impressed with Holder’s testimony: “I thought he was very evasive. I thought that this was his second time around, and I still didn’t get anything out of it — at all. Seems like all the questions that he was asked, he was evading or throwing someone else underneath the bus.” Also: “We’ve heard five different stories, and every time we hear (a new) one, (it) is different. We never got a straight answer.”
  • Neither was ranking Senator Charles Grassley: “We have his criminal assistant attorney general knowing about it way last year. How could it be that the attorney general didn’t know about it?”
  • “Former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, who resigned in August, admitted late Tuesday that he leaked a document aimed at smearing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent John Dodson, an Operation Fast and Furious whistle-blower.”
  • Sipsey Street provides a handy link to Texas Sen. john Cornyn’s graphical timeline of Eric Holder’s strange memory problems.
  • Cornyn also provided an admirable takedown of the MSM “Fast and Furious Was Exactly the Same of Bush’s Wide Receiver” talking point.