The media is full of stories about how the Obama administration abused its power by unleashing the much feared IRS to harass conservative, Jewish, and church groups, seized AP reporter phone records, and covered-up gross incompetence and a pattern of lying to the American people about Benghazi. Speculation is rampant that one of these three scandals will end in Obama impeachment. However, barely mentioned recently is another potentially even more explosive scandal, ‘fast and furious’, in which our own government sold over 2,000 assault rifles to Mexican drug cartels, which were later used to kill two border patrol agents and dozens of Mexicans, many of whom were not involved in the drug trade. With four major scandals emerging, it seems likely that one or more will result in an effort at Obama impeachment.

Will Fast and Furious End in Obama Impeachment?

Univision performed some outstanding investigative journalism (watch here) , in which they exposed rampant incompetence in a ‘gun walking’ operation, in which assault rifles were allowed to be sold to Mexican drug cartels.

‘Gun walking’ is nothing new, but in this case over 2,000 assault rifles were allowed to ‘walk’ without any tracking devices or monitoring whatsoever. The Mexican government was not even told. Not surprisingly, nearly all of these weapons ended up in the hand of the Sinaloa drug cartel, and soon started being found at crime scenes. When ‘fast and furious’ resulted in the murder of CBP Officer Brian Terry, an investigation was triggered which eventually led back to the Obama Justice Department, and a Congressional investigation.

CBP Agent Brian Terry – killed in the line of duty by Mexican drug cartel with weapon sold by the Obama DOJ

Will Abuse of Power in ‘Fast and Furious’ end in Obama Impeachment?

After over one year of foot-dragging by the Obama administration, Congress issued a subpoena for records which Obama’s Department of Justice had failed to provide despite numerous requests. Obama and Eric Holder defied the subpoena! When Congress was about to hold Eric Holder in contempt, Obama asserted sweeping executive privilege over all ‘fast and furious’ documents not already provided to Congress. Congress voted to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, and consistent with Obama’s DOJ pervasive contempt for the ‘rule of law’ the district attorney responsible for prosecuting criminal contempt of Congress refused to prosecute Eric Holder. Congress took the matter to court in a civil case to force compliance with a valid subpoena.

The case was recently heard by U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who sharply questioned the attorney for Obama administration, and appeared extremely skeptical. Judge Jackson was appointed by Obama, which underlines just how outlandish Obama’s claim of executive privilige are. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ian Gershengorn sought to have the case dismissed, claiming the judicial branch has no role:

“That lack of a judicial role is a deliberate part of the constitutional structure. It has been messy. It has been contentious. It has been political … but it has worked,

a claim which was met with extreme skepticism by Judge Jackson, who responded:

“You keep talking about the two [branches] as if the third one isn’t there,”

Nixon Tried the Same Executive Privilege Strategy as Obama and Lost Badly

President Richard Nixon – claimed executive privilege and lost. Resigned 15 days later.

President Obama – claims sweeping executive privilege, far broader than Nixon!

Nixon tried a similar strategy during Watergate (see United States v. Nixon), arguing that secret recordings of all his Oval Office conversations were protected under the executive privilege concept that originated with George Washington. The Supreme Court confirmed the concept of executive privilege, then narrowed executive privilege greatly, and ordered Nixon to turn over the tapes, stating the compelling interests in criminal prosecutions outweighed the president’s need for confidentiality in discussions with aides.

15 days later Nixon resigned. Now Obama is trying the same strategy, except Obama seeks to assert much broader executive privilege than Nixon did, and for communications in which he wasn’t even part of!

Obama and Eric Holder know they will ultimately lose in court, but after months of delay, appeals, etc. and the inevitable court order would come after Obama’s reelection. It’s apparent this was a ‘hail Mary’ pass to forestall the inevitable disclosures until after the election last November.

Just as Nixon and Clinton were able to temporarily obscure various scandals from public view until reelected, sooner or later the truth always emerges.

Will there be an Obama Impeachment?

There are four major scandals with a steady drip-drip-drip of embarassing revelations, and any one of these scandals could lead to an Obama impeachment. Impeachment won’t happen today, tomorrow, or even next month, but its apparent the situation is spiraling out of control for the Obama administration.

