The Trump Shutdown

In public fight with Democrats, Trump says he would be 'proud' to shut down government over border wall

Here's the Video link. Well worth the 15 minutes!

Fast and Furious Scandal Reaches Higher

"Fast & Furious" Hearings Raise More Questions Than Answers

The more information that comes out about the reckless "Fast and Furious" gun running operation conducted by the Phoenix BATFE office, the more clear it seems that knowledge of the operation, and approval for it, went a lot higher than the Phoenix field office, or even the BATFE.

There is now clear evidence, uncovered by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee headed by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) that senior Obama Administration officials were aware of this disastrous operation.

Last Tuesday, Rep. Issa conducted another round of hearings. Among those who testified were William Newell and William McMahon, BATFE Special Agents who oversaw the program in Phoenix . Those hearings revealed that senior Dept. of Justice officials, including former Deputy Attorney General David Ogden and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, knew about the program.

~source, the NRA

Just ask one small question - if Bush had done this... what would the reaction be?

The cover up is as important as who approved it.

Gunwalker Worse than Iran Contra?

If you haven't been following the story, maybe it's my fault I haven't been posting about it.

Let me give you a quick ramp up on Operation Fast and Furious.

"December 14, 2010, a special unit of the U.S. Border Patrol came across a group of heavily armed suspects near Rio Rico, Arizona. The Border Patrol team identified themselves as law enforcement officers, at which point the armed men open fire.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was hit in the pelvis by a single bullet and died the next morning. One of the suspects was captured, and two AK-pattern semiautomatic rifles recovered at the scene were identified by serial number as weapons that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) — acting in concert with and with the blessing of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) — allowed weapons smugglers to purchase at U.S. gun shops.

The weapons were just two of more than 2,000 firearms that ATF supervisors and the highest levels of DOJ management allowed to be “walked” across the border to narco-cartels in Mexico, in a scandal that promises to be more damning and deadly than Iran-Contra. …

The more than 2,000 weapons that the Obama Justice Department allowed to be delivered to Mexican narco-terrorist cartels are thought to have been used in the shooting of an estimated 150 Mexican law enforcement officers and soldiers battling the cartels. Two American law enforcement officers have also presumably fallen prey to these weapons, along with an unknown number of civilians on both sides of the border."

The question remains - how did ANYONE think this was a good idea? Let the little fish go, nab the bigger fish... But I've heard from fairly reliable sources, that the program was designed to mandate new Federal gun control rules, and the damn thing exploded on them.

Whatever their 'good' intentions were, there needs to be a full investigation and punishment needs to be dolled out with layoffs, arrests, and complete dismantling the ATF.

And to add fire to the firearms - The Justice Department (allegedly) obstructed Justice by witholding key information from Congressional investigators. That's bad.

It's also worth mentioning that Congressional hearings are forcing the Main Stream Media has been forced to follow this story as well. Never mind that it's been going on since Feb.

Oh, and one last note - the Fast and Furious investigation did not yield any big name arrests, like a Cartel.

Vigilantism on the Rise in Mexico

Meanwhile...

IN ASCENCION, MEXICO — In this dusty farm town, an hour south of the U.S. border, more than 40 people were abducted – one a week – in the first nine months of the year. Then, on Sept. 21, the kidnappings stopped.

That was the day a gang of kidnappers with AK-47s burst into Lolo’s seafood restaurant and tried to abduct the 17-year-old cashier. A mob of enraged residents chased down two of the teenage attackers and lynched them in a cotton field on the edge of town. “We’re not proud of what happened,” said Georgina “Coca” Gonzalez, who helped form an armed citizens’ group after the incident to fight crime and prevent kidnappings. “But we’re united now – the whole town. And we all want justice.”

Across the country, and especially in northern Mexico, the breakdown of the legal system is giving way to a wave of vigilante violence. As Mexicans grow frustrated with the depredations of drug mafias and the corruption and incompetence of authorities, some are meting out punishment the old-fashioned way, taking an eye for eye, or in some cases, an eye for a tooth. Some of these retributive acts have happened spontaneously, such as the Ascencion “uprising,” as many here have celebrated it. But other killings in the past year appear to have been carried out by shadowy forces who have left bodies along highways or hanging from bridges with handwritten notes that advertise the dead as “extortionists” or “kidnappers. Late last year, authorities discovered four bodies, including an alleged Monterrey gangster, Hector Saldana, and his two brothers, in a car in Mexico City. The deaths were announced by Mauricio Fernandez, the new mayor of the Monterrey suburb of San Pedro Garza Garcia, even before police identified the bodies.

