Off to the doctor, again.

More posts later.

Dispatch from the failed state of Chicago.

King Rahm irritated at the unruliness of his subjects. Personally, I can't wait to see him on the hot-seat at the last Gunwalker hearing.

Perhaps the first time in a while I wished I lived closer to California.

Way cool.

Two from Farago generating amusment and sanguinity.

Sipsey Street Irregulars Blog: Gunwalker Monomaniacal? It is amusing that Farago would even comment on it. Must be really desperate for content, or, something.

Zoë: You sanguine about the kinda reception we're apt to receive on an Alliance ship, Captain?

Mal: Absolutely. What's "sanguine" mean?

Zoë: Sanguine. Hopeful. Plus, point of interest, it also means "bloody".

Mal: Well, that pretty much covers all the options, don't it? -- Firefly, "Safe," 2002.

Meanwhile, Farago assures us we have nothing to fear for "The U.N. Small Arms Treaty is Not A Gun-Grabbing Conspiracy."

Now, I am on record as welcoming this move, because I think it will indeed have more domestic consequences than Farago does. I am, however, quite sanguine about its prospects, in both senses of the word. Here is the letter I wrote to the Dragon Lady of the State Department last year:

An Open Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

21 May 2010

Madame Secretary,

I note with interest your reversal of the Bush Administration's opposition to participating in the Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty. There are many firearms owners in this country who believe that this is an Obama Administration effort to backdoor firearms restrictions by means of an international treaty. As you know, this attitude has also been adopted by the National Rifle Association, which sends out millions of fund-raising appeals every mass mailing and uses it as an excuse for easily frightened people to send them more money -- as if the NRA has any intention of taking a principled stand on anything.

I disagree with these apprehensions of your motives. In fact, I embrace your committing the United States to this arms control regime and sincerely hope that you attempt apply it to firearms availability in this country.

For if you do, you and your regime will be swept out of power at the point of the muzzles of millions of rifles in the hands of men and women who will have finally had enough of your tyrannies, large and small.

Please, I ask you, commit this country to a global agenda of gun control. The sooner you do, the sooner you and all your kind will be swept into the dustbin of history.

Mike Vanderboegh
The alleged leader of a merry band of Three Percenters
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126

PS: Please thank your nominal husband for me for his courtesy in condemning the Three Percenters in his recent speech and subsequent interviews. To be denounced by a serial perjurer carries particular significance.

Gunwalker Scandal Whispers. Our Gunwalker Latin Lesson for the Day: Subpoena duces tecum.

Rep. Bill McCollum (R-FL): Mr. Chairman, I have motions at the desk which I ask to be considered en bloc. I move that the committee authorize the issuance of the following subpoenas. Number one, subpoena duces tecum to Attorney General Janet Reno -- The Impeachment Hearings, Tuesday, December 1, 1998.

A term to send shivers through the bowels of DOJ.

A subpoena duces tecum (or subpoena for production of evidence) is a court summons ordering a named party to appear before the court and produce documents or other tangible evidence for use at a hearing or trial.

The summons is known by various names in different jurisdictions. The term "subpoena duces tecum" is used in the United States, as well as some other common law jurisdictions such as South Africa. It is a Latin phrase meaning "bring with you under penalty of punishment". The summons is called a "subpoena for production of evidence" in some U.S. states that have sought to reduce the use of non-English words and phrases in court terminology.

The subpoena duces tecum is similar to the subpoena ad testificandum, which is a writ summoning a witness to testify orally. However, unlike the latter summons, the subpoena duces tecum instructs the witness to bring in hand books, papers, or evidence for the court. In most jurisdictions, a subpoena usually has to be served personally.

Witness list for the "Prequel" Gunwalker Scandal hearing is out. Hoisting the Gunwalkers on their own Democrat petard.

There's letters seal'd: and my two schoolfellows,
Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd,
They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work;
For 'tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petar; and 't shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon: O, 'tis most sweet,
When in one line two crafts directly meet. -- Shakespeare, Hamlet.

17th Century Sketch of a petard.

A petard was a small bomb used to blow up gates and walls when breaching fortifications. The term has a French origin and dates back to the sixteenth century. In a typical implementation, it was commonly either a conical or rectangular metal object containing 5 or 6 pounds of gunpowder, activated with a slow match used as a fuse.