With dropping popularity likely with the Obamacare ‘train wreck’ on the horizon, it seems likely impeachment or resignation may result before Obama’s second term is finished, just as predicted by Governor Mike Huckabee.

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Bob Quasius is the founder and president of Cafe Con Leche Republicans. Reposted from Cafe Con Leche Republicans web site – original link.

The Political Demise of Richard Nixon

Many older Americans remember the Nixon years. Richard Nixon was reelected in a landslide, but the groundwork for Nixon’s demise was laid during his first term. The Nixon administration engaged in dirty tricks to aggressively undermine his opposition.

The White House “plumbers” were hired to repair “leaks” of sensitive information that embarrassed Nixon. With no accountability or oversight, the “plumbers” were soon out of control. One night they broke into Democratic National Headquarters (DNC) at the Watergate Hotel, and were arrested.

Nixon didn’t know in advance about the burglary, and was furious. Like most presidents, Nixon’s king-sized ego that would not allow apology, and instead he covered-up, which led to Nixon’s downfall.

Nixon, like John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson before him, unleashed the IRS to go after his enemies, which also came to light during the furor over Watergate.

Nixon was able to cover-up scandals during his first term, but during his second term a steady drip-drip-drip of revelations about Nixon’s abuses of power appeared in the news media, and eventually Congress began impeachment proceedings, and when impeachment became apparent he resigned.

Obama’s Abuse of the IRS

Like Nixon, Johnson, and Kennedy, the Obama administration used the IRS to intimidate enemies. The latest revelations are truly shocking. Any organization whose name included “tea party” or “patriot” received intense scrutiny from the IRS, which demanded answers to questions about donors, volunteers, Facebook posts, even which legislators they had talked to.

Now Jewish groups who had opposed Obama’s Mideast policies have revealed they were abused by the IRS too, and the Koch brothers revealed in 2010 the White House had information about them which could only have come from the IRS.

If Obama abused the IRS to intimidate and harass his political enemies, that may well lead to an Obama impeachment, just as it did with Nixon.

‘Fast and Furious’ may also lead to Obama impeachment

During Obama’s first term, the Obama administration sold over 2,000 high powered assault weapons to Mexican narco-traffickers, supposedly to track these weapons, but nobody put tracking devices in the guns or tracked them. Border patrol agent Brian Terry was killed with one of these guns, which initiated the scandal.

Basically the guns were allowed to ‘walk.’ The Mexican government was not told and dozens of innocent Mexicans were killed by drug traffickers with these weapons.

When Congress investigated, the Obama DOJ dragged its feet for months, withholding requested information. The eventual subpoena led to a showdown with Obama. With Holder about to be held in contempt of Congress, Obama threw an overreaching blanket of executive privilege over everything related to ‘fast and furious.’ Congress held Eric Holder in contempt, and not surprisingly the DA refused to prosecute his boss. Any day now we can expect a court to order compliance with the subpoena, court appeals, but in the end Obama will lose and the truth about ‘fast and furious’ will be public.

Will the Benghazi cover-up lead to Obama impeachment?

The full story of the tragic loss of four American heroes in Benghazi begs to be told. Benghazi was unmistakably a terror attack from the beginning, but Obama lied for weeks to assure his reelection.

There was nothing criminal about Obama’s actions leading up to Benghazi, but the incompetence will sink Hillary’s career and tarnish Obama’s leadership. Terror attacks on American diplomatic outposts are nothing new. Two U.S. embassies in Africa were destroyed by car bombs during the Clinton years with massive loss of life. Hillary Clinton was first lady, and Susan Rice the Associate Secretary of State for Africa at the time. Amazingly, Hillary Clinton ignored numerous urgent requests for beefed up security.

Obama failed to authorize military support when told about Benghazi, and at least two who died could have been saved with military support in the region. The Obama administration sought to cover up this gross incompetence to get past the election just two months later, and Susan Rice and Obama clearly lied to the American people about a third-rate video and “spontaneous” demonstration, to divert attention from the fact Al Qaeda is as dangerous as ever.

