Martin Bashir | Aired on June 27, 2012
'Fast and Furious' bombshell a day ahead of Holder contempt charge
Washington Post's Dana Milbank and Jonathan Capehart dig into the contents of an explosive new report on the Fast and Furious controversy – much of which contradicts Republican talking points – and preview Thursday's contempt of Congress vote against Attorney General Eric Holder.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/martin-bashir/47984723/#47984723
Will Fox Report On Fortune Bombshell That Fast And Furious Didn't Involve Gunwalking?
June 27, 2012 12:35 pm ET by Matt Gertz
As right-wing media cheer on a partisan Republican effort to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt with regard to Congress' inquiry into the ATF's Operation Fast and Furious, Fortune magazine has released a stunning investigation which concludes that ATF "never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels" in that case.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201206270010
FAST AND SPURIOUS
The Truth Behind A Non-Scandal
The truth about the Fast and Furious scandal June 27, 2012: 5:00 AM ET
A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust. By Katherine Eban
SNIP...
How Fast and Furious reached the headlines is a strange and unsettling saga, one that reveals a lot about politics and media today. It's a story that starts with a grudge, specifically Dodson's anger at Voth. After the terrible murder of agent Terry, Dodson made complaints that were then amplified, first by right-wing bloggers, then by CBS. Rep. Issa and other politicians then seized those elements to score points against the Obama administration, which, for its part, has capitulated in an apparent effort to avoid a rhetorical battle over gun control in the run-up to the presidential election. (A Justice Department spokesperson denies this and asserts that the department is not drawing conclusions until the inspector general's report is submitted.)
snip...
It had also attracted gun-rights activists loosely organized around a blog called the Sipsey Street Irregulars, run by a former militia member, Mike Vanderboegh, who has advocated armed insurrection against the U.S. government. It was an incendiary combination: the disgruntled ATF agents wanted to punish and reform the bureau; the gun-rights activists wanted to disable it. After the item about Terry appeared, the bloggers funneled the allegations through a "desert telegraph" of sorts to Republican lawmakers, who began asking questions.
SNIP... SEE FULL TEXT, TOO LONG TO POST FOR ME HERE NOW...
http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/27/fast-and-furious-truth/
Meet the Former Militiaman Behind the Fast and Furious Scandal The blogger who helped turn the ATF op into a national controversy is better known for inciting violence than exposing wrongdoing. —By Stephanie Mencimer
Wed Dec. 14, 2011 4:00 AM PST
snip...
Vanderboegh reported that agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives believed that the gun that killed Terry had been part of an anti-gun smuggling operation—later known publicly as Operation Fast and Furious. Vanderboegh suggested that ATF agents had encouraged "snitches" to purchase hundreds of guns in the US and smuggle them into Mexico to track the weapons to high-level drug kingpins. He quoted a website set up by anonymous disgruntled ATF agents: It "appears that ATF may be one of the largest suppliers of assault rifles to the Mexican cartels!" one wrote.
snip...
The affair has been quite a coup for Vanderboegh, who is better known for inciting violence than for exposing wrongdoing. When Obama's health care reform bill passed in March 2010, Vanderboegh encouraged readers to throw rocks through the windows of Democratic Party headquarters, writing:
f you wish to send a message that [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and her party cannot fail to hear, break their windows. Break them NOW. Break them and run to break again. Break them under cover of night. Break them in broad daylight. Break them and await arrest in willful, principled civil disobedience. Break them with rocks. Break them with slingshots. Break them with baseball bats. But BREAK them.
A few people heeded his call, smashing the windows of a handful of congressional offices, including the Tucson office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot and seriously wounded last January.
"We will not disarm. You cannot convince us. You cannot intimidate us. You can try to kill us, if you think you can. But remember, we'll shoot back." In November, Vanderboegh made national news again, this time for his alleged role in inspiring a domestic terrorism plot. The FBI alleged that a handful of Georgia senior citizens had met at a Waffle House to plot a domestic bioterrorism attack. When they were arrested, word leaked that they'd been inspired by Vanderboegh's unpublished novel, Absolved, in which underground militia groups plan to assassinate law enforcement and judicial officials to protest gun control and gay marriage. Vanderboegh has called the book "a combination field manual, technical manual, and call to arms for my beloved gunnies of the armed citizenry." (Parts of the book are available online.)
snip...
