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Feb. 8, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Lofty ideals must be followed with grounded applications

Clifford D. May: Letter from the West Bank
Steve Rothaus: Judge OKs plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be on girl's birth certificate
Gloria Goodale: States consider drone bans: Overreaction or crucial for privacy rights?
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Don't buy the aloe vera juice hype
Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Harvard Experts: Regular exercise pumps up memory, too
Erik Lacitis: Vanity plates: Some take too much license
The Kosher Gourmet by Susie Middleton: Broccoflower, Carrot and Leek Ragout with Thyme, Orange and Tapenade is a delightful and satisfying melange of veggies, herbs and aromatics
Feb. 6, 2013

Nara Schoenberg: The other in-law problem

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. : A see-no-jihadist for the CIA
Kristen Chick: Ahmadinejad visits Cairo: How sect tempers Islamist ties between Egypt, Iran
Roger Simon: Ed Koch's lucky corner
Heron Marquez Estrada: Robot-building sports on a roll
Patrick G. Dean, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: How to restore body's ability to secrete insulin
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: 3 prostate-protecting diet tips
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen 7 principles for to help you make the best soup ever in a slow cooker
Feb. 4, 2013

Jonathan Tobin: Can Jewish Groups Speak Out on Hagel?

David Wren: Findings of government study, released 3 days before Newtown shooting, at odds with gun-control crusaders
Kristen Chick: Tahrir becomes terrifying, tainted
Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon: US keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to hear case on arrests, DNA
Harvard Health Letters: Neck and shoulder pain? Know what it means and what to do
Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D.: Eat your way to preventing age-related muscle loss
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington Baked Pears in Red Wine and Port Wine Glaze: A festive winter dessert
Feb. 1, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: Redemption

Clifford D. May Home, bloody, home
Christa Case Bryant andNicholas Blanford Why despite Syria's allies warning of retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, the threats are likely hollow
Rick Armon, Ed Meyer and Phil Trexler Ex-police captain cleared by DNA test is freed after nearly 15 years
Harvard Health Letters: Could it by your thyroid?
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: When 'healthy food' isn't
Sue Zeidler: Coke ad racist? Arab-American groups want to yank Super Bowl ad (INCLUDES VIDEO)
The Kosher Gourmet by Nealey Dozier The secret of this soup is the garnish
January 30, 2013

Allan Chernoff: Celebrating 'Back from the Dead Day'

America isn't a religious country? Don't tell Superbowl fans!
Mark Clayton Cybercrime takedown!
Germany remembers Hitler rise to power
Israel salutes U. N. --- with the one finger salute
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Get cookin' with heart-healthy fats
Ballot riles Guinness World Records
The Kosher Gourmet by Elizabeth Passarella Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
January 28, 2013

Nancy Youssef: And Democracy for all? Two years on, Egypt remains in state of chaos

Fred Weir: Putin: West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'
Meredith Cohn: Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. : Ask the Harvard Experts: Are there drugs to help control binge eating?
David Ovalle Use of controversial 'brain mapping' technology stymied
Jane Stancill: Professor's logic class has 180,000 friends
David Clark Scott Lego Racism?
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali The celebrated chef introduces us to PANZEROTTI PUGLIESI, cheese-stuffed pastry from Italy's south


Jewish World Review March 7, 2011/ 1 Adar II, 5771

Bean Bag B.S.

By Arnold Ahlert


Printer Friendly Version



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Sometimes I wonder if there is a "final straw" moment with regard to the suffocating stupidity known as political correctness. At Thanksgiving, I thought millions of people getting scoped or groped at our nations' airports in order to prevent rational profiling akin to what the Israelis do, was the proverbial camel's back-breaker. But sad to say, the typical trifecta of Constitutionally-dubious, but intransigent government officials, a thoroughly compromised, see-no-progressive-evil media, and just enough clueless "it's for our own good" Americans--that the media could parade before the cameras--notched another win for suffocating stupidity. That ain't beans. But what about bean bags?

Bean bags, as it turns out, are America's first line of "defense" for border agents attempting to prevent what P.C. know-nothings like to think is the crossing of a border (that shouldn't be there in the first place) by some "noble soul" whose only motivation is taking a job "that Americans refuse to do."

