Newt Gingrich appeared on CNBC last night and argued, with a straight face, that the so-called "Fast and Furious" controversy was part of an elaborate ploy to enact gun control. He wasn't kidding.
As Gingrich sees it, the Bush and Obama administrations deliberately attempted misguided sting operations so there would be deadly gun violence along the U.S.-Mexican border, which in turn would repulse the American mainstream, which in turn would create a demand for gun-control legislation, which in turn would cause Congress to pass gun-control laws, which in turn would cause a breakdown of Second Amendment rights.
Well, you might be thinking, Newt Gingrich is, you know, Newt Gingrich. Surely more sensible and more responsible figures in American politics see this conspiracy theory as ridiculous. But therein lies the point: this crackpot idea is the basis for the "controversy" itself.
Yesterday, when I called the Fast and Furious story "kind of silly," I received a nice note from a conservative reader, asking why I was so dismissive of the "scandal." I believe Rachel's segment last night answered that question extremely well. For those of you who missed the show and can't watch clips online:
"[T]he theory here is the Obama administration [is] being super lax in gun control as a conspiracy in order to be super tough on gun control. What? [...]
"If you care to look, yes, this is exactly as crazy as it seems. This is a very strange and implausible and perhaps impossibly implausibly, cockamamie, make-your-cell-phone-out-of-aluminum-foil thing that has animated the right for more than a year now."
Bob Herbert told Rachel last night, "[T]he idea this had something to do with the Obama administration wanting to undermine Second Amendment rights is madness of the highest order."
And yet, this nuttiness has been fully embraced by many House Republicans, many Senate Republicans, Fox News, Newt Gingrich, the NRA, and some deeply strange folks on far-right blogs and talk radio. To put it mildly, it's disconcerting.
Leave a Comment:
Executive privilege is a useful tool used many times by many other presidents. Issa is the one that deserves our contempt for his relentless partisanship and utter intransigence, ignoring important issues and instead doing the bidding of the RNC and Karl Rove just to win the election for Romney. Apparently House Republicans truly believe they have no better business to conduct than to put together a massive show trial of the best Attorney General in American history and waste tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to make repeated attempts at embarrassing the president http://www.sunstateactivist.org
It's like watching the cartoon "The Roadrunner" Guess who the Roadrunner is, President Obama.
If this "theory" were true, then that means that all of the banking/wall street deregulation's that were enacted by Bush (and continued by Obama) were to incite the financial 07-08 crash just so that it would repulse the American mainstream enough to support the gov'mint responding by coming back around and enacting even tougher regulations than there were before it deregulated them... right? Yeah... right lol!
I think you flatter these people by calling them insane, Mr. Benen. They're only insane if it's the kind of insanity that falls out of a bull's ass.
Is it insanity if it wins elections?
yes because then they 'rule'...this garbage is ruining the country. The House spouts JOBS JOBS JOBS and then uses their time in government issuing a contempt citation, not for the Fast and Furious operation but because Holder refuses to be their 'boy'...in the NINE TIMES he has been called before him.
oklahoma62
Time spent learning the intricacies of the process of governance would serve you very well. With the unprecedented used of the filibuster the minority party has been most successful in stopping progress in the corrections needed to return this country to it's normal seat of excellence.
What job did you lose? Let me guess -- not English teacher.
Oh, wait. You probably are qualified to teach English -- in Oklahoma.
Buffoon alert. Don't feed the trolls.
Definition of the word "GOVERNANCE"
NOUN
1.
manner of government: the system or manner of government
2.
state of governing a place: the act or state of governing a place
3.
authority: control or authority ( formal )
I didn't need to use spell check as the word was spelled correctly in the first place.
I hope this helps and remember "A mind is a terrible thing to waste".
Why is something that happened 6 years ago of any importance now? Maybe if we ignore Issa he will go away. He ignores us. I still believe he is auditioning for VP. He can't even look people in the eye when he speaks. He looks down a lot or blinks real fast and turns away. This is not an honest person folks. But, he is pretty brave to fight against the NRA all by himself, I think he does have some help. He needn't make a production out of it though. What a waste of tax dollars used in order for him to stage a dramatic farce. Do these people even think these things through before testing them out ? There are people unbeknowest to him that unfold information and get to the bottom of things. This is something they should be doing. Their existence living in shallow water has impeded their intellectual growth. They rely too heavily on the ignorance of a few.
Issa will never go away...he wants that war with Iran, badly...he has dual citizenship and has an agenda
Issa is an Iranian?
Ok,ok, Newt you nailed it. Democrats bad, Tea Baggers good. So now that the House has saved the second amendment, now can they get on to the business of creating jobs they so deeply care about?
Oh no no, they've got much more important things to do, like fighting the gay scourge and re-re-reaffirming the US motto and the like. Jobs are so last century.