It remains to be seen whether witnesses in Congress were induced to lie and obstruct. There are already serious allegations a recent witness was the victim of retaliation. One thing is already apparent. The “talking points” from the intelligence community, which Jay Kearney said received one minor insignificant edit before release, were edited 12 times and scrubbed of any terror references. The Review Board that reviewed Benghazi didn’t interview key witnesses, who now are testifying in Congress. Apparently, the review board was a whitewash from the start!

Will Congress consider an Obama impeachment?

If an impeachment vote were held today, it would undoubtedly fail. Congress generally won’t impeach a popular president.

Bill Clinton committed impeachable offenses and was impeached, but the Senate balked at removing Clinton from office because he was still popular.

However, as these scandals grow and the wheels fall off of Obamacare next year, Obama’s approval ratings can be expected to sink to rock bottom levels, and we may well see an effort to impeach Obama. The Obama recovery is worse than the Bush recession, and the public is tired of a jobless economy. Bush has been out of office for four years now, and Obama owns the economic morass though he still blames Bush.

In my opinion, Obama is the worst president in modern history, and the only reason he was reelected is that Mitt Romney wasn’t the best candidate, and didn’t run a good campaign against Obama.

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Bob Quasius is the founder and president of Cafe Con Leche Republicans.

Nearly two years after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered by a gang of Mexican thugs in the desert night of southeastern Arizona, the federal government has finally secured a conviction. Yesterday, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, plead guilty to the murder but denied being the shooter. He pled guilty in exchange for having the death penalty taken off the table during the sentencing portion of the trial, set for January. Osorio-Arellanes faces life in prison as his maximum punishment. Is this conviction too little, too late from an Obama Administration that appears to be up to their ears in the Fast and Furious program that led to Terry’s murder and its subsequent cover-up?

I spoke with Brian Terry’s brother, Kent Terry, today about this news and his reaction. He indicated he was not aware that the defendant was going to change his plea and said, “I am glad justice was served somewhat.” Terry questioned the timing of this plea bargain and its proximity to the election next week.

As do many Americans, Kent Terry believes that President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are directly involved in the Fast and Furious program that put two of the guns used in Brian Terry’s murder into the hands of these gangsters. Terry said, “I am ashamed of how Obama handled Fast and Furious and Benghazi.” He feels Obama’s failure to comment on Fast and Furious or pressure his Administration to get to the truth about Fast and Furious and Benghazi are indications of Obama’s direct complicity.

Osorio-Arellanes was part of a gang of Mexican bandits who had come into the United States illegally solely for the purpose of committing crimes. In his plea statement, Osorio-Arellanes admitted he was part of this “rip-off” crew. They sneaked into the U.S. from Mexico about a week prior to Agent Terry’s murder. They had stashed food and weapons (including at least two guns from Fast and Furious) and were searching for Mexican marijuana smugglers to rob when they encountered Agent Terry’s BORTAC team and engaged them in a fire fight. Osorio-Arellanes admitted raising his weapon but said he did not fire on the agents. Osorio-Arellanes was shot during the gunfight and has been in federal custody ever since.

Clearly our borders are not secure. Not only are drug smugglers free to traffic their products into our nation. They also are freely engaging in human smuggling, human trafficking and sex-slavery as they bring their human cargo into America. In addition, rip-off gangs like the one Osorio-Arellanes was a part of, freely come and go across our border preying on their victims and endangering our Border Patrol Agents.

President Obama has failed in his primary duty as Commander-in-Chief – that of protecting our borders from an invasion of an army of smugglers and gangsters who endanger the lives of American citizens every day. Brian Terry’s murder is not the only one attributable to Obama’s failure to secure our borders. Many other Americans have lost their lives to bandits like this.

Our nation deserves to have a president who will take seriously, the dangers associated with our unsecured borders. And we deserve the opportunity to engage in real reform of our broken immigration system that makes it too easy for people to enter our country illegally and much too difficult for many to find a legal way to come here.

While immigration reform and border security have not been talked about very much in this presidential election season, it is an important issue and one where Obama has failed. You can make a statement by getting out and voting for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Send a message of overwhelming magnitude and unarguable force that we reject the last four years of this Lawless Presidency and tell the Democrat party they must re-tool their issues from the ground up if they want to remain a viable party in our nation’s political system. You can do this by not just winning this election, but by getting every single voter you know to the polls. Vote a straight Republican ticket to send your message all the way down the ballot!

