CNN: Who will pay for Fast & Furious?

[alemonkey]

If CNN is calling for Holder to be held responsible you know it's about to hit the fan. Contact your Congressmen!

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/13/opinion/navarrette-fast-furious/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Let's understand what all the fuss is about with the Obama administration's ill-conceived "Fast and Furious" operation -- or rather what it should be about. It's not about assigning blame, or playing "gotcha," or covering up mistakes. It's not about Republican critics forcing top administration officials to resign, or those officials spinning whatever fantastic narratives are necessary to avoid doing so. It's about who pays the price when government agencies make bad decisions.

 

[gbran]

There will be some lower tier folks who will be thrown under the bus. There may be some political price paid, but probably not much.

 

[EddieNFL]

Agent Brian A. Terry already paid a pretty hefty price. I hope and pray (but doubt) those responsible will be held accountable.

 

[dnmccoy]

Taxpayers...we always seem to bear the brunt

 

[Black_Sheep]

Regardless of who it was, the person that authorized F&F should be held accountable because it was so ill conceived and poorly executed...

 

[exavid]

Holder might end up stepping down, I'd rate that as better than 50/50. A few lower down folks will be offered up as sacrificial lambs and that'll be it. After all who in government cares about a border guard and a few hundred Mexicans anyway? The bastards will walk mostly.

 

[DC3-CVN-72]

CNN is thowing Holder under the bus with this pole to protect BHO. F&F goes all the way to the top ! Hilery is up to her neck in F&F also !

 

[REDMASTA]

Would love to see Holder given the boot.

 

[armoredman]

Then he can write his book, go on the speaking circuits, and collect his golden parachute retirement from our wallets.
Who ever gave the orders need to spend time in orange behind bars.

 

[Sav .250]

Trust your Gov`t to do the right thing.........

 

[publius]

If a group of gun dealers, acting without the cooperation of the ATF, had knowingly sold thousands of guns to Mexican criminals over a period of many months, people on all sides would be calling for them to be in jail, along with any co-conspirators.

Well, the co-conspirators work for the government. To me, that means a lot of people from the government AND some gun dealers need to spend time wearing orange.

Why does it seem that in the court of public opinion, the gun dealers get a pass and government employees are considered to be held responsible if they get fired? Getting fired should be only the beginning, just as losing the FFL should be only the beginning for the gun dealers. After the job loss comes the part about the years in orange.

 

[ny32182]

The gun dealers were compelled by the govt to break the law.

 

[M-Cameron]

Well, the co-conspirators work for the government. To me, that means a lot of people from the government AND some gun dealers need to spend time wearing orange.

my guess is the ATF didnt ASK the gun dealers politely to transfer the weapons....

im guessing it was more on the lines of " you ARE going to comply with us....or were going to revoke your FFL"


it doesnt quite seem right to punish the dealers for something they were forced to do.

 

[mknpwr]

my guess is the ATF didnt ASK the gun dealers politely to transfer the weapons....

im guessing it was more on the lines of " you ARE going to comply with us....or were going to revoke your FFL"


it doesnt quite seem right to punish the dealers for something they were forced to do.

While I agree with you, it matters what you can prove, not what you think in a court.

 

[S. Hill]

I hope the dealers were savvy enough to keep records of the conversations between themselves and the ATF agent(s) who authorized those sales. From what I've read, many of the dealers who sold the guns were suspicious, contacted the ATF for guidance, and were told by the agent to proceed with the sale.

In instances where that is the case, I can't fault the dealer. But like MknPwr says, if you don't have proof it will be the dealer's word against an agent of ATF when you are in court.

 

[ny32182]

If the ATF had the ability to pin the whole thing on the gun dealers, they would have done it long ago, and this entire narrative would be completely different. It would just be a story about incredibly corrupt gun dealers, but it isn't. As far as we have heard so far, no dealers associated with this have faced any real scrutiny at all, correct? Based on that alone I'd say there is an extremely high probability that there is ample evidence that the dealers were coerced and not acting according to their own wishes.

 

[DM~]

my guess is the ATF didnt ASK the gun dealers politely to transfer the weapons....

im guessing it was more on the lines of " you ARE going to comply with us....or were going to revoke your FFL"


it doesnt quite seem right to punish the dealers for something they were forced to do.

No, the dealers were lied to, to get them agree to letting the guns go. One of them recorded some phone conversations to prove it, and his attorney has released them to FOX news.

He did it to cover his azz, smart man!

DM

 

[doubleh]

Nothing much is going to happen at all. The news media will have something to keep their ratings up for awhile and then it will blow over. A few of the small players will bear the brunt of this and the real culprits will walk away unscathed. May not have the same job but they will still be free and OK. Gravity is still in effect and everything is still rolling downhill.

 

[Bobson]

Then he can write his book, go on the speaking circuits, and collect his golden parachute retirement from our wallets.
Who ever gave the orders need to spend time in orange behind bars.

I agree completely, but its not gonna happen, even if it should. Wealthy, powerful people don't go to prison in America, regardless of the crime committed.

 

[Bubbles]

More fuel for the fire, copy of letter to DoD at link:

CBS News: ATF Fast and Furious update: Congress seeks Defense Department records
Was a Defense Department organization aware of Operation Fast and Furious? A new letter from Congressional investigators obtained by CBS News asks the provocative question.

The letter from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is addressed to the Commander of Joint Task Force North in Fort Bliss, Texas.

It asks for all records pertaining to "Fast and Furious," the ATF case in which agents let thousands of guns "walk" into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels. The idea was to try to take down a major cartel. Instead, weapons turned up at violent crimes all over Mexico and at the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry last December...

"We understand that JTF North may have been aware of Operation Fast and Furious," says the letter ...or similar operations involving other agencies in which weapons may have been transferred south of the border."

JTF North is a Dept. of Defense organization tasked to support federal law enforcement agencies in identifying and interdicting suspected threats along the border.

 

[blue_ridge]

There will be some lower tier folks who will be thrown under the bus. There may be some political price paid, but probably not much.

This is the bored attitude that allows these things to go unpunished. Only massive public outrage makes things happen. So you have two choices, 1) let the media decide for you which issues get public attention 2) MAKE YOUR OUTRAGE PUBLIC. Tell your friends, call your congressman, write your local newspaper, vote in every election.

This country is hanging on to individual rights by a thin thread. There are too many citizens asleep at the wheel.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Would love to see Holder given the boot.

Given the boot? He ought to be given the needle! He is directly implicated in the death of a federal LEO.

 

[Hypnogator]

He is directly implicated in the death of a federal LEO.

Great cartoon in the Arizona Star today. Would have reproduced it here, except for the copyright problem. Holder saying, "Fast and Furious is making a mountain out of a molehill." Next panel shows him with on foot on Brian Terry's grave, saying "It's actually slightly more than a molehill."

How true.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Remember the big fuss the Democrats made when someone in the Bush administration revealed the name of a "CIA operative?" Where's their outrage over this killing of a federal LEO?

 

[1911Tuner]

It's not about Republican critics forcing top administration officials to resign, or those officials spinning whatever fantastic narratives are necessary to avoid doing so. It's about who pays the price when government agencies commit crimes and break laws that they're sworn to uphold.

Fixed it.

As to who will pay? The lowest rung on the ladder possible. If the top dogs could lay it all on a rookie field agent, they'd do it without blinking.