I'm shocked that you are shocked . The closer we get to the election the more rabid they will become . I shudder to think of the Sh*tstorm of lies that the superpacs will be unleashing soon .
Bear in mind they can't run against the real Obama so they have made one up .
This is their world and everything else is lies dontchknow. At least that's what Hannity tells me
This President is really smart.First he hatches a plot from birth to become the first black POTUS.Then he hatches another to build on a program that was dreamed up by the Bush adm. to get a border patrol agent killed so he can have an argument for gun control.How stupid do the republicans think we are out here?
I don't think there is much time for them to go back to school either. Apparantally, they've missed a few lessons.
They think you have and IQ below 70 my dear. Unfortunately, 50% of Americans come way too close to that number.
Usually conspiracy theories have a few unexplained details that require answering: the magic bullet; the collapse of three towers on 9/11 each damaged differently, but falling the same way; a meeting at Cheney's with oil execs and maps of oil fields, etc. But Republicans create theories out of pure speculation about motive: they don't challenge climate scientists - they merely suggest it's about pandering for votes. No birth certificate? A colonialist plot. Auto bailout? Pandering to unions. Bank regulations? A desire to end capitalism. Health care reform? Population control.
About the only thing they've accomplished are new and improved ways to lie. That's one thing they have perfected.
The Conservatives live wholly inside of George Orwell's book, "1984"
From Wikipedia:
Fox News doesn't bother to go back and change past news articles, they just make up whatever fits their ideology. Reagan started the Cult of Personality and thoughtcrimes fit the current meme in the GOP precisely. Remember the outrage when Newt attached Romneys business record?
Big Brother is actually Big Business and Citizens United made them 'more equal'.
I think they are actually trying to reinact the movie Fahrenheit 411, that one scares the bajeebies out of me. The one about the giant talking crabs was extremely frightening. Maybe they are going to turn into giant Blobs and run right over us.
Oklahoma62, How much do they pay trolls these days? You don't seem very good at it, just sayin.
Cuba reminds me of a very handsome young man who played a very important role in The Cuban missile crisis. And it wasn't Kennedy, hint, hint,knudge, knudge, you know what I mean you know what I mean.
@oklahoma62,
I am sure you do. And I am sure you get cable at that trailer park you are living in.
I guess you think it's "Kind of silly" that a border patrol agent was killed with a gun that was let go from our so called government....
He died with honor serving his Country. Just like millions of others. What is disgraceful is Issa using this poor family for political gain. They oughta send him to stand guard and take over patrolling the border. He'd last about 2 seconds then you will see what Fast and Furious really means , he'd be out of there like a bat out of hell.
Yes, indeed. Almost as "silly" as Pat Tillman killed by friendly fire- and then covered up by the Bush Pentagon.
I'm old, and my memory isn't what it used to be. Refresh it with the stories about the contempt of congress vote on that one, please.
The origin of the gun is irrelevant because the Border Patrol agent would have been just as dead. Do you seriously think the drug cartels have a shortage of weapons that only "Fast and Furious" could provide? Ridiculous.
The border patrol agent was NOT killed with a gun that was walked. Two of these guns were found at the scene. I can't understand that responsible journalists would keep using that phrase when describing the incident because people - like you - get the impression that the guns had something to do with the death.
I believe all of those guns are American made.
I think (as above ) some reporter with two operating brain cells should go to some border area gun shops and ask Hows Biz? Sell a lot of guns to Mexicans?
I would imagine they will be somewhat reluctant to enumerate that part of their sales history.
I see an excellent opportunity for James Okeefe to do one of his famous sting videos complete with a Mexican sombrero and Pancho Villa mustache.
STOP TRYING TO DISTRACT! If you think the contempt vote was about the agent, I have a bridge to sell you. If the House GOP CARED about the agent then why didn't they call in ANY of the Bush Administration people that were involved in WIDE RECEIVER to talk about the program. NOT.ONE.WORD. They don't WANT to know the TRUTH. They want to 'shame' Holder.
But "guns don't kill people", right?
"And yet, this nuttiness has been fully embraced by many House Republicans, many Senate Republicans, Fox News, Newt Gingrich, the NRA, and some deeply strange folks on far-right blogs and talk radio. To put it mildly, it's disconcerting."
Oh, that's not all, folks. This has the wingnuts in hyperventilating high dudgeon over at the WP:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fast-and-furious-scandal-obama-exerts-executive-privilege-house-panel-moves-forward-with-contempt-vote/2012/06/20/gJQAGImIqV_allComments.html?ctab=all_&
Utterly trivial question: Am I the only one who keeps being reminded of "Fast and Bulbous"?
