Opposing Views Puts Focus on Holder and Fast and Furious
This week Opposing Views noted that Fast and Furious is heating up, and reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could be (and in our opinion should be) questioned soon as well.
This article notes that Eric Holder was the point man on guns during the President Clinton era. The story reports:
“Issa’s focus on the Attorney General is well-placed. Holder became the point man on gun control during his stint with the Clinton administration and was an obvious choice to help navigate the Obama administration through the turbulent waters of gun control.”
This is very true and one point that has been widely dismissed in the media. But Opposing Views also notes that this is a very partisan issue:
“Holder was quickly repudiated by Democrats in Congress, more than 60 of whom said in a letter that a renewal of the gun ban was a non-starter, and Holder was forced to back away from his comments.”
So why are the Democrats in Congress defending Holder? Could it be that they don’t want to see President Obama suffer from this event, which by some accounts could be his “Watergate?”
And what about Clinton? Here is what Opposing Views noted:
“A month later, as she embarked on her first trip to Mexico as Secretary of State, Clinton told CBS news that, “The guns that are used by the drug cartels against the police and the military, 90 percent of them come from America.”
“Clinton’s use of the 90% number sent honest reporters looking for verification. Instead, the number was debunked within days. Still, the administration clung tenaciously to the 90% claim.
“The following month, in April 2009, speaking at a joint press conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Obama said:
“This war is being waged with guns purchased not here, but in the United States. More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that line our shared border.”
How is it that the 90 percent number lived on so long? That conspiracy theory doesn’t seem as much a conspiracy theory when the pieces are started to be put together.
Candadian Free Press Editorial Calls Fast and Furious a Conspiracy
We’ve long maintained the stance that we take conspiracy theories with a grain of salt, but apparently the idea that Fast and Furious could be part of a bigger web of lies makes us question it too. This week The Canadian Free Press presented this argument in a very interesting editorial.
The article noted how Then Senator Obama was extremely anti-gun, how the ATF traced guns from 2007-08 and the findings were widely reported to be that “90 percent” were from the United States, only later to find out the true number was closer to 17 percent. But the governments of the United States and Mexico still maintain the 90 percent number even today.
As the article concludes:
“All of this is the stuff of a conspiracy theory that most of us would dismiss as so much rumor. Disturbingly, we have documentation that proves otherwise. Fast and Furious may have been the name the administration chose for this operation as a means of further curtailing our Second Amendment rights in a fast and furious manner. We the People must remain vigilant. For without the Second Amendment, the other nine could never stand.
True words indeed.
HULIQ: Conspiracy Theory: Fast and Furious an Attempt to Further Gun Control
This week HULIQ ran a story that bears resemblance to a lot of what we’ve been thinking. Clearly we are not alone, when it comes to “Conspiracy Theory: Fast and Furious an Attempt to Further Gun Control.” The story notes:
“The investigation into the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) undercover operation known as ‘Fast and Furious’ continues and is the stuff of conspiracy theories.”
Among the points addressed:
“Both presidents of Mexico and the U.S. have claimed that 90 percent of the weapons recovered by Mexican authorities in a variety of crimes originated in the U.S.; all this in support of the gun-control agenda. However, Bill McMahon, ATF deputy assistant director, testified that of 100,000 weapons recovered by Mexican authorities, only 18,000 were made, sold or imported from the U.S. Of those, 18,000, just 7,900 came from sales by licensed gun dealers—8 percent, not 90 percent.”
This is a point we’ve made time and time again. And consider too that President Obama had said he was working on gun control but “under the radar.” Could it be that Fast and Furious was meant to fly under the radar?
DelmarvaNow.com: Fast and Furious – You Should be Aware
We keep wondering when the story is truly going to break on Fast and Furious. While it has been covered by CBS News, FoxNews and Forbes, much of the media remains mum. But this week DelmarvaNow.com noted:
“Recently Congress has been investigating Justice Department/Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms operations known as Fast and Furious, and Gunwalker. If you’re not aware of these operations, you should be. The government purposely allowed — one could even say encouraged — the sale of guns including assault weapons, to straw purchasers who would then sell them to Mexican drug cartels.”
We’ll repeat the key line for emphasis:
If you’re not aware of these operations, you should be.
The story also adds a bit of insight that is seldom seen in the mainstream media as well:
“We know President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are hostile to Second Amendment rights.The attorney general claimed in 2009 that 90 percent of arms confiscated by Mexican authorities came from the United States. Unfortunately for Holder, it turns out only about 8 percent of the recovered guns were from sales by licensed U.S. gun dealers.”
So is this the turning point? Probably not, but as we go into an election year it will be interesting whether this story turns into a full-blown scandal. For now we think the media will unfortunately remain all too silent.
Firing Back: 70,000 Jobs Lost – Why Isn’t This Due Diligence Done For Gun Numbers?
This week CNN offered a story titled, “70,000 jobs lost! Really?” We ask the question, REALLY? While CNN notes that these numbers aren’t accurate, we notice that CNN – nor most of the mainstream media – ever bothered with the same fact checking for gun numbers. CNN reported:
“An oft-repeated statement that the Federal Aviation Administration’s partial shutdown has forced the layoff of 70,000 construction workers is, at best, an over-simplification, and at worst, an exaggeration, according to the expert behind the number.”
The sad truth is that the figure of “90 percent of guns used in Mexico” could also be called, “at best, an over-simplification, and at worst, an exaggeration.” But actually, it is even worse, because the 90 percent was widely debunked, widely proven false and yet the same mainstream media continued to report it.
The government of Mexico continued to state it, and Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, even offered this number. For more than two years we’ve tried to spread the word that this 90 percent number – sometimes 80 percent and sometimes even the lower 70 percent – are all absolutely inaccurate. The numbers just aren’t there, but the MSM doesn’t care.
