By the stupidity of Americans:

And it’s not impossible for that to occur again, ladies and gentlemen.

BZ

“Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.”
-Barack Hussein Obama, Inauguration, 2009

From the Corruption Chronicles of Judicial Watch:

The Obama Administration has abruptly sealed court records containing alarming details of how Mexican drug smugglers murdered a U.S. Border patrol agent with a gun connected to a failed federal experiment that allowed firearms to be smuggled into Mexico.

This means information will now be kept from the public as well as the media. Could this be a cover-up on the part of the “most transparent” administration in history? After all, the rifle used to kill the federal agent (Brian Terry) last December in Arizona’s Peck Canyon was part of the now infamous Operation Fast and Furious. Conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the disastrous scheme allowed guns to be smuggled into Mexico so they could eventually be traced to drug cartels.

Instead, federal law enforcement officers lost track of more than 1,000 guns which have been used in numerous crimes. In Terry’s case, five illegal immigrants armed with at least two semi-automatic assault rifles were hunting for U.S. Border Patrol agents near a desert watering hole just north of the Arizona-Mexico border when a firefight erupted and Terry got hit.

We know this only because Washington D.C.’s conservative newspaper , the Washington Times, got ahold of the court documents before the government suddenly made them off limits. The now-sealed federal grand jury indictment tells the frightening story of how Terry was gunned down by Mexican drug smugglers patrolling the rugged desert with the intent to “intentionally and forcibly assault” Border Patrol agents.

You can see why the administration wants to keep this information from the public and the media, considering the smugglers were essentially armed by the U.S. government. Truth is, no one will know the reason for the confiscation of public court records in this case because the judge’s decision to seal it was also sealed, according to the news story. That means the public or media won’t have access to any new or old evidence, filings, rulings or arguments.

Transparency? Hardly. Instead, it reeks of corruption, obfuscation, obstructionism, incompetence and purposeful stonewalling.

Brian Terry was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the United States Border Patrol for 3 1/2 years. He had previously served as a police officer with the Lincoln Park, Michigan, Police Department. He is survived by his parents, brother, two sisters, five nieces, and one nephew.

And now the Obama Administration wants the public to forget him entirely.

BZ

Except that, well, yes, there is.

Let’s whisk ourselves, shall we, over to the city of Richmond, Virginia — and focus like a laser-beam on the following story unearthed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and further revealed in Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government.

First, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

RICHMOND —

The Richmond Tea Party is lashing out at Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones for what it sees as the city’s preferential treatment of the Occupy Richmond protesters encamped at Kanawha Plaza.

The tea party group is sending Jones an invoice for the charges incurred for the Tax Day rallies it has held at the plaza the past three years, arguing that the Occupy Wall Street offshoot group squatting there has been using the park illegally and free of charge since Oct. 15. [Allow me to again emphasize: “free of charge.” -BZ]

“The tea party keeps being compared to the occupiers. Well, in the way we’re treated, there’s no comparison. It’s like a slap in the face,” said Richmond Tea Party spokeswoman Colleen Owens.

Owens said her group has shelled out about $10,000 for the three rallies held there, including a rental fee for use of the park, various permits and other expenses. She added that the rallies were scheduled with the city months in advance and that the group held fundraisers to cover the required costs, which included police presence and portable toilets.

“The city of Richmond is allowing Occupy Richmond to blatantly break the law day after day while forcing other groups to strictly comply,” a news release from the tea party group said.

Why police have not already removed the protesters is not clear. A section of the city’s mond Times Dispatch, the Richmond Tea Party delivered an invoice for charges incurred in our previous three Tax Day rallies at Kanawha Plaza because Mayor Jones chose to allow Occupy Richmond protesters to convene in the same park for two weeks.

The Mayor not only allowed the Occupiers to break the law, but he visited them in the city-owned park. “Jones said that as a ‘child of civil rights’ and protests, he had allowed the group to remain in the park but understands his mayoral responsibility to uphold laws of the city,” reported the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Apparently his mayoral duties included preferential treatment for a group he sympathizes with ideologically at the expense of the taxpayers.

Perhaps — like the George Orwell novel Animal Farm — “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Further:

The Mayor not only allowed the Occupiers to break the law, but he visited them in the city-owned park. “Jones said that as a ‘child of civil rights’ and protests, he had allowed the group to remain in the park but understands his mayoral responsibility to uphold laws of the city,” reported the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Apparently his mayoral duties included preferential treatment for a group he sympathizes with ideologically at the expense of the taxpayers.