"...also tapered." :-)
Kind of ironic isn't it that the big cheese of the NRA Wayne Lapierre is a card-carrying, golden yellow Chickenhawk, with a backbone made up of jello!
Where was LaPierre during the Vietnam War? Born in Oct of 1948 he wasn't in the military, so where was he? You'd think that the biggest mouth for the NRA would have been in every major battle during the Vietnam War protecting our 2nd Ammendent rights from the Viet-Cong, but he was no where to be found at least in S. Vietnam! Where were you Wayne?
Here's a question for NRA members who actually served in Vietnam:
How does it feel having the executive vice-president of the NRA, your spokesman and American coward, speak for you?
Feels fine. He is still an American advocating the defense of the US Constitution.
Semper Fedilis. Something a homosexual like you wouldn't understand..
A/1/26th Khe Sanh, An Loc Province, RVN
He would have been graduating High School in 1966. And they were drafting them right off the football fields after they received their diplomas. So, maybe he hung out with Romney who was busy cutting peoples' hair. How shallow and bullyish a man he must have been, do you really think he impressed the girls, just the cheerleaders.
A Marine that can't spell Semper fidelis ?
12.1 reported as inflammatory
Day...,
I noticed that immediately.
Jake,
"Inflammatory" and "no value".
There is at least one othr troll here whose posts are just as bad.
14 deleted, USMCVET68 flaming everyone:
...
You're suspended for a week for violating #1 of the Code of Honor.
Thank you; I don't envy you the moderation job as the year goes on, we can only expect more like that.
I am disgusted with unfounded conspiracy theories and the millions of tax payers dollars spent to serve no other purpose than to attempt to bolster the GOP candidate/party. They treat the American public with contempt-thinking that we'll buy into this idiocy.
It isn't because this is not watergate. It is partisan politics, but a paid troll doesn't get paid to post facts.
Look it up for yourself, sheppy.
I need a hot shower with lots of soap after reading the trash on this site. Can you get AIDS from touching this site?
You're not a very nice man, you should leave. I do want to thank you though first for defending our country. I am so sorry for what you had to go through. I work with Vietnam vets and I still cry when I hear the stories. God Bless you. But, you shouldn't talk bad about people you don't even know. A lot of homosexuals served right along side of you. And they had your back at least be quiet about your negative feelings. What would Jesus do? Would you stand around him persecuting him too if he were homosexual?
First of all -- thank you very much for your service to our country.
Second -- I don't think you can get AIDS from this site, but just in case, maybe you should go away and never come back.
IF you are a Vet AND you fought to save our 'rights' in this country then maybe you should actually LEARN what it means to be an American.
aww, poor little homophobe
methinks thou protesteth too much
hiding your attractions/urges?
damskippy,
DON'T thank him! I spent more than a few years in the military, and I know his type. He was NOT serving the US, he was "serving" his own hyper-nationalistic, bigoted version of what he wants the country to be.
First of all, nobody mentioned "democracy" but you. Second, our republic is a representative democracy. I know it's difficult, but things can belong to more than one category. I am a human, and a man, and a husband, and a father, and a teacher. The United States is a constitutional republic and a representative democracy, and a federal system, etc. Whenever someone on the right claims that "we're NOT a democracy, we're a republic", they're usually just trying to say that they don't think everyone in the U.S. should be allowed to practice popular sovereignty. The meme "we're a republic not a democracy" tends to be spread by those who would prefer to only allow those like themselves to have any political power. It's a meme that's ignorant of political history and the vocabulary needed to discuss such history intelligently.
"I need a hot shower with lots of soap after reading the trash on this site. Can you get AIDS from touching this site?"
No Cletus, you silly goose. But it has been scientifically proven that you can get toxic shock syndrome from leaving a tampon in for more than eight hours. Sadly, it appears that said malady has taken its hold on you ... have your doctor surgically remove said tampon from your vagina before you lose that last remaining brain cell.
Is the problem that the President wants to take away their Second Amendment rights... or is it to scare people into THINKING he wants to take away their Second Amendment rights -- so they'll go to the polls and vote for the guy with the white skin?
Second Amendment rights states We have the right to bear arms. Which actually means to show strength not carry guns and shoot people. Bear arms means strength. The meaning was lost and now The Republicans think it means to actually carry guns.
Are you for real? do you truly believe that the right to bear arms actually means to show strength? How do you propose to do that if you are attacked, lets say in your home, how are you going to show strength? The second amendment to our Constitution is very clear about what "bearing arms" means..the Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm, unconnected to service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home as well as each person having the ability to defend our nation or State (A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.) This belief isnt partisan ... it is constitutional
Tai Quan. Sometimes if you use your brain you can get out of a lot of hairy situations. If we had chosen to do that a long time ago, we wouldn't be in a position of having to defend ourselves.We didn't start the fire.We're trying to put it out, and if people always resort to violence to resolve their differences we will end up with annihilation. You don't want that now, do you? Again, A Bear has very strong arms in which to crush anyone with. He is not holding a gun. He plays fair and uses his own attributes to win disagreements.