Vanderboegh, for his part, is relishing his 15 minutes of fame, which has catapulted him into a Fox News regular. After the Holder hearing, he wrote on his blog: "Sometimes I have to pinch myself. I just can't believe Mrs. Vanderboegh's wayward son finds himself in the middle of all this."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/fast-and-furious-scandal-mike-vanderboegh
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/fast-and-furious-scandal-mike-vanderboegh?page=2
'Fast and Furious' bombshell a day ahead of Holder contempt charge
Washington Post's Dana Milbank and Jonathan Capehart dig into the contents of an explosive new report on the Fast and Furious controversy – much of which contradicts Republican talking points – and preview Thursday's contempt of Congress vote against Attorney General Eric Holder.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/martin-bashir/47984723/#47984723
Will Fox Report On Fortune Bombshell That Fast And Furious Didn't Involve Gunwalking?
June 27, 2012 12:35 pm ET by Matt Gertz
As right-wing media cheer on a partisan Republican effort to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt with regard to Congress' inquiry into the ATF's Operation Fast and Furious, Fortune magazine has released a stunning investigation which concludes that ATF "never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels" in that case.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201206270010
FAST AND SPURIOUS
The Truth Behind A Non-Scandal
The truth about the Fast and Furious scandal June 27, 2012: 5:00 AM ET
A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust. By Katherine Eban
SNIP...
How Fast and Furious reached the headlines is a strange and unsettling saga, one that reveals a lot about politics and media today. It's a story that starts with a grudge, specifically Dodson's anger at Voth. After the terrible murder of agent Terry, Dodson made complaints that were then amplified, first by right-wing bloggers, then by CBS. Rep. Issa and other politicians then seized those elements to score points against the Obama administration, which, for its part, has capitulated in an apparent effort to avoid a rhetorical battle over gun control in the run-up to the presidential election. (A Justice Department spokesperson denies this and asserts that the department is not drawing conclusions until the inspector general's report is submitted.)
snip...
It had also attracted gun-rights activists loosely organized around a blog called the Sipsey Street Irregulars, run by a former militia member, Mike Vanderboegh, who has advocated armed insurrection against the U.S. government. It was an incendiary combination: the disgruntled ATF agents wanted to punish and reform the bureau; the gun-rights activists wanted to disable it. After the item about Terry appeared, the bloggers funneled the allegations through a "desert telegraph" of sorts to Republican lawmakers, who began asking questions.
SNIP... SEE FULL TEXT, TOO LONG TO POST FOR ME HERE NOW...
http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/27/fast-and-furious-truth/
Meet the Former Militiaman Behind the Fast and Furious Scandal The blogger who helped turn the ATF op into a national controversy is better known for inciting violence than exposing wrongdoing. —By Stephanie Mencimer
Wed Dec. 14, 2011 4:00 AM PST
snip...
Vanderboegh reported that agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives believed that the gun that killed Terry had been part of an anti-gun smuggling operation—later known publicly as Operation Fast and Furious. Vanderboegh suggested that ATF agents had encouraged "snitches" to purchase hundreds of guns in the US and smuggle them into Mexico to track the weapons to high-level drug kingpins. He quoted a website set up by anonymous disgruntled ATF agents: It "appears that ATF may be one of the largest suppliers of assault rifles to the Mexican cartels!" one wrote.
snip...
The affair has been quite a coup for Vanderboegh, who is better known for inciting violence than for exposing wrongdoing. When Obama's health care reform bill passed in March 2010, Vanderboegh encouraged readers to throw rocks through the windows of Democratic Party headquarters, writing:
f you wish to send a message that [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and her party cannot fail to hear, break their windows. Break them NOW. Break them and run to break again. Break them under cover of night. Break them in broad daylight. Break them and await arrest in willful, principled civil disobedience. Break them with rocks. Break them with slingshots. Break them with baseball bats. But BREAK them.
A few people heeded his call, smashing the windows of a handful of congressional offices, including the Tucson office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot and seriously wounded last January.
"We will not disarm. You cannot convince us. You cannot intimidate us. You can try to kill us, if you think you can. But remember, we'll shoot back." In November, Vanderboegh made national news again, this time for his alleged role in inspiring a domestic terrorism plot. The FBI alleged that a handful of Georgia senior citizens had met at a Waffle House to plot a domestic bioterrorism attack. When they were arrested, word leaked that they'd been inspired by Vanderboegh's unpublished novel, Absolved, in which underground militia groups plan to assassinate law enforcement and judicial officials to protest gun control and gay marriage. Vanderboegh has called the book "a combination field manual, technical manual, and call to arms for my beloved gunnies of the armed citizenry." (Parts of the book are available online.)
snip...
Vanderboegh, for his part, is relishing his 15 minutes of fame, which has catapulted him into a Fox News regular. After the Holder hearing, he wrote on his blog: "Sometimes I have to pinch myself. I just can't believe Mrs. Vanderboegh's wayward son finds himself in the middle of all this."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/fast-and-furious-scandal-mike-vanderboegh
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/fast-and-furious-scandal-mike-vanderboegh?page=2