As it turns out, such willful ignorance has real world consequences. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was part of a squad which spotted a group of illegals armed with something a tad more lethal than bean bags, as in assault rifles. That such weaponry makes poor noble souls look more like drug cartel thugs is of little consequence to the P.C. crowd, for whom a bean bag defense is one of those oh-so-reasonable, benefit-of-the-doubt responses to dangerous criminals that is always acceptable--as long as it's someone besides themselves are left holding the (bean) bag. Thus, the next sequence of event was as inevitable as a sunrise: when ordered to drop their weapons, the thugs refused. Our agents fired at them with bean bags. They fired back with bullets. Agent Terry was killed.

Put another notch on the belt of collective stupidity known as political correctness.

Unbelievably enough, it doesn't stop there. It turns out that the weapons used by the less-than-noble souls can be traced back to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) policy known as "Project Gunrunner." According to Federal agent John Dodson, who will undoubtedly be labeled a "liar," "malcontent," "disgruntled employee," or anything else that can call his credibility into question, he and other border agents were ordered to allow guns to be "walked" into Mexico. Walked where? Into the hands of people like the aforementioned thugs to see where they ended up, as part of an effort to build big cases against Mexican drug cartels. Mexican authorities? Left completely out of the loop.

Since most of my readers are not like the P.C.-addled dim bulbs that inhabit far too many positions of consequence, the bet here is they know where such guns ended up without me having to spell it out: at a host of crime scenes on both sides of the border--including the one where Brian Terry was killed. Even more unbelievably, this "strategy" was approved by the United States Department of Justice, not only according Mr. Dodson, but according to "a dozen other ATF sources-- all telling the same story," as CBS News reports it.

Now comes the eminently believable part of the story. The DOJ has denied that it would "ever knowingly allow weapons to fall into the hands of criminals, or let firearms 'walk' in an operation," and Senator Charles Grassley's (R-Iowa) attempt to get to the truth has been completely thwarted. Calling the DOJ's response "practically zilch," Sen. Grassely also used a word that is becoming far too familiar with respect to a Justice Department headed by Eric "My People" Holder: "From the standpoint that documents we want--we have not gotten them. I think it's a case of stonewalling," said Grassley.

Unfortunately for the all the stonewallers, there's a videotape. And what did the tape show? Suspicious individuals buying huge quantities of weapons ostensibly for "personal use" with cash in paper bags--filmed by the ATF itself. How many purchases did the ATF allow? "The numbers are over 2,500 on that case by the way. That's how many guns were sold--including some 50-calibers they let walk," said one Gunrunner source, who like his colleagues, didn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation. A sidebar: 50-caliber rifles are the number one choice for snipers and have a confirmed kill range of over 2600 yards.

According to CBS News, "at least 11 ATF agents and senior managers voiced fierce opposition to the strategy. 'It got ugly…' said one. There was 'screaming and yelling' says another. A third warned: 'this is crazy, somebody is gonna to get killed.'"

Somebody did. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry paid for this incomprehensible and contemptible stupidity with his life.

Will anyone pay with their job? Federal Agent John Dodson isn't about to back down in the face of lies and stonewalling. "I'm boots on the ground in Phoenix, telling you we've been doing it every day since I've been here," he said. "Here I am. Tell me I didn't do the things that I did. Tell me you didn't order me to do the things I did. Tell me it didn't happen. Now you have a name on it. You have a face to put with it. Here I am. Someone now, tell me it didn't happen."

Brian Terry's brother, Kent, further illuminated the P.C.-inspired insanity. "You go up against a bandit crew that is carrying AKs, and you walk out there with guns loaded with beanbags--I don't get it," he told the Arizona Daily Star. "It's like going to the Iraqi war with one knife. It boggles my mind….[T]hese guys (Border Patrol agents) are professionals; they should be able to use their judgment call on their own."

Kent Terry doesn't "get it" because there's nothing to get other than the fact that the Obama administration is overly-populated with utterly bankrupt ideologues, who continue to fiddle while the world at our southern border--and everywhere else--burns. And nothing fuels that fire more steadily than the progressive worship of political correctness above all else. In a better world, people like Justice's Eric Holder, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, and ATF head (and anti-gun zealot) Andrew Traver would not only be fired, but criminally prosecuted as well.

