View full sizeIt's Darrell Issa's job in Congress to investigate, but will his efforts result in us getting to the bottom of Fast and Furious or is he just trying to score political points which then fuel talking points?Good morning
. It's
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
. It was a bit cool on the bike ride in today but it's expected
.
A number of you have asked
in other forums what I thought of
, the idiotic ATF program that "walked" dangerous weapons into Mexico and reportedly led to many deaths.
Well, I think it was poor policy and a tremendously stupid thing to do.
Congress, as it should, is investigating how it happened. That's fine with me.
The president wants to use executive privilege to keep Congress from getting at papers the GOP says are involved? Fine. Go to court. It's the way it works. GWB did it six times during his presidency. Obama did it last week for the first time on his watch.
If conservatives are upset with Obama's decision, I suppose they were outraged by Bush's attempts. They weren't? I'm shocked!
But, is the aftermath Watergate, as the GOP talking points in recent days have been pushing? Certainly not yet. Likely not at all.
Do I think it was an attempt to spur gun control in the U.S.? If it was, it certainly didn't work. How many guns has Obama taken off the streets via legislation in the past three years? None? Oh, I guess that was just a talking point.
So the attorney general is in contempt of Congress? I'm betting the attorney general has contempt for Congress. I know I do. And, what if he is? Reagan's Justice Department set the standard for what happens next. Congress votes for contempt of an executive official, the case goes to the Justice Department, which, as it did in the Bush years, refuses to prosecute.
Head House investigator Darrell Issa,
making himself super rich while working in Congress, knew this last week when he got headlines as his House committee voted to declare Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. It's a meaningless, partisan declaration that gets us nowhere closer to figuring out why a government department tried to send guns to Mexico to track what would happen next.
As I said, the policy at the root of the investigation is a really stupid policy.
The investigation, which is absolutely no surprise, is all about politics. If the attorney general thought up Fast and Furious and then tried to cover up its terrible results, it's time for another attorney general. If that's not the case and it's just another effort of Obama haters to do political damage, then it's just another ridiculous effort from Congress -- and, by the way, it goes on no matter who runs Congress -- that will, in the end, be meaningless.
During the Bush years, I found it frustrating when the executive branch would stonewall congressional investigations. So I figure those folks out there right of Romney are equally upset about Holder not giving requested documents to Congress.
But, in the end, if the only goal of any of these investigations is to win political points, they have nothing to do with Watergate, when our democracy was threatened, and nothing to do with benefiting the public.
What's in the competition?:
. Wonder if Bill White would get up early to give me an edit. It would be much appreciated.