General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What your uncle who watches FOX News all day is all worked up about (Fast and Furious) [View all]DanTex
(20,709 posts)F&F was an ATF gun tracking operation which went awry. Nobody is denying that. But a sting operation gone awry, by itself, wouldn't be a nationally prominent political issue.
The reason this is headline news is not because of mistakes and bad judgement on the part of ATF agents in planning and executing a sting operation. In fact, as tragic as the death of Brian Terry is, the much bigger issue with regards to gun trafficking is the fact that the US civilian gun market is the source for tens of thousands of guns that are fueling an escalation of drug violence in Mexico. Yes, some people died from guns that were lost track of during F&F, but those guns are a tiny drop in the ocean of weapons that are illegally smuggled from the US to Mexico.
The only reason we are talking about Fast and Furious is because the the Darrell Issa witch hunt. And the reason Darrell Issa is on a witch hunt is because the Republicans are getting riled up about loony gun-grabbing conspiracy theories that came from right-wing militia/gun nut blogs. They think that Fast and Furious might succeed where birtherism failed.
Also, yes, Rachel has done good reporting in the past when it comes to guns. And she continues to with Fast and Furious.