Fernandez said he had nothing to do with the killings, although he boasted of his plans to create “cleansing teams” to rid his city of criminals.

“Sometimes coincidences happen in life. It’s better to see it that way,” Fernandez told a Monterrey newspaper.

People are standing up. Now if only there was some billionaire who has access to cutting edge tech and fashioned himself to be some sort of night creature that strikes fear in the hearts of men? Los Bats Meng.

What a DREAM

DREAM Act PASSES in the House of Representatives 216 Y- 198 N

After a lengthy debate this evening on the DREAM Act, it finally went to vote at 7:35 pm CMT Wednesday. After allowing several minutes for the vote to be taken, the final result was 216 Y -198 N. The Motion Passed.

A Bill needs support of a simple majority to move to the Senate. That means that 208 of the 414 Representatives voting must support the bill to pass the bill and move it to the Senate.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) said it makes no sense to punish children whose parents illegally brought them into this country.

“If you’re pulled over for a speeding ticket and you have a child in a car seat next to you,” he said, “that 2-year-old doesn’t get a speeding ticket. If there’s a bank robber who robs it with a toddler on their back, that toddler doesn’t spend a life in prison.”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who heads the House Immigration subcommittee, spoke on the House floor. She described the beneficiaries of the Dream Act as kids who grew up in the United States, and who often speak no other language but English, yet face dead ends once they graduate from high school.

“Their immigration status prevented them from working, paying taxes, serving in the military,” she said. “They could never get right with the law, even though they had done nothing wrong. The only thing they did was to obey their parents.”

It is expected that the Senate will take up the measure tomorrow.

Eh, tax payers were already giving these kids a meal, an education and medical care. What's the big deal? Discuss.

Immigrants, legal and not

That's great and all, but before I give you a Taco Bell Choco Taco Ice Cream Dessert, let me just say that this whole thing isn't about LEGAL immigration, but in fact - ILLEGAL immigration. I cannot stand by when illegals are referred to as immigrants; It's downright insulting to those individuals that waited and followed the rules... including millions of folks ancestors who played by the rules and also the folks from your country who had to wait six or seven years to be granted legal status.

And frankly, I'm getting sick of the debate about what's going on in AZ, especially by people who haven't read the bill or cared to follow what's been going on there for years, without any action by ineffectual leadership.

But, but, you can get deported for "looking reasonably suspicious".

But you have to break the law first... I suggest you read the actual law and quit quoting journalists who never read it prior to formulating an opinion on it.

Now of course if Rosco P. Coltraine in Phoenix tails you until you perform your typical rolling stop, or have a Mexican flag blocking your rear windshield -- yeah, he's going to take advantage of that and find a legal reason to interact with you. If, after your minor traffic stop, you've come into the country illegally, well, Jésus, you're going to have to go back home.

And this also applies to Polish, and Eastern Europeans, and folks who 'accidentally' over stay a work or academic visa.

Now, the Pew Hispanic Center notes that while the number of legal immigrants (including LPRs, refugees, and asylees) arriving has not varied substantially since the 1980s, the number of illegal aliens has increased dramatically and, since the mid 1990s, has surpassed the number of legal immigrants.

Gun Check Time!

Federal Agents Conducting House by House Gun Checks
by: Allison Bricker

BATF Agent

HOUSTON, TEXAS - The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF) agents are in the midst of fanning out across Texas in order to conduct house by house investigations into what the agency deems numerous “suspicious” firearms transactions and as a means to combat “narco-terrorism” along the U.S. /Mexican border.

In fact, the “suspicious” transaction searches are so loosely defined, that BATF agents ended up questioning a Houston area pastor who previously purchased two handguns for target practice, which is then flippantly chalked up as “hard to believe”. Additionally, interagency cooperation between the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the BATF have led to warrantless airplane surveillance of vehicles along the border.

