By
William L. Garvin
“You
got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and
know when to run.” Kenny Rogers, “The Gambler”
When employees get in trouble and
are about to be disciplined, some request to resign in lieu of being
disciplined. Some human resource managers allow this in order to avoid the
costs of appeals and litigation. The quid pro quo for the employee is the HR
manager promises to “seal” the personnel records. Any competent background
investigator for law enforcement or military security clearances immediately
sees this as a “red flag” and knows to start digging in order to find out what’s
really going on. After all, how many people would really say “gee, I have so
many awards, medals, commendations and honors that I should probably seal my
records in order not to be unfair to my competitors or bias the investigation.”
The current case of “executive
privilege” may be cut out of the same deceitful bolt of cloth. Since the
President has declared the privilege, it now raises the question as to what
involvement and/or knowledge he had of the “Fast and Furious” operation. Did
this “hands on” president (who personally manages the “Kill List”) have the
same level of operational involvement with the Department of Justice gun
walking? After Eric Holder stonewalled the Congressional oversight committee
for a year and a half, this sudden presidential intervention has the appearance
of impropriety and raises the spectre of a cover up.
Keep in mind
that during the Nixon administration, Watergate was a third-rate burglary of a
Democrat office. It was the cover up that was much worse than the crime and brought
down a sitting president. In the present “Fast and Furious” imbroglio, that
cannot be said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata and
Border Patrol agent Brian Terry have both been killed as
well as many Mexican citizens. “I would
be remiss if I didn’t mention, as the Attorney General in Mexico is so
concerned, she’s made the point that at least 200 Mexicans have been killed
with these weapons and probably countless more,” said Congressman Darrel
Issa. This is quite probable as it’s estimated that DOJ allowed 2500 weapons to
“walk” into Mexico and only 600 have been recovered. Sadly, two AK-47s from the
operation were recovered at the site of Agent Terry’s murder.
Marisela Morales, Mexico's Attorney
General, told The LA Times that she first learned about “Fast and Furious” from
news reports. She added that no U.S. officials have ever briefed her on the
operation or apologized. "At no time
did we know or were we made aware that there might have been arms trafficking
permitted," said AG Morales, Mexico's highest-ranking law enforcement
official. "In no way would we have
allowed it, because it is an attack on the safety of Mexicans."
In a similar vein, the National
Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which represents all 17,000 “nonsupervisory agents”
of the Border Patrol, has called for the resignation of AG Holder for his part
in the failed gunrunning operation. According to the Washington Times, Council
President George E. McCubbin III said the AG’s handling of the case was “a slap in the face to all Border Patrol
agents who serve this country.” He also said Holder has failed to provide
any leadership within his department. “It
is time for AG Eric Holder to show the least shred of responsibility and
leadership and resign his post. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry deserves
nothing less.” McCubbin also corroborated AG Morales when he noted that a
Border Patrol agent is prohibited crossing into Mexico without approval from
U.S. and Mexican government agencies. From his viewpoint, there is no way “Fast
and Furious” could be carried out without knowledge and direct approval from
the Justice Department and the Obama Administration.
There is no reason to believe that the DOJ files contain
anything other than evidence of operational incompetence. Ordering private
citizens to violate the law and sell weapons illegally, ordering law
enforcement personnel to ignore their oaths and training and turn weapons over
to Mexican cartels without even a tracking device can only be seen as gross
negligence. This is just the latest in a long litany of embarrassments. Mr.
Holder, it’s time for you to fold ‘em. And please don’t walk away, it’s time
for you to run!
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