Shortly after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, President Barack Obama’s former minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright went on an anti-American rant which included an America-blaming quote, “America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”  After listening to this pastor, whose church President Obama sat in for over 20 years, it is easy to see where the President gets his “blame America first” mentality. But after looking back at Obama’s illegal war against Libya and his ill-advised Middle East policy, one must wonder if Rev. Wright would revise his now famous quote and say “Obama’s chickens are coming home to roost”?

This week, the House Oversight Committee held hearings to get to the truth about what happened in Libya leading to the death of our Ambassador and 3 other Americans and then the subsequent cover-up. As you might recall, despite the fact that there was no protest underway during the attack in Libya, the Obama Administration rushed to the streets proclaiming this was an out of control protest about a video that very few people have ever seen. Even after it became clear that was not the truth, the Obama team kept singing their song hoping someone might actually come to believe it.

Last month, On Sept. 11, almost simultaneously with the riots in Egypt and the terrorist attack in Libya, I was meeting in Washington, DC with Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN). I reported last week about his uncanny prediction of violence in response to Obama’s amateurish foreign policy and illegal war. During that interview he told me,

“I think he’s always looked at America as a state that tries to control the rest of the world, and he’s never liked that. He sent Winston Churchill’s statue back to England because they had the worldwide organization, and so I think he deliberately wants to diffuse the popularity and strength of the United States, and I think that’s by design, and I think it’s also incompetence. A lot of people would be very upset to hear me say that, but I really mean it. I think he is a disaster for this country.“

The next day, I also spoke with Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH). At that time, we already knew about Ambassador Stevens’ death, but the President was still singing the “blame the movie” song. Turner described Obama’s foreign policy as a failure stating,

“So now we are in the aftermath of that action where the president is sitting with an ill-defined policy and Americans have been killed and our country is still at risk.”

After yesterday’s Oversight Committee hearing, Mr. Turner issued the following statement:

Turner Statement on Oversight Hearing on Security Failures at Benghazi 

I would like to thank Chairman Issa for holding this important hearing to investigate the events surrounding the September 11th attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi that led to the murder of Ambassador Stevens and a number of embassy staff. The attack was performed on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history and is the first time a U.S ambassador has been killed since Adolf Dubs, the former ambassador to Afghanistan, was murdered in 1979. It is a stark reminder that terrorist groups continue to actively plan attacks against the United States and will exploit any opportunity when our guard is down.

The concern for terrorist activity has been particularly prevalent in Libya, which has a history of harboring known terrorist groups and top leaders of terrorist activity against the United States. Libya is reported to be the source of numerous terrorist training grounds and has produced such top ranked Al Qaeda commanders as Abu Yahya Al Libi.

Anti-American sentiment is a prevalent theme in the region and requires a careful diplomatic and military strategic engagement plan to ensure the promotion of a healthy democratic state. Achieving this goal places a great onus on the American diplomats and field agents operating in these dangerous environments, and our government has a responsibility to enact and adhere to safety policies that protect the lives of our agents. However, in the case of the September 11th attacks in Benghazi, it appears that State Department officials not only ignored security policies but, on numerous occasions, directed their agents not to file reports that would trigger the very safety measures that could have prevented the tragic loss of life.

Witnesses at today’s hearing, including the Regional Security Officer (RSO) of the U.S. Mission in Libya, Eric Nordstrom, shared with the committee evidence to suggest that the State Department intentionally kept the number of security agents assigned to Libya artificially low in order to give the appearance that the situation in Libya had “normalized.” This conclusion is consistent with an internal Embassy document from February 2012 that refers to an effort underway to “transition from emergency to normalized security operations,” including the “transition to a more locally based security team.”

It appears that the State Department’s goal to achieve this false perception took priority over the safety of the Ambassador and embassy staff. Evidence collected by the committee paints a chaotic and violent picture of Libya that starkly contrasts the “normalized” environment the State Department intended to project. According to this information, in the 13 month period preceding Ambassador Stevens’ death, the Embassy’s RSO, Mr. Nordstrom, reported over 230 security incidents in Libya and made numerous requests for additional security personnel. These incidents included IED attacks, kidnappings and gun battles. Despite these circumstances and repeated embassy requests for additional security personnel, the State Department systemically reduced security forces to dangerously low levels.