And that's assuming the so-called buck stops there. Does anyone have the guts to find out what the president knew about this, and, if so, when he knew it? Would any other Americans like to see the Three Amigos, aka Holder, Napolitano and Traver doing shifts at the border--bean bags at the ready?

Is this fiasco the final "final straw" moment? Unlikely. Sadly, it might be--if Agent Brian Terry had been a finalist on American Idol.

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Previously:


03/02/11:
A ‘Green’ Catastrophe in the Making
02/28/11: Ain't Noting Like the Real Thing
02/23/11: Progressive Rot vs. the ROTC
02/21/11: Wisconsin: Progressivism in All its Ugly Glory
02/18/11: News reporters --- or Narrative Shapers?
02/16/11: The Presidents Budget Proposal: An Obamination of Progressive Profligacy
02/14/11: Only Another 9/11 Will Alter the Illegal Immigration Status Quo
02/10/11: Is O'Reilly losing his touch or is he just irresponsible?
02/07/11: Tossing Britain Under the Bus
02/03/11: Starving the World In Order to Save It
01/31/11: Walking the Middle East Tightrope
01/27/11: Small-scale Terrorist Attacks: Big Strategy?
01/24/11: Jeffery Immelt: A Crony Capitalist In Charge of Job Creation
01/20/11: An ‘Intimate’ Prime-time Interview
01/17/11: Progressives: Always Angry, Newly Desperate
01/12/11: Twain vs. the Totalitarians
01/10/11: Politically Correct Passports?
01/05/11: Showdown at the Fiscal Corral
01/03/11: Reading the Constitution Aloud is a Good Start
12/30/10: Getting Our Moral Mojo Back
12/27/10: PC Airport Safety is an Oxymoron
12/23/10: Getting America Back On Track
12/20/10: A Collectivist Coalition of Convenience
12/15/10: The President Who Wasn't There
12/13/10: Tech-No!
12/08/10: A Lethal Military, Inclusive or Not
12/06/10: The ‘Unexpected’ Consequences of Progressivism
12/01/10: Leakers and Losers
11/29/10: ‘We Won’, Part One
11/22/10: Keep Your Hands Off My Constitution
11/17/10: Grope and Change
11/14/10: Taking Back Our Country, One School At a Time
11/11/10: Checks (and Balances), Please
11/08/10: Curtain Up, Progressives Down
11/04/10: Last Chance, Republicans
11/01/10: By Their Own Words Shall Ye Know Them
10/28/10: Progressive Determination to Undermine American Elections
10/25/10: Shock, but more importantly, action: De-Unionize Public Schools now
10/20/10: Multiculturalism? Check, Please
10/18/10: Healthcare: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ vs. The Constitution
10/11/10: Vote for Restoring the Rule of Law in November
10/11/10: Dems: Running From Clarity
10/07/10: Hypersensitive Hogwash
10/04/10: ‘Comprehensive’ Con Artists
09/29/10: Why Dems Are Going Down in November
09/27/10: The Unholiest of Unholy Alliances
09/22/10: Two Words for Republicans to Remember: ‘I Won’
09/20/10: Purging ‘Me First’ Politicians
09/17/10: No More ‘Lesser of Two Evils’
09/15/10: ‘Recovery’ Arms Race
09/13/10: ‘Bigots’ in the Majority --- Again?
09/09/10: Giving Voters Something to Vote For
09/07/10: Irresponsible Dems, Incomprehensible Bills
09/02/10: War Weary Americans vs. Implacable Islamists
08/31/10: A ‘Dream’ Debased
08/25/10: American ‘Bigots’ Versus Media Propagandists
08/23/10: Recovery Bummer
08/19/10: An Unholy Alliance of Radicals
08/16/10: You've Lost America, Mr. President
08/13/10: The Twin Towers of Progressive Disconnect
08/11/10: A Far Better ‘National Discussion’