After speaking to five offices within the agencies and being told by several agents they felt “uncomfortable” with my line of questioning, Special Agent, Public Information Officer Perot of the BATF, indicated that aerial surveillance does not require a warrant due to it taking place with the “public sphere” thereby meaning individuals should have no expectation of privacy.

perhaps even more alarming to Constitutionalists and civil libertarians than an “eye in the sky” with carte blanche authority to surveil, is the fact that the door to door firearms checks come at the behest of a foreign government. In 2008 alone, the Mexican government requested the BATF track down the original owner of 7,500 firearms used in drug crimes at American taxpayer expense.

“Ever turning up the heat on cartels, our law enforcement and military partners in the government of Mexico have been working more closely with the ATF by sharing information and intelligence,”

Kenneth Melson Acting Director BATF

Moreover, federal agents lament the tedious difficulty in conducting door to door firearm checks due to a current federal law prohibiting the use of a centralized database for gun owners. Alternatively, Mr. Eric Pratt of “Gun Owners of America” believes that a centralized database would only end up further infringing upon the inherent rights of law abiding gun owners. He goes on to state that criminals will still develop and expand avenues in order to arm themselves regardless of a behemoth centralized registry, just as they have after each previous “needed” addition to the nation’s gun laws. Further, by his analysis this is merely another attempt by federal authorities to scapegoat lawful gun owners when the actual issue border control, or lack thereof.

Source(s): Laredo, Texas Field Office of the DEA • Houston Field Division of the BATF • Houston Chronicle “Federal agents hunt for guns, one house at a time” published July 1, 2009 • Gun Owners of America

To the delight of the GOP...

Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban

(and Maybe Invade Mexico?)

Not learning from the Clintons, the Obama administration is going to seek to reinstate the assault weapons ban, said Attorney General Eric Holder.

"As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons," Holder told reporters.

Holder said that the ban would not only be a positive for the United States, it would help cut down on the flow of guns into Mexico, which is struggling with heavy violence among drug cartels.

"I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum." Holder was speaking after arrest of more than 700 people in a drug enforcement crackdown on Mexican drug cartels operating in the U.S.

Mexican government officials (well, I guess those not on the take from the cartels?) have complained that the availability of sophisticated guns from the United States have emboldened drug traffickers to fight over access routes into the U.S.

A State Department travel warning issued Feb. 20, 2009, reflected government concerns about the violence. This is, in your Cap'n's opinion, setting up US Army incursions into our Mexican neighbor before the end of the year. That's right, I am predicting Iraqi War veterans to conduct the Mexican-American War 2.0... at the very least, an "advisory role" in the Mexican attempts to "stop the violence" from those cartels. (MORE)

As it stands today, the Mexican Army is conducting operations on their own soil fighting the cartels. It's getting very serious.

Meanwhile, in a brief interview with ABC News (in an attempt to get both sides of the gun angle to this story), Wayne LaPierre, president of the National Rifle Association, said, "I think there are a lot of Democrats on Capitol Hill cringing at Eric Holder's comments right now."

During his confirmation hearing, Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee about other gun control measures the Obama administration may consider.

"I think closing the gun show loophole, the banning of cop-killer bullets and I also think that making the assault weapons ban permanent, would be something that would be permitted under Heller," Holder said, referring to the Supreme Court ruling in Washington, D.C. v. Heller, which asserted the Second Amendment as an individual's right to own a weapon.

For you Blasphemer's too young to remember, or those of you who just don't give a rip, The Assault Weapons Ban signed into law by President Clinton in 1994 banned 19 types of semi-automatic military-style guns and ammunition clips with more than 10 rounds. You'll also remember that Newt and the boys came in an kicked half the Democrats out of Congress... some attribute the Assault Weapons Ban as the catalyst that made it happen.

"A semi-automatic is a quintessential self-defense firearm owned by American citizens in this country," LaPierre said. "I think it is clearly covered under Heller and it's clearly, I think, protected by the Constitution."

Bottom line: We're gearing up for an incursion into Mexico, and the administration is using this opportunity as an excuse to reinstate the assault rifle ban.