The evidence provided to the committee raises serious questions as about the Administration’s policy in Libya and whether their strategic plan places a premium on promoting a false perception of the region at the expense of American citizens. However, there are many reasons to believe that the situation in Libya is disintegrating. The country remains dangerously splintered and infested with extremist groups. Authorities in Egypt, Niger, Algeria, Israel, and Tunisia, have repeatedly expressed concerns about weapons smuggling across their borders and into the hands of terrorist groups.

These weapons could include the innumerous shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADS) that are known to exist in Libya. While it is estimated that Gadafi had an estimated 20,000 MANPADS before the collapse of his regime, only 5,000 have been recovered. These weapon systems pose a real threat to the United States military and civilian aircraft, and our inability to account for them in this extreme, terrorist diaspora is reason for great concern. Of equal concern is the Administration’s apparent attempt to hide these realities from the American public despite the grave threat they pose.

If September 11th, 2012 and September 11th, 2001 have demonstrated anything, it is that the terrorist threat to our nation is real and we cannot let down our guard. Our government has a constitutional responsibility to protect its citizens and must adopt policies that achieve that end. I hope this hearing will aid in ensuring that safety of American’s at home and abroad and will influence a policy shift that better serves that objective.”

In the 1970′s, President Richard Nixon was forced to resign under threat of impeachment for covering up a third rate burglary. No one was hurt or killed as a result, but clearly laws were broken and the public was outraged. Now President Obama and his Administration have engaged in not one, but two, cover-ups where lives have been lost. Operation Fast and Furious has left a trail of death in Mexico and Arizona. And now we have more dead Americans in Libya and yet another Administration cover-up of critical security information. Additionally, we have about 15,000 missing missiles that could be smuggled across our open borders to attack Americans in our own country. We are in danger because of Obama’s reckless and illegal war in Libya. It is time for the public outrage to reach an appropriate crescendo leading to the President’s removal from office by a huge defeat at the polls.

Perhaps the most lawless act of the Obama Presidency has been its role in Operation Fast and Furious. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been out front in keeping this story in the public’s eye. While in Washington, DC, last month, I spoke with NRA Spokesperson Jacqueline Otto about Fast and Furious. She told me the NRA got “furious fast over Fast and Furious”.

Operation Fast and Furious first came to public attention shortly after the murder of US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered during a firefight with Mexican gangsters in December of 2010. In the video below, I talk with Otto about the anti-gun agenda of the Obama Administration and how they created Fast and Furious to create a crisis in order to further their gun-control plans.

Watch the interview here.

Otto acknowledged TexasGOPVote’s role in reporting this scandal early on and keeping the story alive until picked up nationally by CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson. Senator Charles Grassley and House Oversight Committee Chairman Daryl Issa led the way for Congressional investigations leading to Contempt of Congress  charges being levied against Eric Holder for his refusal to provide subpoenaed documents Congress required to carry out its Constitutionally mandated role of oversight.

On the political agenda of the Obama Administration, Otto explained, “Almost from the beginning there was a chorus of Administration officials using the term ’90% of the firearms that were used in Mexican violence”. 90% of firearms they said were coming from America.”

Otto continued, “What they didn’t tell us was that they were the ones sending them there – through Operation Fast and Furious. And, when that story came to light through the murder of Brian Terry and through the hundreds of Mexican citizens who have been murdered through this violence.”

The proof of the gun control agenda soon followed. Otto explained, “They used the 90% figure to justify their new regulatory schemes, their new registration requirements and forcing these federally licensed firearms dealers that are in the border states to jump through more hoops, and do more paperwork and follow more requirements when they weren’t the ones at fault.”

Many of the firearms dealers in Arizona and Texas asked to not participate in this program – fearing violence and death would result from this. They were coerced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE, or ATF) to continue their participations. This was revealed in one of Senator Grassley’s earliest reports.

