Where there is smoke – “revisited”

I speak with twenty-eight years of trying to lock up the bad guy, and did I ever make a mistake? Sure, because the jury said so. That’s America. Did I ever persecute or prosecute an innocent person knowingly? No, sometimes there is an unknown factor where a cop is directed to carry out the directions of the court.

Did I ever partake in proactive police work and try to entice a perpetrator to act at a time when they could be arrested? Sure. Did I ever manufacture evidence? No, I never had to. I was chastised by my department once for offering exculpatory evidence so I know it does happen.

So, scrutinizing this article, one of many that I receive daily I made some notes. The contributor is rock solid American Marine. He is the messenger, and we put it out to people that scrutinize information like we all should. All comments have merit. One anonymous comment was that this is all political show. There is some truth to that, it would be, “Who’s Show?” I think I know.

First, the term “Gun Walker ” is used. There is not any mention of “Fast & Furious”(F&F). I think they are playing that down. It was a failure and one would hope that the originators of F&F were demoted for the program’s apparent failure. No, this did not happen, like most governmental programs that fail they are not really abandoned. They are “Revisited,” and usually refinanced with more taxpayer money. Before this happens again it needs a lot of publicity and scrutiny, hopefully court prosecution.

The ground work, when they first mentioned “Straw Purchases” of firearms found to be involved in Mexico. The queen, Hillary Clinton was taking the stage proclaiming our lax gun laws and ability for citizens to purchase guns were the causes of the violence in Mexico. This also occurs at a time that NATO was pressuring the USA about gun sales. Then there were some studies done that found many of the weapons of choice in Mexico including grenades and full auto assault rifles were coming from outside of the country. Small wonder with billions of drug money coming from the US? They could probably beat Iran for a nuclear bomb. Little did the citizens know at the time that this rhetoric was happening, a slip shod government program was taking place. A program that was not planned well by real cops only bureaucrats, Fast and Furious.

Then it all unraveled. Some two hundred (?) plus gun related deaths in Mexico, our own border agent is gunned down and agents are selling out the bosses at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF). We find that some seventeen-hundred (?) guns were permitted to be walked across the border by civilians, purchases that would have been stopped by legitimate gun dealers were permitted by the BATF direction. It is so convoluted and diabolical it amazes me. Ollie North was an Altar Boy compared to these morons. It certainly appears that the motivator, had the story not broken and continued to even more extreme violence and death. Then, the weapons to be tracked were not, not that they ever could be safely. The operation was a political move, to benefit who? Well, we can figure it out.

Given the anarchy of Mexico and the looseness of our Homeland Security it was destined to happen. The result would have been major overhaul of our current gun laws and the public would have demanded it. NATO would have used it like a poster of the whiners and the gut-turners would have been out in force. Do the investigators of F&F know? Of course they do. What the F&F did is perpetrate major crime. They contributed to the murders and violence as co-conspirators or entering a joint venture. Knowing the havoc the weaponry could cause and proceeding with the plan anyway is diabolical. What could it be if it was not for monetary gain? Control, power, political power. Not to possibly apprehend anyone, they found out early in the game that did not work. Politics, the worst kind. Ron Emanuel’s get something out of every crisis. Major gun legislation, meant to sap the second amendment, every liberal’s dream. Remember, how they have been reeling since the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in DC on gun ownership? This would have been a major payback regardless of how it weakened the country. Politically nobody would have benefited except the president in his quest for the next election. I imagine the legislation proposal for limitation to civilian gun ownership is kicking around Holder’s office someplace. He telegraphs his chess moves. The Attorney General needs to go.

We have to look how cases are developed on the federal level. They are usually the result of local primary law enforcement information. The information can be from any investigation or arrest where the content of information has the aspects of federal crime. Where the jurisdiction of the crime is across state lines or the Feds have the money to do what is needed with technology. Sometimes like Ruby Ridge it is developed through informants, callous handling of unsubstantiated informants are the worst source of information. Over zealous and inexperienced officers of the law without proper guidance can ruin their career shamefully acting on such information.

