It’s not easy carrying water for big government these days. Especially with all the manifest failures staring the public right in the face. A flack has to twist and contort himself into all kinds of death-defying shapes, inventing novel rationales why bigger and more expansive government really is the solution to all our problems. But today’s editorial in the Washington Post about the ATF’s, er, difficulties makes those Chinese acrobats look as flexible as a two-by-four in comparison. Because, you see, the whole Fast and Furious f-up is really the fault of the NRA…

Yes, you read that right. And now, a few highlights for your reading (and jaw-dropping) pleasure:

The National Rifle Association and far too many lawmakers have fought against virtually every proposal to empower the bureau to better track and crack down on illegal firearms.

Now, the very critics who have tied the bureau’s hands are expressing outrage over a novel, and we would agree questionable, ATF operation intended to curb gun smuggling into Mexico.

The ATF had hoped to move against higher-ups in the chain of command, but the operation went awry when the bureau lost track of 2,500 weapons….

Lawmakers should give the ATF the tools it needs to fight illegal gun trafficking. They should enact stronger penalties for straw purchases and craft a federal gun-smuggling statute; close the gun-show loophole, which allows buyers under certain circumstances to purchase weapons without a background check; resuscitate the ban on assault weapons; and give the ATF the authority to collect data on multiple sales of long guns in border states.

We may never know whether the bureau would have launched the Fast and Furious operation had it had other, more effective tools at its disposal. Those who would clobber the bureau for possible mistakes should look in the mirror and accept some responsibility for its failings.

Sorry . . . let me wipe the coffee off of my screen. There. That’s better.

The ATF really did have its heart in the right place, the poor dears. It was only a chronic lack of funds and regulatory power that kept the valiant gunwalking facilitators from nailing the Mexican cartels’ Mr. Bigs right to the wall. If only the NRA had just minded their own damned business.

Fast and Furious is one of the most embarrassing and ill-conceived bureaucratic clusters in recent memory. And the WaPo’s solution is to give ATF more power. I’ve exhaustively searched the archives but can’t seem to find where they called for more executive branch power in the wake of that whole Watergate thingy. Or Iran/Contra. Damned search engines.

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9 COMMENTS

  2. You have to understand that the NYT and the WaPo have assumed the same role in the US political culture that Pravada and Izvestia had in the former Soviet Union. Their role is not to provide information but to signal the Party faithful and indoctrinate the public. Since they no longer have a monopoly on information their role in indoctrination is less effective than in the past but they still function as a effective signaling device on the correct line to follow.

    Both the recent editorial in the Times and todays Post are strong indications that Gunwalker had nothing to do with guns in Mexico and everything to do with grabbing guns in the US. It was a false flag operation hatched at the White House and the Justice Department. While the actual words were written by the two papers the content was dictated by the Administration. These editorials will cue regional newspapers and broadcast outlets to fall into line on administration’s gun confiscation program. You always have to put your money on the MSM propaganda machine because most people are lazy and will continue to get their information from these sources.

    There is no truth in the news and no news in the truth
    (Old Soviet saying: Pravda means truth and Izvestia means news)

    • Нет известий в Известиях, нет правды в Правде

      No news in Izvestia (The News), no truth in Pravda (The Truth).

      But it works both ways…

      • There is a saying, attributed to Lenin: “There is no morale in politics, only advisability”. (Морали в политике нет, а есть только целесообразность).
        And another (yes, it is from computer game, but how true): “The people only believe what the media tells them to believe, and I tell the media what to believe”.

  3. I love the understatement of “the operation went awry when the bureau lost track of 2,500 weapons”. That’s like calling the Klan an extremely restrictive social group. Of course most folks will see it and think they were trying and it just didn’t work as expected. They do make it sound like it is our fault the ATF screwed up. Gotta love the WaPo writers.

  4. Reading through the comments on the WaPo site it is interesting to note that of 67 (so far) comments exactly one agrees with the editorial. In an area as heavily Dem as the WaPo’s circulation area this is amazing!

      • Then why do they keep voting for gungrabber Moran?

        {Continuation of this post was deleted by the author due to anti-Moran vitriol, and unproven allegations which have no place on this board}

        • I can’t figure out why they vote for him at all. He is as dirty as Rod Blogoyivich. I have asked my neighbors why don’t they find somebody to run against him the primary. I just get deer in the headlights stares

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