The blog Virginia Right reported that the city provided services such as portable toilets, trash pickup, etc. The incomplete invoices obtained from the city totaled $7,000. This was only a portion of the actual costs to taxpayers because the costs of police, helicopter and incarcerations were not included. Also not accounted for was the 24-hour police protection of the Mayor’s home after the Occupiers moved their camp next door to the Mayor’s house. The Richmond Tea Party, conversely, paid for all services for our rallies, including the police, portable toilets, park fees and permits, amounting to approximately $8,500.

Our actions apparently struck a nerve. Our invoice to the Mayor was covered by hundreds of news outlets, including the AP, Richmond Times Dispatch, Baltimore Sun, and the Washington Post. On October 31, I appeared on Fox Business, Neil Cavuto’s show, and was interviewed about our actions. Reportedly, at least two Richmond City Council members agreed with our plight. “I guess we’ll be writing a check to the Tea Party people,” said Councilman Bruce W. Tyler, as quoted in the Richmond Times Dispatch. “You can’t treat one group different from the other. It’s unfair.”

Which garnered this response from the City of Richmond, Virginia:

In the audit letter signed by Cynthia Carr, Field Auditor for the City of Richmond, it states that our Tea Party is delinquent in filing of Admissions, Lodging, and Meals Taxes with the city and as such our group has been targeted for a comprehensive audit. Well, aren’t we special? In fact, as part of the Business License we have with the City, a form is filled out by our treasurer every month (as required). We have never charged admission or had lodging or meals associated with our rallies. Every month the forms are appropriately filled with zeros. Ms. Carr goes on to say that if we don’t respond within 15 days, the City will make a statutory assessment–meaning they’ll pick an amount to charge us.

So the City and Mayor apparently feel that the Richmond Tea Party has not paid its fair share for use of Kanawha Plaza. We challenged the Mayor’s unequal treatment between groups and he responded with even more unequal treatment.

This is nothing more than an inherently-biased treatment of two groups.

One — Conservative — who must be responsible for themselves and further.

Another — which isn’t responsible for anything other than its perceived “free speech” rights.

Simply because the Mayor wishes it so.

BZ

And when the Euro dies, there will be pain here in the United States.

Brace for it; it will be happening quicker than you can imagine.

International businesses are already planning for the “end” of the Euro as a 17-country denomination. From the FinancialTimes.com:

International companies are preparing contingency plans for a possible break-up of the eurozone, according to interviews with dozens of multinational executives.

Concerned that Europe’s political leaders are failing to control the spreading sovereign debt crisis, business executives say they feel compelled to protect their companies against a crash that can no longer be wished away. When German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy raised the prospect of a Greek exit from the eurozone earlier this month, it marked the first time that senior European officials had dared to question the permanence of their 13-year-old experiment with monetary union.

And yet — if you will allow me — I’d like to point out that the EU has roughly an $11 trillion dollar debt. Whilst, simultaneously, the US (pointedly, under Mr Obama) holds a $17 trillion dollar debt.

And the EU wants to turn to the IMF.

Which means the United States of America. Which means the American Taxpayer. Which means YOU and ME.

Euro ministers have already approved $11 billion dollars for Greece. Greece, some think, can be “bailed out” due to its size. Italy, however, is simply too large to bail. It alone will, for example, kill the Euro.

The countries in trouble? Think PIIGS: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain.

Further, our Mr Obama has already committed the United States to the Fall of the Euro.

He stated:

I’m confident that Germany’s leadership, along with other key actors in Europe, will help us arrive at a path for Greece to return to growth, for this debt to become more manageable,” Obama said.

“But it’s going to require some patience and some time. And we have pledged to cooperate fully in working through these issues, both on a bilateral basis but also through international and financial institutions like the IMF.”

Again, let me make this clear: YOUR dollars and MY dollars, as American Taxpayers, committed to bailing out Europe.

But again, if I might, let me take this one or two steps further:

One could make an argument that American dollars could be committed in order to prop up Euro-Zone entities. Because these countries are our trading partners. And they need to be assisted in order to help our domestic bottom line.

I might, however, suggest: let’s just cut out the Middle Man.

If we propose to prop-up the Euro in order to help US businesses, our purchases, our trade — then why can’t we just kick Europe to the curb and do what we need to do at home?

Prop up our OWN businesses, locally, nationally, with tax breaks, cash infusions — just as we would have done internationally?

Why?

Because that is not in keeping with Mr Obama’s personal philosophy. And that does not include any amount of business-favoring deals.

Simple as that.

Clear as mud.

Mr Obama holds our future in his hand right now.

And, trust me, he will NOT act to save US national businesses.

BZ

With every other bit of baggage.

Add this.

Done.

Stick a fork in him.

BZ