yeah, Obama seems allergic to the word 'victory', doesn't he?

At least when applied to the US.
Those are fine and inspiring words to be sure. But what is more notable is the one word America's commander in chief could not bring himself to say to the assembled troops: Victory. He called the end of the American sacrifice in Iraq a "moment of success." And he called it an "extraordinary achievement." He even called it the fullest "expression of America's support for self-determination than our leaving Iraq to its people." But he didn't call it a victory, even though by his own description, Iraq was, before the arrival of American troops, a land of intense suffering under one of the most cruel and ruthless dictators in history. Today, the people of Iraq are no longer terrorized by their own government; they are instead its masters. If that result does not deserve to be called a victory for America, Obama owes an explanation to the families of the 4,500 Americans who gave their lives to bring it about.


The PROM State Police: "We don't want to, so we won't; screw you peasants." When cops start acting like a Praetorian Guard, it's bad. Seriously bad.




Ah, Texas:
A few folks may remember the killing and shooting on Falcon lake down here. I know bass fisherman from Michigan like to fish the lake. The Sheriff down here requests you be armed(sure hell won't see that in the PROM). Well I am happy to let the tourist fishermen know the first Texas DPS Gunboat (There will be atleast 6) has been commissioned today. And yes, those are machineguns. Texas is not counting on the Feds anymore to protect bass fishermen or jet skiers on the border! Come on down and visit!

Gun mounts are a twin M240 (7.62) in the front, single mounts on the sides. Secondly, these things were built expressly for Lake Falcon and the border down by Brownsville.
Son spent a lot of time with the M240; he likes it. A lot. Reliable, accurate, and .308.

Yeah, this has downsides, on the 'militarization of law enforcement' problem. It's also probably their only real option: when the feds won't do crap, the state will have to. And when they're dealing with armed drug/illegal alien/weapons smugglers(and considering the information on Hezbollah working with the cartels), there's no telling what they'll run into.
Found at Sipsey; other links here and here
I'll note that in Oklahoma, the Lake Patrol is part of the Highway Patrol, but nothing like this. Of course, we don't have lakes on the border with Mexico, either.


"We broke the law, and got people killed, which proves we need more gun laws!"
"Earlier this year, the House of Representatives actually voted to keep law enforcement in the dark when individuals purchase semi-automatic rifles and shotguns in Southwest border gun shops," Holder said. "Providing law enforcement with the tools to detect and to disrupt illegal gun trafficking is entirely consistent with the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens."

But Republicans take issue with that point.

Law enforcement was not 'in the dark' when individuals purchased Fast and Furious weapons, they say. Rather, ATF agents received real-time -- and sometimes advanced -- notice from cooperating gun dealers when suspected straw buyers purchased weapons. Buyers frequently called in their order before showing up. Gun store owners would give the straw buyers a pick-up time specifically to give ATF agents plenty of time to set up their cameras and surveillance teams.

In one email, Burke called the gun stores 'evil' and ATF brass in Washington also cooperated for a story in The Washington Post in December 2009 suggesting border-state gun stores were responsible for Mexico's cartel violence.

Internally, ATF officials admit cooperating gun stores like Lone Wolf in Phoenix -- singled out in the Post story -- actually helped the operation, dutifully faxing the names, addresses and serial numbers of the guns that the straws bought, often the same day. Lone Wolf also allowed the ATF to install cameras inside the store, giving ATF officials coast to coast real-time information about purchases and purchasers.


This shouldn't be a surprise: you make it hard for businesses to operate, and you want to ban/restrict what a company makes, they'll start looking for another place to set up.
Hey, S&W: Oklahoma would love to have you move here.


I'll borrow a post from Sipsey(again, for those who can't go there):

From Tickle the Wire:

Thomas E. Brandon, the straight-shooting, well respected and extremely able veteran of ATF, who was sent around the country this year to try and mend some of the agencies pressing problems, has been named ticklethewire.com’s Fed Of The Year for 2011.

Brandon, an ex-Marine who is currently ATF’s number two person in Washington, started the year off as special agent in charge of ATF’s Detroit office, where he was very well respected.

In the spring, after the agency started coming under Congressional fire for Operation Fast and Furious, Brandon was sent off to Phoenix to head up that office and try and improve morale and straighten out matters. . .

In late August, acting director Ken Melson stepped down. In October, as part of a major shakeup at the agency, Brandon was summoned from Phoenix to become the number two guy in Washington.

Much respected? Yes. Even the guys at CleanUpATF.org welcomed him. "A straight shooter"? Well, you be the judge. Sources tell Sipsey Street that right after he was transferred to Phoenix, Brandon screwed up. That is, he took his charge to clean up Phoenix seriously. In the process, he began to follow the leads that the dissident agents of Phoenix Group VII had followed before being pulled off the surveillances of the straw buyers which were leading to the smugglers and money men.

In short order, Brandon was told to back off, say our sources. He continued to push -- until he was summoned to a meeting with the FBI and DOJ higher ups and given the "national security" warning. The FBI paid informant that the ATF agents had unknowingly identified was a "piece of slime, but a protected piece of slime," according to one source. Brandon was ordered to back off and he very meekly did.

My sources say that the Issa Committee could very profitably interview this "stand up guy" for information on who warned him to stay away from the protected FBI paid informant.

So, is he "Fed of the Year"? Oh, yeah, I'll go along with that. Brandon is everything craven and cowardly that we have come to expect in the senior executives of the ATF and FBI.

Fed of the Year? Yeah, I'll sign that.

Yeah, sounds like someone Issa and Grassley should talk to.


Oh man, if I had one of these it'd be the centerpiece on the dinner table.


Nancy Pelosi really is a corrupt bitch, isn't she?

People where Great Britain used to be freak out over pocketknives. I do have to note that just having that in (fG)Britain will get you thrown in jail, even if all you use it for is opening boxes, cutting rope and other useful purposes.


Jennifer also notes
A: Reporting that was an attempt to be thorough, but someone who should have had a gunny check it before publishing, and
B: Some really bad gunhandling by a cop.