The word petard comes from the Middle French peter, to break wind, from pet expulsion of intestinal gas, from Latin peditum, from neuter of peditus, past participle of pedere, to break wind; akin to Greek bdein to break wind. (Merriam-Webster) Petard remains a French word meaning a firecracker today (in French slang, it means a handgun, or a joint).

The word remains in modern usage in the phrase hoist with one's own petard, which means "to be harmed by one's own plan to harm someone else" or "to fall into one's own trap," literally implying that one could be lifted up (hoist, or blown upward) by one's own bomb. -- Wikipedia.

Announcement here.

Title: Obstruction of Justice: Does the Justice Department Have to Respond to a Lawfully Issued and Valid Congressional Subpoena?

Date/Time: 1:30 p.m. (EDT) on Monday June 13

Location: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building

Testimony will be posted online as it becomes available. The hearing will be webcast live at Oversight.House.Gov.

Witnesses

• Professor Charles Tiefer, Commissioner, Commission on Wartime Contracting

Professor Tiefer was chief litigator for the House of Representatives and was a courtroom advocate in numerous major cases. He served in 1996 as deputy minority counsel of the U.S. House "Bosniagate" investigating sub-committee and in 1987 as the Special Deputy Chief Counsel for the House Iran-Contra Committee. Professor Tiefer has had extensive immersion in investigative processes on diverse issues, including oversight investigations of foreign affairs and government contracting. He was appointed to his current role by Senator Harry Reid.

• Mr. Morton Rosenberg, Former Specialist in American Public Law with the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Mr. Rosenberg specialized in the areas of constitutional law, administrative law and process, congressional practice and procedure, and labor law, and in the problems raised by the interface of Congress and the Executive which involve the scope of the congressional oversight and investigative prerogatives, the validity of claims of executive and common law privileges before committees, and issues raised by the presidential exercise of temporary and recess appointment power.

• Mr. Todd Tatelman, Legislative Attorney, Congressional Research Service's American Law Division

Mr. Tatelman specializes and advises Members of Congress, Committees, and Staff in the areas of Congressional Laws and Procedure (oversight and investigations), Constitutional Law, Transportation Law, and International Trade Law.

I especially like the twist that they are using Dem appointees to testify under oath about how the Dems ran these things. Hoisted upon their own petard, indeed.

Main Justice comments here and David Codrea here.

For Sale: M-1/M-2 Carbine 30 round HARDBACK magazines.

Folks,

It seems that I'm going to be required in DC at some time in the near future. Before I go, I'm going to need a new pair of glasses and a cheap suit, plus the gas money to get me there. (Housing offered by friends will be gratis.) Thus, I'm going to need some bucks. Ergo, I am compelled to offer for sale the following items:


12 Hardback USGI Original Pattern 30-round magazines in excellent condition


Eleven are marked SEY for Seymour Products and the twelfth is marked KI M2, for the Inland Division of General Motors.

This is what James Wesley, Rawles had to say about the difference between hardback and split-back carbine mags in 2007:

Hard Back: The first (early) type is commonly called a "hard-back". The body for this type was made out of one piece of sheet steel. It can be identified by the reinforcing grooves that run nearly the full length of the sides of the magazine, following the curve of the magazine for the entire length. These magazines are currently selling for $40 to $90 each, depending on condition.

Split Back: The second (later) type is commonly called a "split-back" or two-piece." The body for this type was made out of two pieces of sheet steel. It can be identified by two reinforcing grooves that run at odd angles in the bottom half of the magazine. It is also quickly identified by the two small slots or "splits" on the rear of the magazine, right where it bends. Original split-back magazines are currently selling for $25 to $50 each, depending on condition. BTW, some of these were unmarked, but are still original. (To the best of my knowledge, no copies were made of hard-backs, only split-backs.)

What Rawles doesn't say is that the hardbacks bring a premium because they are more reliable than the split-backs, since they have no "split" to be easily indented by casual or purposeful banging around. (Many 30-rounders -- especially USGIs -- are dented by someone striking the back on a hard surface -- like a helmet -- to make sure the rounds are seated before inserting in the weapon. Most of the soldier complaints of faulty magazines came from this source.)

I am selling these hardbacks for $80.00 plus $5.00 shipping each (Postal Money Order only, please). (If you want to buy quantities we'll chat about the freight.)

