So I want everybody to understand, this debate that we're having in Washington is not about big government or small government. It's about responsible government. It's about accountable government. It's about whose side government is on.--Barak Hussein Obama, Racine, Wisconsin town hall meeting, 6/30/2010
This debate is over. ;^)
MALTHUS
June 23, 2011 at 6:28 AM
Anonymous said...
“We are grateful that the Honorable Rep. Frank could share his experiences with our workforce as we celebrate diversity today,” added Melson.
I think Melson misspoke and actually meant to say...[W]e celebrate perversity today."
The downward spiral of Obama Nation continues...
MALTHUS
June 23, 2011 at 8:08 AM
Col Bat Guano said...
Or as the Clash said:
"Should I stay or should I go? If I go there will be trouble. If I stay it will be double! Should I stay or should I go?"
Melson knows he's in the drivers seat (for now) with Eric Walker, errr, Holder over this. There's too much in his pointy little head they can't let get out of the bag. Yet the cliff grows nearer...
You're doing a helluva job Dutchman! Thanks for all you do.
June 23, 2011 at 9:35 AM
Mark Matis said...
Let me make it clear that homosexual Preferred Species status DID NOT start under Obama. I do not remember any "sensitivity" training under Reagan, but it was DEFINITELY there under Clinton, and included homosexuality. And it definitely DID NOT decrease under Shrub 2. I BELIEVE it started under Shrub 1, but I cannot confirm that.
June 23, 2011 at 11:07 AM
Mark Matis said...
Melson is a dead man walking. I would hope that everyone realizes that.
June 23, 2011 at 12:04 PM
Legal Alien said...
AAAhhhhhhh . . . so Bawny heard folks at the ATF were getting it up the pooper hole - or giving it up the pooper hole to others and he thought he would join in a day of celebration. Seems like Bawny got the 'screwing' a little confused. Anyhoo - you and Kenny can console each other on the 'misunderstandings' over at ATF. I mean Bawny is pretty good at misunderstandings and such - just ask Freddy and Fanny. . . . .
is that a cornered rat????
L.A III
June 23, 2011 at 12:08 PM
Anonymous said...
If I were Melson I would leave both electronic and written testimony of my knowledge of Fast and Furious with attorneys across the country, with specific instructions that they are to be released to the public and over the internet if he or anyone in his family dies. Heck, he should even videotape this. That's the only way he stays alive - credibly threatening to expose Obama and Holder unless he gets off easy, because he won't last in prison.
Besides, once he gets a pardon (it must be part of his deal), he can write a nice book based on it.
Looks like yet another dead-on call on your part, Mike:
Federal ATF chief said to resist pressure to step down
Kenneth Melson of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms faces controversy over the agency's surveillance program that allowed U.S. guns into Mexico. He is said to be eager to testify to Congress.
"No, CowboyDan, they want him DEAD. Not merely "locked up." Dead."
Right on, Mark.
Bad things sometimes happen in jails, don't you know? It may keep people in, but it doesn't always keep them safe. There are some bad people in jail; not many, but there are some. Some of the bad guys wear inmate suits, some of them wear the other kind.
Maybe Melson has set it UP with Holder/Hussein that he should be fired! That is, Melson was OBVIOUSLY made certain promises/guarantees/commitments by Obama regarding Melsons REAL love--the ASCLD/LAB. After all, Obama gave Melson the White House Subcommittee on Forensic Science at the SAME TIME Melson was hired for the ATF job. So maybe Melson has agreed to be fired IF Obama provides continued support for the forensics project! If Obama lies, Melson can still bust him by cooperating with Issa/Grassley. If Obama comes through, Melson will have virtual control of all forensic labs in the nation...which is what he's been after from day one anyhow. And with that little chestnut, why would he care if he was fired!
Kenneth Melson, acting director of the troubled Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, is paying little heed to news reports speculating that he may step down in the wake of a House oversight panel's investigation suggesting he had advance knowledge of an ATF gun smuggling operation that went awry.
"Acting Director Kenneth Melson continues to be focused on leading ATF in its efforts to reduce violent crime and to stem the flow of firearms to criminals and criminal organizations," Scot Thomasson, the bureau's chief of public affairs, told Government Executive on Wednesday. "We are not going to comment on any speculations."
“ATF works to ensure sexual orientation discrimination and prejudice are not tolerated in our workplace,” said Kenneth Melson, acting ATF director. “ATF is an equal employment opportunity environment where effective and equitable participation is encouraged. . . “We are grateful that the Honorable Rep. Frank could share his experiences with our workforce as we celebrate diversity today,” added Melson.