In my Feb, 2010 article titled, Agent Brian Terry Murder – DOJ Adds to the Cover-up, I wrote, “The licensed gun dealer who sold the weapons allegedly recovered at the scene of Agent Terry’s murder met with the ATF and the Assistant US Attorney as early as December 2009 to discuss his role as a licensed dealer during this investigation. Avila was allowed to continue his purchases, including two .50 caliber rifles as late as June 2010.”

The investigation continues despite an internal DOJ Inspector General report which whitewashed Attorney General Eric Holder’s involvement in Fast and Furious. Ask yourself this, if Holder and Obama are not directly involved, how and why did Obama give Holder Executive Privilege on this scandal?

SEE RELATED STORY FROM EXAMINER.COM - A journalist’s guide to ‘Project Gunwalker’

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Bob Price is a political commentator for TexasGOPVote.com. He is an expert about issues related to border security and illegal immigration and has expanded to cover stories of local, state and national interest from a Conservative Texas Perspective. He also volunteers with US Border Watch, a civilian volunteer border security organization, as Communications Director. He has been with USBW for over five years.

Recently, Price was invited to become the Texas Director of Cafe Con Leche Republicans. CCLR is an organization established to foster better communication within the Republican party toward immigrants.

Price is also a regular political commentator on Houston’s Fox 26 and KHOU, Houston Channel 11 where he regularly debates on a wide variety of political issues. He is frequently asked to speak to organizations on the topic of border security, immigration reform and 2nd Amendment issues.

He is a US Air Force veteran, having served overseas during the Cold War and is a retired Lt. Col. from the US Air Force Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol where he served in command, public relations, emergency services and youth education capacities.

In corporate life, Mr. Price serves as vice president of Novum Solutions, Inc; a Houston based manufacturing company best known for its Blue Wonder Gun Care Products and Novum APR Advanced Pain Relief  brands. Novum also manufactures private label product for Connecticut Valley Arms, Bass Assassin Fishing Lures and Point Blank Body Armor. He is also an Independent Brand Partner for Nerium Age Defying skin care products.

Follow more of Price’s writing and commentary at BobPrice.com.

Under George W. Bush, foreign policy was simply defined after 9/11: You are either with us or against us. To that end we invaded two countries and operated militarily in several others. Result: we killed thousands upon thousands of terrorists in their own countries or killed soldiers of misfortune who believed their Muslim mullahs about “Satan” America and flocked to Iraq and Afghanistan to kill Americans. They died.

During those Bush years, he also took care of business; for example: Bush negotiated several trade agreements with Central American countries — Central American Free Trade Agreement — (CAFTA) and Panama, Colombia and South Korea.

He worked with Mexico’s President Vicente Fox to allow some guns purchased in the United States to make their way to Mexico where joint Mexican and American officers could track the guns and bust drug cartel people by following hidden GPS (satellite) trackers imbedded in the weapons. The program didn’t work well, so it was stopped.

He also worked with President Fox to organize the first and only Comprehensive Immigration Reform proposal since the 1986 Immigration Control Act Ronald Reagan signed into law. Democrats, including Barack Obama, killed it in Congress.

Bush worked with the Poles and Czechs to develop a missile shield in their countries to protect Europe from Russian and Iranian missiles. Obama killed the program.

Bush did all that while prosecuting two wars.

American Foreign Policy was sidetracked by the election of Barack Hussein Obama. The question is: Is the United States better off today in foreign relations than it was on January 19, 2009?

From the American Hispanic viewpoint, no! American foreign policy has deteriorated so badly it hardly exists today. From the Latin American standpoint, American foreign policy today is worse than even under Democrat President Woodrow Wilson who invaded Mexico twice in two years (1914 and 1916) and Haiti (1915) and the Dominican Republic (1919).

The invasions of Mexico were spearheaded by the U.S. Army and both failed miserably. Haiti and the Dominican Republic were U.S. Marine operations and they were successful. Interestingly, from the American Hispanic view, in the Dominican Republic the Marines organized horseback special operations Marines from Mexican American troops and they “terrorized” the Dominican rebels and bandits that had rendered the countryside helpless before the Marines arrived.

Thousands of Mexicans have died during the Obama Administration. They died by guns the Administration allowed to be purchased illegally and smuggled into Mexico. The Obama people called the program “Fast & Furious.” Despite widespread exposure by Congress of this Obama Administration adventure, no one has been fired from Obama Administration jobs and the President has invoked Executive Privilege to keep 100-thousand “Fast & Furious” documents secret.