First come, first serve. Advise me by email to GeorgeMason1776@aol.com of your intentions. When you get my email confirmation, send PMO to:

Mike Vanderboegh
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126

After considerable thought, here is my reply to the comments posted at "A criticism up for discussion."

As of this morning, there are an amazing 91 comments at my invitation for criticism last Friday. Before I begin, I would like to thank each and every one of you who commented, especially the ones who were harshest on me. All of you, for the most part, care deeply about the subject and that alone is humbling. What I write is important to some people. No writer can ask any more than that.

Let us begin with Warrior Class' initial indictment:

As bad as this scandal is, it has taken over your blog. You used to inspire us, but you have lost your balance over this rather minor trip of tyranny that is but a blip in the over-all loss of our freedom.

Our country is sinking fast and we need to be reminded where of we came. The American revolution was started because the Brits tried to take our weapons. The Texas revolution started for the very same reason.

It matters not what is their pretext or rational, war has been declared on the America we once knew and the government is arming our enemies.

You can push this if you want, but the bigger issue is gathering the people behind us. I think you have now lost them.

Remind them who they are, where they came from and where they can go, if they will gird up their loins and take back their country.

If I may mention it, there is this immutable truth: Although some folks thank Gaia for it, there is only one of me. I know of no process to clone me or to put more hours in the day. I do what I can with what time and effort I can muster, day in and day out. Because of my health and chronic penury, that time and effort is not perhaps what some would like -- it is not what I would like -- but it just is. I must take time to visit the doctors and those doctors require co-pays. This more than anything else is the central fact of my existence these past several years. As both situations are of my own making, I do not complain nor do I seek excuse, but I hope you accept it as partial explanation of how my time is spent.

The heart of Warrior Class' indictment is that I am spending what time and effort remains to me after that on the wrong things. I suppose my principal disagreement with WC is his characterization of the Gunwalker Scandal as a "minor trip of tyranny that is but a blip in the over-all loss of our freedom."

This is both true and false. It is true in the grand sweep of history, but untrue when viewed from this instant in time. Indeed, the Gunwalker scandal has provided us with the first real possibility in my memory to strike a strategic blow at the plans of the enemies of the Founders' Republic.

There is much naysaying in comments -- I will not be uncharitable and call it defeatist whining as some do -- about how "Holder will never go to jail" or "this will make no difference" or "it will all be covered up." Some think that it has become an obsession that, like Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, will doom me. One long-time reader and friend put it this way:

Hang in there, Mike. Had I the coin I would gladly drive the 800 odd miles one way to shake your hand. Put what you want on the blog. I am just concerned that if Issa and Grassley both wimp out and nothing comes of all your hard work it will be devastating to you psychologically.

My reply was as follows:

From my perspective, Gunwalker is a mission to deal damage to the legitimacy, morale and organization of the enemies of the Founders' Republic. It is part of the larger war in which I enlisted in a long time ago. Even if it "fails" in terms of justice, it has already succeeded beyond my wildest imaginings in terms of damaging their legitimacy, morale and organization. An enemy on the defensive is not attacking, thus this buys time for the rest of us to prepare, train, organize for whatever comes. Don't worry about my psych status. I will stay in the fight.

So you see, it is not about whether or not the Gunwalker Scandal succeeds in putting Holder or anyone else in prison. Viewed as a political operation with military import, it has already succeeded. Admittedly we are beating the enemies of the Founders' Republic over the head with an instrument of their own invention and not our own. Like the execution of all sound military strategies we have seized the tactical mistakes of our opponents and made strategic gains with them.

To that end, we have made allies who do not share our beliefs much beyond the desire for truth and simple justice. They, too, now come to this blog, and I view that as a success as well. We are changing the preconceptions that they had about Constitutional militias. This is a goodness thing, in both the short and long terms.

In the middle of the comments pouring in, I asked a long-time friend what he thought. "You have to ask yourself two questions. First, are you making a difference? Are you succeeding in the mission you set out to accomplish?"

The answer to that, I told him, was an unqualified "yes" for the reasons set out in my email reply above.

"The second question is," he continued, "can anyone else do what you are doing at this time and place and do it as well?"

That answer to that question, I leave to you, gentle readers.