The War Against America's Kids

Dora the Explorer and Caillou are calculated subversive propaganda machines brought forth by foreign governments to undermine the sanctity and security of the United States.

Since the passing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte [TLCAN], French: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain [ALENA]) the trilateral trade bloc in North America created by the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, there has been a war against the United States. And more importantly, against the future of America - through the children.

A note of history, Prior to sending it to the House, Bill Clinton introduced clauses, which, he hoped, would provide protections for American workers. It also required our “partners” to adhere to environmental practices and regulations similar those of the United States. Being able to enforce these clauses, especially with Mexico, was considered questionable at best. The House grudgingly approved NAFTA in, 1993, by a vote of 234 to 200. 132 Republicans and only 102 Democrats. That vote reflected the resistance President Clinton faced in force feeding the idea that NAFTA would truly benefit all Americans. The agreement was signed into law in the U.S. on December 8, 1993 by President Bill Clinton and went into effect on January 1, 1994.

Since then, the Canadian and Mexican governments have questioned whether they got the raw end of the stick. Ask a Canadian commodity exporter, or small Mexican corn farmer how well NAFTA has worked out for them.

They each decided to get back at the United States.

In a two pronged attack, the Canadian and Mexican governments began an all out assault on their neighbor. Knowing they couldn’t win a battle with their armies, they decided a secret war against the American children would be their most effective assault. Patience would reward them both.

1999, in a hidden bunker in Tijuana, the pilot episode of Dora the Explorer was created.

The show is about a little girl, about age 8, or “Ocho” that wanders around in the Mexican jungle with zero adult supervision. She is bilingual, has an enormous head, and screams every line of dialog. A talking naked monkey, save for his oversized red ‘boots’ which is where he derives his proper name, accompanies Dora on her trailblazing quests. Dora carries a backpack that is alive that holds a talking map that has a stereotypical Semitic voice. Since the map is beneficial to the outcome, it is questionable as to whether the character voice is intentionally Zionistic or not.

In her travels, there are typically many hazards Dora must overcome including downed bridges, falling stars, lost cities of gold suddenly appearing and speaking Spanish. There is also the presence of a bandit named “Swiper the Fox,” a kleptomaniac foiled only by screaming, “Swiper no swiping” a couple of times. No doubt this character shows kids that a life of petty crime is acceptable? At the very least, that crime can be tolerated as long as you simply ask your aggressor not to take your belongings.

Dora is capable of handling herself, as long as the kids speak along with her in a basic pretend low budget “interactivity.” The faux interactivity forces the little “Nino’s y Nina’s” to scream out Spanish to move the story line. The repetition and scientifically designed songs with Spanish phrases causes memorization and learning for the targeted age group of 1-4 year olds.

Also, and more genius, is the subtexual context in Dora the Explorer’s lack of parental figures that creates erosion of the American family unit. The lack of effectual parental figures, save for the once-in-a-while-product-placement crossover of her older cousin Diego, [which is the male cross over version of Dora] creates the illusion to a younger age set that parental supervision is not only unnecessary, it in fact, dilutes fun. Any parental involvement in a child’s activity should be shunned and greeted with disdain.

The success of Dora the Explorer merchandise ($1Billion and counting) is a calculation of the success of the mission to erode the traditional American family, and injecting Spanish into a toddler’s vocabulary.

To the North, in 1998, a second project was hatched. Operation Pebble. Theirs based on the French Canadian books by Christine L'Heureux. In French, the name cailloiu means, “pebble”, but can also mean “Bald Head.”

The storyline revolves around a, 4-year bald “big boy”, named Caillou. Caillou either whines or speaks in a baby voice. He’s rarely in trouble with his hopelessly perky and indulgent parents, who are at his constant beck and call. The family dynamic here is the exact opposite of the Mexican Dora Project. The undermining aspect of the authoritarian love is not limited to his overseeing parental units, but all adults that he encounters. An all knowing “adult” to look over his every misstep advocates the advancement of an authoritarian “Nanny State.”