From the Latin American viewpoint, for three years Obama totally ignored Latin America by not sending the Bush-negotiated Panama and Colombia trade agreements to Congress for ratification. He also did not negotiate any new agreements with twenty other Latin American countries and Brazil that would stimulate new employment in all concerned countries.

His most serious foreign policy faux pax (screw-up for Joe Biden) occurred when Obama and Hillary Clinton totally screwed up the Honduras emergency that greeted Obama early on in his Administration.

First of all, it was obvious that neither Obama nor Hillary Clinton knew where Honduras was. Secondly, they were not aware that the Honduras Constitution empowered the country’s Supreme Court to expel an elected President if he was successfully impeached by Congress. This leftwing radical Castro-supported Honduran Presidential clown was properly impeached and expelled from the country.

So, did Obama and Clinton side with the legal Honduran government? No, they sided with the clown and canceled visas for Honduran government officials as punishment. Eventually, of course, Obama and Clinton had to quit supporting knee-jerk leftists and let the legal Hondurans run their own country. The Mighty Duo of Obama/Clinton totally screwed up on Honduras.

Back to trade which we need to create good jobs in the U.S. Obama is against free trade agreements as envisioned first by Ronald Reagan, then the Bushes and even Bill Clinton. Obama actually campaigned against the 14-year-old established North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico. It helped Clinton create 20-million jobs in 6 years.

In the Senate (2005), he voted against the CAFTA agreement and then voted against its implementation. He also voted (2005) no on a bill that would have expanded work visas for farm workers who the entire universe knows are mostly Mexican.

Add in millions of angry Muslims rioting from North Africa to Australia who hate Americans out of profound jealousy and Americans being murdered by some Muslim terrorists and we are left with one conclusion —- Barack Hussein Obama’s foreign policy rates little more than an “F-plus.”

Editor’s Note:  as with all postings appearing with a by-line, this op-ed is the author’s opinion, and not necessarily the official position of Cafe Con Leche Republicans.

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Raoul Lowery Contreras (1941) was born in Mexico, raised in the USA. Former U.S. Marine, athlete, Dean’s List at San Diego State. Professional political consultant and California Republican Party official(1963-65)…Television news commentator, radio talk show host…published Op-Ed writer (1988 to present)…author of 12 books (as of 1-05-12). His books are available on Amazon.com.

Bob Quasius, President, stated: “President Obama promised the most transparent administration in history. We’ve watched with dismay as the ‘fast and furious’ scandal unfolded. With last night’s bombshell revelations by Univision of dozens of murders in Mexico, it is obvious this scandal is unparalleled in American history.

Worst of all is the cover-up by Eric Holder, far worse than Watergate. Members of Congress began asking for documents related to ‘Fast and Furious’ in January 2011, yet continued to hit a ‘stone wall’ from the Obama Administration. Even after issuing a proper subpoena in June 2012, the Obama administration continued to obstruct the investigation, claiming executive privilege even when it is apparent the documents requested are not protected by privilege.

Congress took the unprecedented step of holding Eric Holder in contempt, and yet the Obama administration persists in covering up this scandal. The U.S. attorney refused to prosecute Holder for criminal contempt, although Holder’s cover-up is clearly a criminal act.

The Obama administration has attempted to spin ‘Fast and Furious’ as a Bush era program, ‘Operation Wide Receiver’, but the two were totally separate programs. ‘Wide Receiver’ worked closely with the Mexican government and actually traced the guns with RFID chips, while Fast and Furious did neither.

Now it is apparent why the Obama administration is so desperate to cover up this scandal. It’s bad enough that Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and ICE officer Jamie Zapata were murdered by weapons allowed to walk by our own government, but now it turns out that dozens, perhaps hundreds, in Mexico and Central America were murdered with weapons sold by our government to drug cartels, including many innocent children. The Univision documentary is totally shocking.

It is time for Eric Holder to step down as attorney general, and if he will not step down then President Obama should fire him. To date no one has been fired for their actions in ‘Fast and Furious’ and it’s past time to hold accountable those responsible for both the scandal and the ensuing cover-up.”