I will continue to try to do everything as best I can, but the Gunwalker scandal is a strategic opportunity for those who seek to block the enemies of liberty and to restore the Founders' Republic. I will not stop attacking on that front until the mission is over or I am dead.

Mike
III

The Hill: "Subpoenas are coming." "Sources said the interviews produced a plethora of new evidence . . . regarding who gave the ultimate go-ahead."

The Hill, read by every Congresscritter and DC minion, heralds the coming of the Gunwalker Scandal to the gates of Mordor.

The move by Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, comes on the tail end of a series of interviews with government officials and witnesses that the panel’s investigators conducted last month. Sources said the interviews produced a plethora of new evidence and information regarding who gave the ultimate go-ahead for ATF’s “Fast and Furious” operation.

CBS: Congress set for first 'gunwalker' hearing 13 June, just like my sources called it. A prequel to "stick it where the sun don't shine."

Here.

The first in a series of Congressional hearings into the so-called "gunwalker" scandal is set for Monday, June 13th. The title: "Obstruction of Justice: Does the Justice Department Have to Respond to a Lawfully Issued and Valid Congressional Subpoena?"

As CBS News reported on April 1, the House Oversight Committeesubpoenaed documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). House investigators say that instead of complying with the subpoena, the Justice Department (which oversees ATF) showed them a "handful of highly redacted documents" and provided additional documents already in the public record.

"They didn't comply with terms of the subpoena," says a House oversight staffer.

On Friday, 31 House Democrats sent a letter to President Obama saying "the Department of Justice has delayed action and withheld information from Congressional inquiries." The letter urges the President to "instruct the Department of Justice to promptly provide complete answers to all Congressional inquiries on this issue."

In response to requests for information from Congress, the Department of Justice has said that it has asked the Inspector General to investigate the allegations of "gunwalking," and that it doesn't want to interfere with that probe by giving certain documents to Congress.

The moment CBS broke this story, I called around. "How does this fit into the three-phase hearing schedule?" I asked. "Think of this as a 'pre-Gunwalker' hearing," one source said. "The Chairman (Issa) wants to get the law and past practice out there for everybody to see before he takes it and sticks it where the sun don't shine."

"'Where the sun don't shine?'" I asked.

"Yeah, right up Eric Holder's ass."

CBS: "'Gunwalker' guns linked to helicopter shooting." Confirms my earlier story on multiple hearings.

This is what ATF HQ was crapping its pants about last week.

CBS News has learned that the recent case of a Mexican military helicopter forced to land after it was fired upon is linked to the ATF Fast and Furious "gunwalker" operation.

Drug cartel suspects on the ground shot at Mexican government helicopters two weeks ago in western Mexico, forcing one chopper to land. Authorities seized more than 70 assault rifles and other weapons from the suspects.

Among the seized weapons are guns sold to suspects as part of the ATF sting operation, sources say. That information came from traces of serial numbers.

"Shooting at an aircraft is a terrorist act," says one U.S. law enforcement source. "What does that say if we're helping Mexican drug cartels engage in acts of terror? That's appalling if we could have stopped those guns."

The Department of Justice provided no information or comment when asked about the incident by CBS News. . .

In recent weeks, Congressional investigators and the Inspector General have been interviewing witnesses behind closed doors in preparation for multiple hearings which could begin as early as next week. The first hearing will likely feature the ATF whistleblower who first spoke to CBS News: Special Agent John Dodson.

You've heard of Texas Toast? Here is David Codrea's illustration of Holder Toast.

David Codrea, kindly linked my post of earlier today entitled Gunwalker Scandal hearings to proceed in 3 phases."Eric Holder is toast. If he stays out of federal prison I'll be surprised."

In doing so, he provided this illustration. I love it.

The little willy that destroyed a Congressman's career.

Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages . . . The word derives from Schaden (adversity, harm) and Freude (joy). -- Wikipedia.

First it was Ann Coulter's uproariously titled, "Weiner's Penis Photo Dispute to Be Settled in Small Claims Court."

Now Breibart reports:

A new woman has come forward with what she claims are photographs, chats, and emails with Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). These appear to undermine severely Rep. Weiner’s explanations that he was the victim of a “prank” or a “hack.”

That's politicians for you -- always thinking with the wrong head. I must say the fact that the smart-mouthed Schumer minion -- who has opined so often with anti-firearm rights blather -- is about to choke to death politically on a scandal of his own making induces more than a little Schadenfreude in this Second Amendment activist.

