[identity profile] sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] talkpolitics
Last week the Congressional Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 23 to 17 (down party lines) to hold to hold US Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress for attempting to Obstruct thier ivestigation into the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry who was killed by a rifle registered to the US Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (BATFE).

It has since been revealed that BATFE Agents along the Arizona/Mexico Border had been providing weapons to the Signolla Drug Cartel. I posted about the story when initially broke here.

Holder initially denied any knowledge of of the policy, and later defended it as simply the continuation of a Bush-era program called "Operation Wide Reciever". He has since withdrawn those statements. Holder has not yet been formally held in contempt of Congress. The full House still needs to approve the resolution in order for that to happen. But President Obama has elected to support Holder by asserting executive privilege over the documents subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee.

This raises some interesting questions...

Actual lawyers feel free to corrct me, but as I understand it executive privilege allows the president to withhold documents and other materials that would reveal advisory opinions and recommendations by which governmental policies are formulated. By invoking executive privilege Obama and Holder are essentially admitting that "allowing" guns into Mexico was a policy descision.

Cynics have theorized that this was an effort to justify increased Gun-Control and Federal intervention in southern states. Others see it as simply stupidity and negligence. But what the question I find truly fascinating is "Why has the Obama adminisration chosen to make a stand here?"

I've been expecting Holder to get the boot for a couple of years now but it still hasn't happened. Historically Obama has been willing to sever ties with people who's association has become a liability. Holder is becoming a massive target for the Right and seems to rate an indifferent shrug from the left, so why protect him?

I have a few theories which (in order of increasing cynicism) are...

1: Holder and Obama are friends and Obama is genuinely prepared to risk his own reputation to protect him.

2: Obama doesn't think the charges will stick and sees this as an opprotunity to fuck over a Republican-lead investigation.

3: In relation to #3 Obama and Holder have bought into thier own hype and actually believe that nobody cares about violence in Mexico, they just hate black people.

4: The subpoenaed documents include information that could implicate Obama in wrong doing.

5: Holder has dirt on Obama and is blackmailing him.

Anyone else have any ideas?

(no subject)

Date: 26/6/12 19:45 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] foreverbeach.livejournal.com
I love Rome. For all the problems here in Europe, and in particular here in Italy, I wish I had moved here 15 years ago. However, the Vatican gave me the everloving creeps -- like being in the presence of some supernatural evil or something, and I don't even believe in any of that shit.

(no subject)

Date: 26/6/12 20:03 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com
I want to visit, but I hate flying, Scares the hell out of me. And I'm claustrophobic in planes, although I heard in trans-Atlantic flights, they use bigger jets, so less...boxed in.

(no subject)

Date: 26/6/12 20:23 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] htpcl.livejournal.com
Watching this movie may help...



Or maybe not.

(no subject)

Date: 26/6/12 21:00 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] foreverbeach.livejournal.com
The trip over here sucked so badly that I have not yet flown back to the States. I am dreading it.

(no subject)

Date: 26/6/12 21:22 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com
Yeah a friend of mine-- his sister is an airline flight attendant. They had a flight so bad into Geneva, she nearly quit her job, her nerves were that fractured.

(no subject)

Date: 27/6/12 02:39 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] geezer-also.livejournal.com
That is really the pits. I would love to go back to Israel, but the thought of that much time in a plane again.....ugh!!!

(no subject)

Date: 27/6/12 03:15 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com
A friend of mine is over in Germany for just a month, and he flew direct from JFK to Frankfurt, and it took 3 days for him to get back to feeling normal from the jet lag. Going ahead time zone wise seems to be the killer, going back not so much. I'm working with lot of folks now in Israel and they've dropped hints I should come visit.

:-X

(no subject)

Date: 27/6/12 11:10 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] blue-mangos.livejournal.com
See, I'm the opposite, I can go ahead with no jet lag at all but coming back always takes me about a week to adjust. And you would have freaked out at my flight back from Greece. I was on that plane for 14 1/2 hours with delays and tailwinds.

(no subject)

Date: 27/6/12 14:55 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yes-justice.livejournal.com
At the plane prices, I throw my sleep schedule off 1 week ahead you can go through the jet lag ahead of time.

Nice to see you commenting again.

(no subject)

Date: 27/6/12 17:13 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] blue-mangos.livejournal.com
Thank you :)

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