Fast and Furious

I disapproved of "Fast and Furious," a botched law enforcement attempt to track down Mexican drug cartel soldiers. Obviously it was foolish and ill-conceived, betraying a lack of understanding as to how technology works. I don't think it was the brainchild of Attorney General Eric Holder, however, and it is ridiculous to think Republicans require almost a year's worth of private emails from the White House in order to investigate the matter. The Republicans seem to be on a fishing expedition during an election year to discredit Obama, nothing more and nothing less. The NRA is clinically paranoid in raising the fear among gun owners that the White House launched "Fast and Furious" in order to pass gun control laws. NRA members need to be treated psychologically with anti-psychotic medication if that is what they truly believe, but I give them more credit than that. I think the NRA leadership is lying and just wants to help the Republicans any way they can, because they are right-wingers and like the Republicans for reasons not having anything to do with firearms.

The real lesson behind "Fast and Furious" is that law enforcement in this country is out of control, and more oversight needs to be put in place to eliminate the many abuses. Chiefs need to be fired when they make serious errors, instead of permitted to stay on the job, as is currently the practice. Republicans complain about tenure for college professors, but the reality is that law enforcement has tenure and gets away with anything at all under the Sun in many agencies, as long as they do what their bosses want, which is what the elite believes to be useful. The rights of common citizens are viewed as not as very important, something that can be ignored if an individual officer is in a bad mood or if there are other priorities, like career advancement, at stake.