D-Day Anniversary.

REMEMBER.

Sipsey Street Exclusive: Gunwalker Scandal hearings to proceed in 3 phases."Eric Holder is toast. If he stays out of federal prison I'll be surprised"

The Gunwalker Twins. Under oath, together again. Coming soon to a House committee near you.

There's been a lot of scrambling this weekend behind the scenes at the Gunwalker Corral, especially since Congressman Issa's FOX interview. I just confirmed with a second source this morning that the hearings promised by Issa are planned to proceed in phases. This, it was explained to me, is necessitated by the continuing stonewall of the Obama administration. "They're going to go with with they've got or they'll be waiting for documents until Hell freezes over. They've figured out what the rest of us knew all along -- that the only way to break the cover-up is under oath."

As described by the sources close to the investigation, Phase I will be "the presentation of allegations and factual information, evidence, and intended direction of the continuing investigation." This will include documents already presented to Senaqtor Grassley and Congressman Issa by whistleblower ATF agents. Senator Grassley will be among the first witnesses before Issa’s panel. Family members of Project Gunwalker victims are expected to testify, as well as other witnesses with first-hand knowledge of the conspiracy whose knowledge runs from Arizona to DC.

Phase II, according to my sources, "will focus on Mexico issues with witnesses called who have first hand Mexico information."

Phase III will be when it really gets interesting, when all the big names in ATF and DOJ complicit in this scandal who have been uncovered in the previous two phases are called to explain themselves. One source characterized this as "the testimony of compromised participants to include the numerous ATF and DOJ employees with dirt, blood or both on their hands."

"After Phase III is done, the next step will be a Special Prosecutor with broad powers to get at the rest of the truth and proffer charges against some of the highest officials in the land," said another source. "Eric Holder is toast," he added. "If he stays out of federal prison, I'll be surprised."



Illustration courtesy of David Codrea.

Issa Interview on FOX: "A slew of subpoenas. . ." "A series of hearings. . ." & "No rogue operation."

Courtesy of John Richardson at No Lawyers, Only Guns and Money
blog: The FOX video of Issa.



David Codrea reports on it as well.

Darrell Issa on FOX News: Promises more subpoenas coming out quickly and "the first" Gunwalker Scandal hearing "by summer."

The hearings cometh. Homer Simpson tries out his new gig as an ATF political analyst.

Remember this?

Although the video is not yet posted, Darrell Issa, in an exclusive interview with FOX News today, promised more subpoenas in short order (likely just as I predicted to be issued beginning on 13 June) and hearings "by summer." The first hearing will focus on the victims of the murderous Gunwalker policy. He said that the Gunwalker scandal came from the "highest levels" of the administration.

The first day of summer is 21 June.

The countdown to hearings begins.

Your tax dollars at work. Southern Preposterous Lie Center indoctrinating DOJ personnel in the "Narrative of 1995." My press pass, please.

My thanks to brother Bill for forwarding me this link to the latest Southern Preposterous Lie Center hi-jinks.

U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Eastern District of Arkansas
Post Office Box 1229 501-340-2600
425 W. Capitol Avenue, Suite 500 Fax 501-324-5134
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201

MEMORANDUM
April 29, 2011
TO: LAW ENFORCEMENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE MEMBERS, EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
FM: CHRISTOPHER R. THYER, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
MANDY WARFORD, LAW ENFORCEMENT COORDINATOR
RE: UPCOMING CONFERENCE:

The U.S. Attorney’s Office/Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee is excited to bring you a look at different groups and the threats they pose to law enforcement in Arkansas. You will gain information about their beliefs and learn strategies on how to prepare to handle confrontations and contacts with individuals prescribing to these types of views, and find out what groups are active nationwide and in Arkansas. An overview of many different groups will be presented, including sovereign citizen, ku klux klan, neo-Nazi, racist skinhead, black separatist, and more. A history of the radical antigovernment movement and overview of current militia activity will also be discussed.

The course will be taught by Anthony Griggs of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Mr. Griggs has been with the SPLC since 2003, and provides specialized training to federal, state, and local officers on radical right hate organizations and radical antigovernment groups in their areas of operation. The SPLC monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States and exposes their activities to law enforcement, the media and the public.

The conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, located at 201 S. Shackleford Road in Little Rock. You may register for the conference by completing the attached form and sending it to Mandy Warford, LECC Coordinator, P.O. Box 1229, Little Rock, AR 72203. Please register early to ensure seating. There is no registration fee for the conference but pre-registration is required. Eight hours of CLEST credit will be available. We look forward to seeing all of you at the conference! If you have any questions, please contact Mandy Warford at (501) 340-2648 or amanda.warford@usdoj.gov .

SPLC's Token?

Griggs is a rising young star in the SPLC Liar's Club. In an organization that has caused its own racial discrimination complaints from former black employees over the years, Griggs is a reportedly bright and personable young black man. I'd show you a picture of him, but the only one I could find on the 'net has a virus attached to it. Something metaphorical there, perhaps.

In April 2008, Griggs was called to defend the veracity of his "scholarship" in a story by the Keene (NH) Sentinel here:

KKK branch no longer in town

BENJAMIN YELLE, Sentinel Staff

WINCHESTER - A branch of the Ku Klux Klan listed in Winchester has ceased operating, according to an organization that tracks so-called hate groups.

There was never any indication that the Winchester branch, the size of which was never determined, ever engaged in activities commonly associated with the white supremacist KKK, however.

In fact, simply having one person - or even a post office box - in town affiliated with a hate group is enough to have a town listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center's "Hate Map."

In March, that group released its annual map, listing 888 groups nationwide it says "have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable character

On its Web site, www.splcenter.org, the Alabama-based nonprofit organization says its goal is to "fight for justice and tolerance."

Two of the four New Hampshire listings on the hate map are in the Monadnock Region: Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which runs the St. Benedict Center in Richmond, and the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Winchester.

The other two listings are for "white nationalist" groups: Germanenorden Society in Danbury, and North East White Pride in Concord.

The St. Benedict Center has been listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center's Web site before, but St. Benedict officials deny it is a hate group.

"Radical traditionalist Catholic groups are organizations that embrace anti-Semitism and whose theology is typically rejected by the Vatican and mainstream Catholics in general," the Southern Poverty Law Center says on its Web site.

But the Richmond group defends its beliefs and calls the Southern Poverty Law Center anti-Catholic.

"When the (Center) published ludicrous accusations of criminal and anti-social activity at our monastery, I personally invited the FBI to investigate. Two agents came to my office to assure me that they put no credence in the (Southern Poverty Law Center's) foolishness," Brother Andre Marie, head of the St. Benedict Center, wrote in a letter to The Sentinel.

"While some of those listed on the (Center's) 'hate map' would certainly qualify as 'hate groups,' others, including us, do not."

The Winchester listing is the center's first reference to the KKK being in town, but it's the second year in a row the town has been tagged on the map.

Last year, it was cited as having a white-supremacist connection, according to Anthony D. Griggs, a research analyst with the civil rights group.

Griggs said the Southern Poverty Law Center gathers its data for the hate map yearly, and groups that haven't been active in the past year aren't included.

He said the main sources for information about these groups are law-enforcement agencies, but it can come from a variety of sources.

Griggs added that it's hard to get reliable numbers on hate groups because their leaders will exaggerate or underplay their memberships.

"In some instances, it could be just a guy and a couple of his buddies," Griggs said.
The Winchester branch of the KKK apparently was not very active.

Selectmen said they hadn't heard of the group before the hate map was published, and Police Chief Gary A. Phillips said he hasn't had any contact with the organization.

"Unless somebody commits a crime ... we really don't have any reason to deal with these people or their groups," he said. "It doesn't necessarily mean we approve or disapprove or anything else of any of these groups."

Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which produces the hate map, said he's confirmed that there is no longer an active KKK chapter in Winchester.

"There was an active group in early 2007, but it's not anymore," Potok said last week. "It's shut down."

Of course, it is the prospect of feeding at the trough of the taxpayer that attracts Griggs to Arkansas. This is one of many such seminars that SPLC puts on for big bucks for federal, state and local government agencies, and although SPLC is traditionally secretive about income sources, the amount must be considerable in a typical year's worth of billing.

