Fast and Furious Cover-up

I love the photo Matt Drudge has posted on his site to accompany the Fast and Furious/King Obama/executive privilege story.

It's a composite.

We know how much Obama loves to employ composites.

This composite is of Richard Nixon, imperial president, and Obama, imperial president.

It's very fitting.

What we have with Fast and Furious is a failure to cooperate.

From the New York Times:

President Obama on Wednesday invoked executive privilege to withhold from a Congressional oversight committee some documents and communications among his advisers regarding the failed gun enforcement operation known as “Fast and Furious,” in which weapons purchased in the United States were allowed to cross into Mexico.

It was the first time since Mr. Obama took office that he has asserted the privilege, and it sharpened considerably the long-festering dispute between Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Representative Darrell Issa of California, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The panel had been threatening to find Mr. Holder in contempt for refusing to hand over some documents.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole said in a letter to Mr. Issa that the president was claiming privilege over the documents, although he suggested that there might yet be a way to negotiate the release of some of the contested documents.

“We regret that we have arrived at this point, after the many steps we have taken to address the committee’s concerns and to accommodate the committee’s legitimate oversight interests regarding Operation Fast and Furious,” the Justice Department letter said. “Although we are deeply disappointed that the committee appears intent on proceeding with a contempt vote, the department remains willing to work with the committee to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of the outstanding issues.”

But Mr. Issa said that the House had received no letter from Mr. Obama himself or a log specifying what was being withheld. He also raised doubts about whether executive privilege covered internal deliberative documents that did not relate to confidential communications involving the president himself.

“Our purpose has never been to hold the attorney general in contempt,” Mr. Issa said. “Our purpose has always been to get the information the committee needs to complete its work — that it is not only entitled to, but obligated to do.”

Well, well, well.

Remember back in 2008, when Obama said he was going to transform government? Everything was going to change. HE was going to govern with transparency.

Another broken promise. Obama didn't change Washington for the better, far from it.

As John Boehner points out, Obama can't claim executive privilege unless the White House is involved in Fast and Furious.

On the heels of President Obama's decision to shield Department of Justice documents under the doctrine of executive privilege, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner wondered if White House officials were being involved in a cover-up.

"Until now, everyone believed that the decisions regarding ‘Fast and Furious’ were confined to the Department of Justice," Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said in a statement.

"The White House decision to invoke executive privilege implies that White House officials were either involved in the ‘Fast and Furious’ operation or the cover-up that followed. The Administration has always insisted that wasn't the case. Were they lying, or are they now bending the law to hide the truth?” Buck said.

Yeah, this is getting messy.

These cover-ups, the foot-dragging, never work. Stalling makes things worse. If you have nothing to hide, you usually don't hide it.

I suppose Obama is counting on his media allies to claim that Republicans are racist for voting on holding Eric Holder in contempt.

No white president would be persecuted the way Obama and those in his administration, like Holder, are being treated, right?

Soooo....

Was Nixon biracial?