How many Mexicans have died, killed by rifles the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF & E) and the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s office allowed to be taken illegally into Mexico for use by the Mexican drug cartels?

A dozen..? A hundred..? A thousand..?

A 500-page report by the Department of Justice Inspector General cleared the Attorney General who was the head mucky muck in charge but who saw no evil, which heard no evil and spoke no evil because he didn’t know what was going on. Some head mucky-muck Eric Holder is.

One of his top assistants resigned because the report stated clearly that he knew or should have known what a boneheaded program “Fast and Furious” was. The former head of the ATF &E who had been allowed to take another job in Washington after he left the ATF & E officially retired within minutes of the report’s release.

No one has been fired. Thousands of Mexicans have died by those guns these clowns let go to Mexico and no one was fired. The U.S. Attorney in Phoenix resigned; he was not fired. No one has been fired.

The report was based on thousands of documents from the DOJ which the department has refused to turn over to Congressman Darrell Issa’s House Committee. The refusal is so blatantly wrong that the entire House has voted to cite the Attorney general with a contempt citation. Covering up for this worst Attorney General in modern history, the President has been persuaded to invoke “Executive Privilege” — just another Washington cover-up.

For the past one-and-a-half years California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa has chaired the Government Operations Committee and gone after the ATF & E and the DOJ for negligence and maybe criminal activity that resulted in illegally purchased guns to move across the border and have been proven to have been used in murders on both sides of the border. One American Border Agent was killed in Arizona and weapons found at the scene of the gunfight were guns that were part of the “Fast and Furious” Obama Administration program.

Let us be clear the Inspector general’s report did not accuse the President or the Attorney General of any wrongdoing but if the President is going to take credit for the killing of Osama Bin Laden he must accept the blame for the murder of the American Border Patrol Agent and the hundreds of Mexicans that were slaughtered sometimes 50 at a time.

Moreover, the President personally must take responsibility for the cover up that has occurred since February, 2011. That month an assistant Attorney general wrote a letter to Issa’s Committee that denied any negligent or illegal activity by the DOJ and the ATF & E. The letter flatly denied any wrongdoing. Ten months later, the DOJ requested that the letter be returned and that the DOJ had allowed that letter out to Congress when its denials were not true.

So, who in the DOJ lied? Was it the Assistant Attorney General (Senate confirmed) who signed the letter or his assistants who composed the letter or the U. S. Attorney General in Arizona who personally approved “Fast and Furious” or the head of the ATF & E who also personally approved the program, who?

No one has been fired. No presentations have been made to a Federal Grand Jury; Attorney General Eric Holder is running around spiking the football because the IG report stated he knew nothing about the program. It appears that the principals involved will walk away without punishment, with full government pensions and health insurance paid for by us.

We won’t, therefore, see men in coats and ties handcuffed and “perp” walked on television night after night. What we should see is a barrage of 30-second TV ads between now and the election quoting from the IG’s report and we should see pictures or tape of every individual named in the report that is blamed for this stupid program that is responsible for the deaths of many.

The words used in these spots should be: “Mr. President, Border Patrol Agent Terry was killed by guns your administration allowed into Mexico. Mr. President, hundreds of Mexican men, women and children were slaughtered with guns your administration allowed into Mexico. Mr. President, why have you not personally fired each and every one of your appointed officials named in this report? Why haven’t you fired Attorney General Eric Holder who should have known this program existed? Mr. President, why have you not spoken out on this program since the Inspector General released his report? Why, Mr. President why are you silent? Mr. President, Magna cum Laude “graduate” from Harvard Law, Mr. President are you acquainted with this legal concept – SILENCE IS CONSENT.

Editor’s Note: as with all postings appearing with a by-line, this op-ed is the author’s opinion, and not necessarily the official position of Cafe Con Leche Republicans.

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Raoul Lowery Contreras (1941) was born in Mexico, raised in the USA. Former U.S. Marine, athlete, Dean’s List at San Diego State. Professional political consultant and California Republican Party official(1963-65)…Television news commentator, radio talk show host…published Op-Ed writer (1988 to present)…author of 12 books (as of 1-05-12). His books are available on Amazon.com.