In addition the creators found it necessary to gain further sympathy for the character and undermine the United State’s healthcare system. Caillou (obviously) has cancer. The fact that he is four, and is living what seems to be a ‘normal’ life, rather than strapped to a chair receiving chemotherapy perpetuates the myth of successful government controlled healthcare system. This is especially dangerous for young children to be exposed to the idea of “Socialized Medicine” when their knowledge of the Canadian system and the US systems differs on the premise of the users “taking care of themselves.” Canadians take it upon themselves to stay healthy mostly to lessen the burden on their fellow taxpayer. In the US - not so much.

The narrator finds Caillou ridiculously charming and always chides the audience regarding the preschool hero’s antics. The unseen narrator was designed as a “school teacher,” but also acts as the enforcer of this totalitarian government. Perhaps acting as a type of ACLU analogy?

Every character is carefully selected ethnically diverse, laughs at the end of every sentence. Perhaps this technique was designed to capture the attention of the target audience of 1-4 year olds? The other unintended positive consequence of the utilization of this uninspired laughing causes anyone over the age of 5 to ignore the program.

The subversive nature of the show begins with introducing the word “about” to young children. Not pronouncing the letter “o” repeated until a young child believes that this is considered “normal” pronunciation. Also, the show introduces hockey as a superior athletic activity over baseball or football. When football is featured on the show – it is either soccer, or much worse – Canadian rules football.

Further, the "Play-school" friendly color schemes of the clothing, furniture, buildings, cars, and, well, simply the world Caillou lives in appeals to the preschooler, but also has zero corporate presence. The lack of any independent corporate identity suggests a realized liberal socialist utopia. Even Sesame Street has corporate sponsorship! It is brought to you by the Letter A, W and the Number 2. Caillou's world has done away with it completely.

American parents, these schemes are now revealed to you. Turn off your televisions, resist the merchandise, and end the war against America’s children!

Absolutly Sory

It seems that the Mexican-American War never happened, according to the Sweeds over at the Absolut Vodka Company.

I have prepared a response to their ad -

Now, I realize this probably doesn't mean anything to pretty much anyone except my friends in Sweden -- However, I can tell you it's fairly insulting.

Okay, I'll let you in on it - this is a map of Sweden in 1658! The Swedish Empire following the Treaty of Roskilde of 1658. (Dominions in Prussia, held from 1629 to 1635, do not appear on this map, as this would be so insulting, my Swedish friends would never speak to me again.)

Hahaha! My wit shows no end! You have been Checkmated my Swedish fiends! The lands you aquired in your little empire building moment of the 1650's - and then lost - has been thrown in your face!

Sure, I could have been lazy and done an all Europe Nazi Germany map that you would have sold your Vodka to the Germans... but not only lazy, but your neutral ass would be as boring as Switzerland... so suck on this, and without your precious victories in Prussia!

Why does the Mexico ad piss people off? Because for anyone who's never read their history books, MIGHT gleam that ad and think that's the leaked Mexican Immigration war plan! They're going to anex California, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and parts Colorado and even as far north as Wyoming. For those three of us who have read a history book know that you lost it to the US.

Hey, you're the one who agreed to sell it for $15,000,000, — sure it was just less than half the amount the U.S. had attempted to offer Mexico for the land before the opening of hostilities— and don't forget the U.S. agreed to assume $3.25 million in debts that the Mexican government owed to U.S. citizens. The Whig Intelligencer sardonically concluded at the time that

"We take nothing by conquest... Thank God."

According to Wackapedia - The sale of land is known in the United States as the Mexican Cession.

So there.

Okay... too obscure.

Time for lazy.

This is how America sees Swedes!

But if you really look at that Mexican map again... it's just really kind of sad and insulting to the Mexican people as it reminds them of all the land, oil, gold they lost to the Americans...

And to really sit and think about it -- I can't imagine trying to sell Swedish Vodka to folks who prefer Tecaté and tequila to your product. Good luck with that, Chef!

UPDATE to Absolut, absolutly sorry!

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Absolut vodka company apologized Saturday for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers.

"In no way was it meant to offend or disparage, nor does it advocate an altering of borders, nor does it lend support to any anti-American sentiment, nor does it reflect immigration issues," Absolut said in a statement. More here on the jump.