And when outlets such as CNN take the time to show how one number – such as the 70,000 jobs lost in the partial shutdown are inaccurate – is inaccurate, but never bothers for the 90 percent figure, this suggests a bias. But consider this passage from the CNN story:
“The rampant use — and misuse — of the 70,000 figure is a study in the wondrous ways of Washington, where facts and figures frequently enter the public debate filled with nuance and caveats, all of which are rapidly abandoned in the blazing heat of partisan battle.”
Does that speak volumes about the 90 percent number too?
Forbes’ Larry Bell Sets Record Straight on Fast and Furious and 90 Percent Number
Few in the mainstream media bother doing enough digging, sourcing, fact checking or other confirming key numbers when it comes to guns in Mexico. That 90 percent – sometimes 80 percent or even a mere 70 percent – comes up time and time again.
As we’ve noted, imagine if that number was used for other industries, other events or other figures? Wouldn’t you expect the media to do its due diligence? Wouldn’t you expect someone to say, “this figure is wrong.” Well, fortunately there are guys like Larry Bell, writing for Forbes who did note those facts this week. Bell writes:
“…that 90% statistic is highly inflated because it “represents only the percentage of crime guns that have been submitted by Mexican officials and traced by U.S. officials.” Mexico actually recovers many more guns than it submits to the U.S. In December 2008, Mexican Attorney General Eduadro Medina Mora put the number of the country’s recovered crime weapons over the preceding two years at 29,000. Assuming that the total reported 10,347 guns seized and given to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for tracing by Mexican authorities during 2007 and 2008 is an accurate number, only about 36% of all recovered crime weapons in Mexico came from U.S. sources.
But Bell notes a point that the U.S. media has also been silent on… namely, why would cartels go to the trouble of coming to America to buy most of their guns? These operations spend a fortune smuggling drugs around the world. Couldn’t they do better than merely heading to some gun shop near the border? Bell offers this thought:
“A friend of mine who owns a gun store in Houston raises an important question: ‘Why would anyone pay $500-$1,000 in the U.S. for semi-automatic rifles (legal civilian weapons that fire only one time with each trigger squeeze), when they can get original fully automatic military versions (that fire continuously when the trigger is held back) on the black market from other countries for $75-$100? They are readily available in Africa for $25. In fact nearly all U.S. firearms dealers had been voluntarily cooperating with ATF all along, routinely and immediately reporting suspicious multiple purchases.’”
So the question of course is why isn’t this reported more often? But that’s just one of many questions.
To recap, we see that the media doesn’t follow up to confirm that 90 percent number, and instead just accepts it. And yet few ever ask why the photos show grenades and grenade launchers, or bother noting that many of the weapons are fully automatic. The truth is that the media shows its anti-gun bias in its regular reporting.
WaPo Editorial Uses Misleading Facts to Bolster Argument
We question any editorial, even one from The Washington Post (or is it especially from The Washington Post) that uses misleading and factually wrong data to make its case. This week the paper offered an editorial title, “A good step to slow the flow of guns to Mexico’s drug gangs,” and included this passage:
“The measure will enhance the nation’s ability to dismantle the flow of deadly firearms to criminal networks across the border. Mexico says that 93,000 illegal weapons have been seized since December 2006, nearly 90 percent of them from the United States. Weapons imported from the United States have been used in multiple homicides and are inextricably linked to the drug trade, high-stakes heists, gang rapes and kidnapping. The new rule won’t end illegal dealing, but it could slow the traffic and enable more prosecutions.”
Note that this op-ed offers, “Mexico says…” which is a coy way for the editors to get around the fact that they must know that 90 percent of the guns are NOT from the United States. This is a misleading fact, because the truth is that most guns are not sent to the United States for tracing.
We notice too that the article doesn’t mention the fully automatic military weapons, likely sold from the Mexican army, nor does it mention the hand grenades, grenade launchers and other weapons used by the cartels. That’s because those would be hard to pin on American gun shops.
Investor’s Business Daily: Was Fast and Furious A Gun-Control Plot?
Few in the mainstream media have even picked up on the story, but this week it was Investor’s Business Daily that offered an editorial titled: “Was Fast and Furious A Gun-Control Plot?”
The editorial notes:
“Rather than a botched attempt to catch criminals, was the ATF program actually an attempt to advance gun-control efforts by an administration that has blamed Mexican violence on easy access to U.S. weapons?”
The op-ed piece also works to debunk the common “90 percent number” noting:
“Bill McMahon, ATF deputy assistant director, testified that of 100,000 weapons recovered by Mexican authorities, only 18,000 were made, sold or imported from the U.S. And of those 18,000, just 7,900 came from sales by licensed gun dealers. That’s 8%, not 90%.”
Kudos to Investor’s Business Daily for shedding light and asking some very valid questions.
Newser Claims 70 Percent Down From 2009
News-lite site Newser is noting this week that “70% of Guns Seized in Mexico Come From US – Numbers are actually down from 2009.” The story fails to note that ATF allowed a large number of guns to “walk” into Mexico, but more importantly this badly reported capsulated piece suggests that the 87 percent number “cited in a June 2009 report” was accurate. The story fails to note that those numbers were widely debunked.
Thus in its reporting Newser fails to report the truth, only reports numbers.
Opposing View Op-Ed Looks at “Myth” of Gun Trafficking
This week the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) posted an op-ed to Opposing Views that noted, “The ‘Myth’ of Gun Trafficking,” covering some key issues.
Most notable is “that less than 12 percent of guns Mexico seized in 2008 came from the United States.”
This fact makes us wonder why some in the mainstream media continue to note the “90 percent” figure.
