Applause to Univision hosts Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena. They asked President Obama tougher questions today than he typically gets in the rest of the media. Ramos even pressed Obama to fire Attorney General Eric Holder, and to release more Fast and Furious paperwork.
“Well, first of all, I think it’s important to understand that the Fast and Furious program was a field-initiated program, begun under the previous administration,” Obama said.
Begun under the previous administration? Obama can lie with the best sociopaths. There was a gunwalking program during the Bush years, but Fast and Furious was started in 2009 – his watch.
“When Eric Holder found out about it, he discontinued it.”
Maybe, maybe not. We don’t really know when he first learned of it, as his story on that has changed.
“We assigned an inspector general to do a thorough report that was just issued — confirming that in fact Eric Holder did not know about this, that he took prompt action and that the people who did initiate this were held accountable. But, what I think is most important is recognizing that we’ve got a challenge in terms of weapons flowing south, and the strategy that was pursued out of Arizona, obviously, was completely wrongheaded. Those folks who were responsible have been held accountable. The question now is, how do we move forward with a strategy that will actually work?”
That depends on what the programs was truly intended to do. If if was about tracking guns, why didn’t it actually track guns?
“We are going to have to work with Mexican law enforcement to accomplish this, but I will tell you that Eric Holder has my complete confidence, because he has shown himself to be willing to hold accountable those who took these actions and is passionate about making sure that we’re preventing guns from getting into the wrong hands,” Obama continued.
Ramos followed up in English: “But if you have nothing to hide, then why are you not releasing papers to the –”
Obama responded: “The truth is we’ve released thousands of papers.
“But not all of them,” Ramos countered.
From there, Obama filibustered about “internal communications.” Those communications could show, though, what and when the White House knew about Fast and Furious.
The inspector general’s report, which Holder was allowed to edit prior to its release, doesn’t reach into that question.
Ramos’ question to Obama brings up a very good point: Either Holder knew about Fast and Furious and deserves firing, or he didn’t know about it — and deserves firing. Obama kept claiming that Holder is “holding people to account,” but no one has been fired and Holder, says Obama, still has his “full confidence.”
Just what would it take to shake that confidence?
The most shocking thing about the interview, though, isn’t Obama’s disingenuous treatment of the facts or cavalier attitude toward the scandal, it’s that Univision brought Fast and Furious up at all. Ramos and Elena were both obviously well-versed in what happened, and in the IG’s report. They were both very skeptical and pressed the president to explain himself. The English-speaking mainstream media avoids Fast and Furious, except to dismiss it. Is it possible that Fast and Furious is a more serious issue among the Spanish-speaking set than anyone outside realizes?
Thank you Univision for doing the job the MSMedia refuses to do so they can protect Obama at all costs.
I always wondered why Mexicans/Latinos give the Obama Administration a pass on Fast and Furious since hundreds of innocent Mexicans were killed with those weapons, with very little accountability.
It’s a shameful cover-up that would have destroyed a Republican president.
The MSMedia would have been relentless.
Bryan does ask that same question at the end of his article:
“The English-speaking mainstream media avoids Fast and Furious, except to dismiss it. Is it possible that Fast and Furious is a more serious issue among the Spanish-speaking set than anyone outside realizes?”
The newest conventional wisdom is that only non-MSM outlets do the real yeoman’s work of actually reporting news!
Bryan – I would really like to upload your posts to a political topic board on pinterest, however, pinterest requires an image that can be grabbed and made into a link. Is it possible for the Tatler logo to be reformatted in some way to allow it to be grabbed? I hope so, because I’d like to share your good work with new audiences.
1. these guns had no tracking devices as even the most simple democrat surely knows. how can any sane person possibly think selling untagged guns to multiple random murderers will help in the drug war?
2. they were purchased w/ taxpayer funding (stimulus – shovel ready) and gun dealers repeatedly questioned being forced to sell them to known drug cartel members. who convinced these bad guys to walk into gun shops and risk capture purchasing guns thay didn’t need?
3. hitlery and obozo had repeatedly been repeating the 90% lie every time the drug/border war came up (i.e. 90+% of the guns used by the criminals were coming from the u.s.). actually the numbers were probably around 10%. they like easily purchased fully auto guns.
4. obozo came on a sunday morning show with the brady’s, and since he had just lost his latest gun grap in the supreme court, he was asked what he had in mind for his next attack. he replied that he had something going on ‘under the radar’.
5. hitlery has been working on a u.n. gun grab called the small arms treaty since day one, and even when these gun runners got caught in the middle of this, they argued for this u.n. gun grab. sometimes treaties can trump the laws of the land. it just hasn’t really been a part of our history, yet.
question: what did the d.o.j. hope to accomplish with this massive unmarked gun giveaway to known murderers, if it wasn’t to put our guns into the hands of these murderers to make an argument for hitlery’s u.n. gun grab? i’m still waiting to hear something that makes sense. all we seem to get is more of their very familiar spin spin spin, that makes no sense whatsoever.
let’s not forget the rest. issa finally starts getting close to holder/obozo and what do we get? executive privilege. the get outta jail free card for presidents. then we get a holder appointed i.g. whose final report gets edited by holder? yeah, i believe. so that is what transparency looks like. good to know.
Why would an illegal operation like a drug cartel want to spend $800-$1,500 (or more for the dreaded .50 cal) per rifle for a civilian semi-auto, when a military grade AK-47 can be purchased for much less in central and south American countries? AKs are so widespread that in many 3rd world countries (centeral and S America would certainly qualify) a military grade AK is < $200.
There’s got to be a “fire in the Holder” joke in there somewhere.
Let us hope that Latinos in Ameica will now hold a convesation among themselves about the wisdom of supporting an administation that has, by intent or though incompetence, contributed so much to lawlessness in Mexico.
Obama is a pathological liar.
“Is it possible that Fast and Furious is a more serious issue among the Spanish-speaking set than anyone outside realizes?”
Duh! Those guns killed hundreds if not thousands of Mexicans, most of them innocent by-standers. Mexicans ought to be hoppin’ mad about it.
Obama is a pathological liar.
Two observations:
1) Fast and Furious is the key to getting Latino support for the GOP. It’s not just American border agents dying here because of these guns.
2) Not one of the big three networks, CNN, or NPR mentioned this shocking and pertinent question Univision asked. Not a single one. There is no greater proof that they are all in DIRECT COLLUSION with Obamee.
FOX, right talk radio and the blogs are the only media outlets you can trust.
F & F is less likely to be an issue in California/Nevada/Arizona than it is in Texas simply because the Sinaloa cartel, the primary beneificiary of the weapons sold, is stronger in the west coast states. Probably a cost for some votes or at least no defection to Hillary or mod Republicans. No use in the Democrats helping the Zetas/Tejanos whose votes get swamped out by conservatives in Texas.
Also, if Jorge Ramos asked Obama this on Thursday, I wonder if he got some handshake deal from Mitt Romney the night before in Miami(site of the “spray-on” tan Univision interview), say on continuing deferred action for DREAMERs. Scary.
Cut of people and not let them get to the uncomfortable questions. Great President of “all” people