08/09/10: It's ‘Only’ One Dead Nun
08/06/10: Incremental Tyranny
08/04/10: Ground Zero Mosque: Context Counts
08/02/10: The Arizona Ruling: a Gift for November
07/29/10: The United Cities of America
07/26/10: JournoList: ‘Coordinated’ Ideological Bankruptcy
07/20/10: Go For Broke Or Get Out of the Way
07/14/10: You're a Liberal/Progressive if You Believe…
07/12/10: $33-an-hour--For Sleeping On the Job
07/08/10: Extortionist Government
07/06/10: ‘Commerce Clause’ Totalitarians
07/01/10: Another Public School Travesty in MA
06/30/10: Calling YOUR Bluff, Mr. President
06/28/10: A Trifecta of Progressive Corruption
06/23/10: Plug the Darn Hole --- In Our Border
06/21/10: Our Empty-Suit-in-Chief
06/16/10: Betraying Our Children
06/14/10: Who Gets the Benefit of the Doubt?
06/07/10: Politically Correct Warfare
06/01/10: Bill Maher's ‘Black’ President
05/25/10: A Mosque At Ground Zero
05/23/10: Libs Stand Tall --- For Mexico
05/19/10: The 'Unintended Consequences' of Liberalism
05/17/10: 'Los' Suns: Stuck on Stupido
05/12/10: Union Audacity: Yes We Will!
05/10/10: Greeks, Leaks and and Double-Speak
05/05/10: Twelve Million Illegals --- or Thirty?
05/02/10: Republicans: Playing Not to Lose Doesn't Cut It
04/28/10: Arizona: Progressivism's Waterloo?
04/26/10: Son of Amnesty
04/22/10: Mortgages and Moral Meltdowns
04/20/10: Bashing Christians — Or Gays?
04/15/10: Personal Integri-‘tea’
04/12/10: Fools, Tools and Ghouls
04/08/10: (Tea) Party On
04/05/10: The Triumph of Mediocrity
04/02/10: Two For the Road
03/29/10: The Innate Immorality of Liberalism
03/24/10: The Art of War
03/22/10: I Want My Country Back
03/18/10: A Perpetual Process
03/17/10: American Exhibitionists
03/15/10: A Light Bulb Moment of Clarity
03/10/10: Little Things Mean A Lot
02/03/10: Budgetary Fork in the Road
02/01/10: Liberal Economic Illiteracy
01/27/10: ‘Roe-ing and Wade-ing’ Back to Reason
01/25/10: Arrogance When Up, Denial When Down
01/20/10: Connecting the Educational Dots
01/19/10: The Next Tea Party?
01/15/10: The Myth That Keeps on Giving
01/13/10: Airport Security Begins Away From the Airport
01/11/10: Secrets and Lies
01/08/10: Embracing Bigotry — or Rejecting Bullying?
01/06/10: Hanging by an Ideological Thread
01/04/10: Our ‘Wonderama’ Bureaucracy
12/30/09: A Day Off
12/28/09: Dangerous Myths
12/25/09: I, Me, Mine
12/23/09: A Very Harry Christmas
12/21/09: My Opinon
12/18/09: The Party of Repeal
12/15/09: Privileged Exemption
11/30/09: ‘Settled’ Science and Unsettled Children
11/30/09: American Sharia Law
11/23/09:The Trial (Travesty) of the Century
11/04/09: American Vampires and Their Political Enablers
11/01/09: ‘Opting Out’ of Insanity?
10/28/09: Cell Phones Cause Brain Cancer. Brain Required
10/26/09: Communism: Nazism With Better PR
10/21/09: Just Asking
10/16/09: Cost Projections vs. Actual Costs, or Hope and Change vs. Reality
10/14/09: News you can use …
10/07/09: Incremental Insidiousness
10/05/09: MIA: Common Sense and Common Decency
09/30/09: Iran: Bad Options and Unpreparedness
09/21/09: Crying Racism: the Last Refuge of Scoundrels
09/11/09: 9/11 Cannot Be Sanitized
09/08/09: ‘Truthers’ and Consequences
09/01/09: A ‘Paper Trail’ Challenge for the Mainstream Media
08/31/09: Drowning in Amorality
08/26/09: The Republican Recovery Program

© 2010, Arnold Ahlert

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