Of course this presentation will likely be modeled on what Professor Robert Churchill has called "The Narrative of 1995." Intrigued at the possibility of using my newly-won press cred to get my foot into the door of one of these SPLC-FedGov mind-meld shindigs, I sent the following email this morning:

From: georgemason1776
To: amanda.warford
Sent: Sun, Jun 5, 2011 9:59 am
Subject: re: Press request to attend June 8 SPLC briefing in Little Rock.

Dear Ms. Warford,

As a blogger of some note and a recognized member of the alternate media for my work on various ATF scandals including the current Project Gunrunner fiasco, I am interested in your Sovereign Citizen Overview conference on 8 June at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Little Rock. (http://www.justice.gov/usao/are/LECC_Resources/sovcitizen.pdf)

I would like to cover this presentation by SPLC, which is at taxpayer expense, I understand.

Please advise me how I may make arrangements with DOJ to attend. As time is short, I would appreciate a speedy reply.

Thank you.

Mike Vanderboegh
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126

Film at eleven. ;-)

On the other hand, Farago is dead bang accurate about this one.

Robert Farago rightly takes Dr. Petit to task for failing at the most important job a husband and father is charged with -- protecting his wife and daughters. And I don't just mean by the application of defensive force with a firearm. It is apparent that Dr. Petit lived in that chimerical land where evil things do not happen to good people and thus failed at preparing his wife and daughters for recognizing and resisting predators on their own hook. The first weapon of defense is the prepared mind of the intended victim.

My daughters have been taught to have situational awareness and to be able to use anything as a weapon of resistance. They have been taught how to take an ordinary pen and where to stick it at just the right angle in the eye of an attacker and then how to drive it home with the heel of their hand into his brain stem, leaving a would be rapist flopping out the last moments of life on a sidewalk like a fish out of water.

Dr. Petit, the poor bastard, did not do this, and now is condemned to spend the rest of his life in guilt and regret.

His is a cautionary tale, written in the blood of unprepared innocents.

Another "derisory snort" for Robert Farago's Local-Crooked-ATF-Agent Theory of Gunwalker.

Robert Farago continues to bang the drum for his "crooked local ATF agent theory" of the Gunwalker scandal here.

After that, I shared my suspicions about the role of bribery in the ATF’s efforts to “allow” guns purchased in the U.S. to walk to Mexican drug cartels. Despite derisory snorts from the website that “broke” the scandal, I continue to suspect that ATF agents at the sharp end saw project Gunwalker and Operation Fast and Furious as a way to make a quick buck.

Apart from the fact that there is no evidence of any kind to support his assertions -- including in this most recent piece -- and much evidence to the contrary, Farago continues to ask us to embrace a theory which essentially exculpates the White House, the State Department and the Department of Justice of their larger conspiracy to subvert the Second Amendment of the Constitution and further circumscribe the rights of American firearm owners.

I commend to readers a second reading of this recent piece by Kathleen Millar.

Ms. Millar, according to her bio, began her career in public affairs working for Lyn Nofziger, White House Communications Director in the Reagan administration. Among other things, Nofizger is remembered for this quote: "One of the things that bothers me most is the growing belief in the country that security is more important than freedom. It ain't."

Ms. Millar has held many jobs in government in the public information/speechwriting side of things, writing "about a wide range of enforcement and security issues for DHS, for the US Department of the Treasury (Customs & Border Patrol), for Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), then a Member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and for top law enforcement officials in the United States and abroad. She is a Founding Member of the Department of Homeland Security, and former Deputy Spokesperson for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, Austria. Speeches, articles and opeds written under both her own and client bylines have appeared in national and international outlets, including The Washington Post and Vital Speeches of the Day. Ms. Millar holds an MA from Georgetown University and was the recipient of a United Nations Fellowship, International Affairs, Oxford. She is a member of the Georgetown University Alumni Association, Women in International Security (GU), the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, and the American News Women’s Club in Washington, DC. Kathleen Millar is currently teaching and writing about efforts to combat transnational organized crime."

It must be admitted, however, that she is not the former commander of a U.S. Navy minesweeper who was totally ignorant of the Gunwalker Scandal, around whom Mr. Farago constructs his latest article.

Again, the ATF was the bureaucratic knight in this deadly game, not the king. Why Farago continues to push a theory --- and a theory unsupported by what little known facts we have -- that exculpates the main drivers of the Gunwalker scandal is incomprehensible to me.

Count me in for another "derisory snort."