Yeah ok... tell that to the 80 year old widow or that 20 something young mother when 1 or more rather large men break into their home with a gun... My sister knew how to defend herself, didnt own a gun and was murdered when 2 men broke into her house... what now....do you think those men that killed her played fair (they stabbed her over 40 times because she was fighting)?... go blow fairness out your bottom end...
Gun control does not seek to take the weapon for self-defense in the home... unless you're crazy and think that you need an assault weapon like an AK-47 to defend your home. Nothing was stopping her from having a weapon for defense, and nobody advocating controls on guns is trying to do so.
Reread Angel#77 comments above and then tell me who is not looking to control guns everywhere.. Plus I tend to like my AR-15 but do not want a Chinese or Russian Ak.. Buy American
This whole conversation is ridiculous because we should be talking about why America is the most gun violent nation on the planet, but instead we talk about single incidents that do not shine a light on the big picture, which our Congressmen and women are supposed to be dealing with; the big picture.
They never received the memo, I guess.
This is a pure election year political stunt, Issa demands documents of private, internal Executive decision making sessions that have nothing to do with his investigations and no administration would turn over. To have to turn over these records would be the equivalent of giving Congress the right to "bug" all Executive offices. President Obama has to invoke executive privilege, he has no choice.
Then he plays it as if the Obama administration is shady and secretive and has something to hide. The right wing media picks up the story and runs with it.
Just normal election year dirty tricks from the Republicans. They have been doing this every election since Richard Nixon.
I'm thinking Executive Privilge is only used when there's something to hide. Air it out. I'd like to know who was reckless enough to think that this was a good idea.
Maybe, but it isn't necessarily about F&F. Holder has already handed over the pertinent documents. Issa is just grandstanding, getting exposure and trying to make the public think there's something there
Personally, I don't think he ever got over being pushed out of the race for CA governor by Arnie. I can still picture him standing there crying on TV after Arnie took away his candy. Haha.
What a shame that he is chairman instead of a good, decent man like Henry Waxman.
And, so-called Marine vet-Go take a shower and put the soap in your mouth. Nobody forced you to come here.
Then you don't understand EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE. There are several parts to it. ONE of them is a 'deliberative executive privilege' which is issued to study ALL the documents to see which ones should be kept secret for national security. THAT is what the President invoked.
It's the same ploy used over and over again by the right. They are trying to frighten the right wing into believing that liberals want to take their guns away.
This Michael Break your window guy,, When my cousins came from the west coast they told us how this man wants to start a whole new order movement against JEWS CATHOLICS , Blacks, Gays, They went on to say they attended a couple of meeting because he promised to give them guns if they attended all the meetings and he promised this to a group of NGYG. (New German Youth Group) and they went on to a Republican's BBQ where a lot of Republican official where there.. I wonder if Cantor know he is a jew. But who knows Cantor would sale his own mother for power. This man wants an UP Rise of Germans to take down our Goverment. This is a movement to destroy and Eliminate those of us that are not blond with blue eyes and are not 100% Lutherans. If we don't take a look at this and keep thinking that this is a joke. it will happen again when in Germany the people couldn't believe that Hitler was a bad man when he came into power because he was such a religious human being.
Read my post. You fell into the trap Issa set. He MADE President Obama invoke Executive Privilege by sending him a request that violated the Separation of Powers in the Constitution. Simple as that. Damn tricky politics.
Read my post. You fell into the trap Issa set. He MADE President Obama invoke Executive Privilege by sending him a request that violated the Separation of Powers in the Constitution. Simple as that. Damn tricky politics.
Read my post. You fell into the trap Issa set. He MADE President Obama invoke Executive Privilege by sending him a request that violated the Separation of Powers in the Constitution. Simple as that. Damn tricky politics.
The Republicans are really sounding disingenuous..... These so called politician are repeating the insane talking points of Mike Vanderboegh an extreme right winger that does not and should not have the right to carry a gun yet alone breathing free air.... After the publishing the that rocks should be hurled through the windows of all Democrats that supported the health care reform bill.... Does the Issa, Cornyn, and now the failed presidential candidate Gingrinch know how insane this sounds? This comes from the same Party who supports 'stand your ground', allowing the band on assault rifle band tom expire. This band also included the extended magazines..... No Mr. Issa. Mr. Gingrinch and Mr. Cornyn, we do not need a Joel Surnow/ George Lucas style conspiracies when we have you and your like minded sycophants making policy......
What will the republican followers fall for next, ZOMBIES?