Federal Bureaus are constantly attempting to justify their own budgets. The more cases the bigger the budgets, more agents, supervisors and room for patronage jobs. Welcome home politics. This works on every level of government from a small town police force to the FBI. The majority of cases, if there is a qualified person conducting them, can be handled at the lowest level. Every department knows to be successful and grow it is necessary to build your case load. Every cop knows that Federal Bureaus go shopping for anything that state and local departments are ready to throw their way. We are setting the stage where agents develop a case, taking something covered by state statute and making it a federal crime. Why? Publicity, J. Edgar’s philosophy, citizens knowing protection from crime by the Federal Government. The worst thing a citizen can hear, “We are from the federal Government and we are here to help you, “Ronald Reagan

By bringing on the feds local politicians gain the glamour, local police are flipped a few fringes. Local law enforcement attending federal academies or specialized equipment, the buddy syndrome. The only people losing are the tax payers and if it makes their local cop a better one, why not?

While we are at it, what about T. McVeigh and Oklahoma City? A former GI, an alleged anarchist, militia member blows up a federal building with massive homemade explosives. He quietly and decisively creates the bomb and the plan, allegedly almost alone, with some superficial help. He displayed about as much emotion as Charlie Manson. A character flaw has to be special for the destruction of innocent people to make a statement, retaliation for Waco?  Come on! That is a weak motive. I read somewhere, where he (Country boy McVeigh) visited the Philippine Islands on a regular vacation, of course he never went anywhere else, that I know of. Strange, my last visit there I recall Muslim and Communist presence. He probably just had some extra money to blow, that is a pun. If he had his vehicle registered correctly and the trooper had not stopped him after the bombing it could have been one of the mysteries of our lifetime. We still do not have the whole story. We got him executed in a hurry, thank goodness we did not waterboard him, that would have been cruel.

The mention of Ruby Ridge is disgusting. I do not know who is the bigger fool here? The agent that entices someone to cut off a gun barrel for good bucks or the idiot that does it. We know it takes a fifty-cent hack saw blade to do the job and any dope can do it. It cost Randy Weaver a wife and son. Read the case, you decide. It goes into depth how Weaver was begging the government to recognize he was being set up.   It was not right and innocent people died.

Moving to Waco. Branch Davidians, David Koresh was a gun dealer and whack job. The ATF knew it and they gave him a federal firearms license. They felt he was violating something. Really? He was only buying guns and not selling any? Strange, for a gun dealer. Provisions of the license include agents can come into the registered premises and do an inventory and records check at any time. I think it came out in the trial he was trying to comply with that to keep his license. They could have shut him down and they did not. They could have arrested him away from the compound and they did not.

On February 28, 1993, the BATF went on an armed confrontation that they expected to win with an overwhelming force. Apparently that was a false premise as six Dividians were killed, Koresh was wounded with his father in-law, four BATF agents were killed and the confrontation lasted for another fifty-one days. It ended with a 6 hour military tank siege using inflammatory material that burned the compound down on a windy day. That was great planning if all the inhabitants were hostiles, for my mind they were like any other hostage captives. I had four years as a hostage negotiator and I believe the job done at Waco was amateurism. Thirty four children and nineteen women died that day. There are many more specifics but each time I hear the name Janet Reno or Janet Nepolitano I grow nauseous.

So, revisiting the past atrocities of government at work. It is great we can talk about them, we should be working toward preventing them from happening again. We need to see where the aggression starts and what the motive truly is. “Where there is smoke” is such an article to awaken the populace. If you find substance in it good. If you don’t, and it gets your skivvies in a knot we have your attention. I think one comment called it hyperbole. Sure, how many dead does it take to make it not exaggerated? Waco, Oklahoma City, Ruby Ridge, Fast & Furious if that is hyperbole, I’m your grand-mother. Another comment was about who is doing the articles and how it is written and the character of the reporter. I did not check, I did not consider the article to be extremely good but it was a door opener. Another, worried about all who are bringing attention to government out of control. Who is going to rein them in Sunshine, if the citizens don’t? Our only weapon is who we vote for, use it wisely.  We also must realize that this is not something we will find "in truth" in the Berkshire Eagle.

Semper fi,

peterR

If we do not need a border fence in the Southwest, why around the White House?  Fences are not control?  We should take them down at the airports too, that could be monitored by hundreds of rattle snakes and coyotes as well.  The  facts are they do work, I question the motives of anyone that says they do not.