So life for Melson in the bunker goes on as if the loud noises outside are summer lightning and not artillery.
Is Melson channeling Jimmy Durante?
The thing is, neither Holder nor Obama are laughing, I guarantee you. If Melson refuses to resign, then they'll have to fire him, which is just begging for Melson to go all rogue on them, something they can't afford.
Allan Lengel, writing at Tickle the Wire, describes Melson thusly (and misspells his name in the process):
As for Meslon. Well, he was decent guy and a smart one at that. But agents thought the ex-federal prosecutor didn’t really understand the agency culture and the agents’ mindset.
As one veteran ATF agent told me: “A lot of guys thought he wasn’t the best fit. He was a nice man, but at times he could be arrogant. I don’t think he intended to come across that way. I kind of feel sorry for him.”
Street agents have told me that they viewed Melson as a "go along, get along" guy who was the tool, willing or not, of the Chief Counsels Office
Our good friend Waldo, the fifth floor point man of the Coalition of Willing Lilliputians, pointed out to me that this refusal to go is uncharacteristic of Melson -- who throughout his career has been the model of the willing public servant -- but it reflects his new reality: abject fear of what will happen to him when the public finds out the truth of Gunwalker and the legal wheels begin grinding his bank account to dust and himself to bloody incarcerated pulp.
"When somebody does a complete about-face in the behavior they've exhibited all their life," Waldo said, "it is almost always for one reason -- their world has collapsed and they're scared shitless. A cornered rat is the most dangerous. A cornered human is even more dangerous."
And that truth is enough to scare the bejeezus out of Holder and Obama. Their careers, and perhaps more, are riding on what Melson does next.
"What is Holder going to do now? He needs Melson gone and Melson won't go. "A cornered rat is the most dangerous." A cornered human is even more so."
13 Comments -
So I want everybody to understand, this debate that we're having in Washington is not about big government or small government. It's about responsible government. It's about accountable government. It's about whose side government is on.--Barak Hussein Obama, Racine, Wisconsin town hall meeting, 6/30/2010
This debate is over. ;^)
MALTHUS
June 23, 2011 at 6:28 AM
“We are grateful that the Honorable Rep. Frank could share his experiences with our workforce as we celebrate diversity today,” added Melson.
I think Melson misspoke and actually meant to say...[W]e celebrate perversity today."
The downward spiral of Obama Nation continues...
MALTHUS
June 23, 2011 at 8:08 AM
Or as the Clash said:
"Should I stay or should I go? If I go there will be trouble. If I stay it will be double! Should I stay or should I go?"
Melson knows he's in the drivers seat (for now) with Eric Walker, errr, Holder over this. There's too much in his pointy little head they can't let get out of the bag. Yet the cliff grows nearer...
You're doing a helluva job Dutchman! Thanks for all you do.
June 23, 2011 at 9:35 AM
Let me make it clear that homosexual Preferred Species status DID NOT start under Obama. I do not remember any "sensitivity" training under Reagan, but it was DEFINITELY there under Clinton, and included homosexuality. And it definitely DID NOT decrease under Shrub 2. I BELIEVE it started under Shrub 1, but I cannot confirm that.
June 23, 2011 at 11:07 AM
Melson is a dead man walking. I would hope that everyone realizes that.
June 23, 2011 at 12:04 PM
AAAhhhhhhh . . . so Bawny heard folks at the ATF were getting it up the pooper hole - or giving it up the pooper hole to others and he thought he would join in a day of celebration.
Seems like Bawny got the 'screwing' a little confused.
Anyhoo - you and Kenny can console each other on the 'misunderstandings' over at ATF.
I mean Bawny is pretty good at misunderstandings and such - just ask Freddy and Fanny. . . . .
is that a cornered rat????
L.A III
June 23, 2011 at 12:08 PM
If I were Melson I would leave both electronic and written testimony of my knowledge of Fast and Furious with attorneys across the country, with specific instructions that they are to be released to the public and over the internet if he or anyone in his family dies. Heck, he should even videotape this. That's the only way he stays alive - credibly threatening to expose Obama and Holder unless he gets off easy, because he won't last in prison.
Besides, once he gets a pardon (it must be part of his deal), he can write a nice book based on it.
June 23, 2011 at 12:25 PM
It's not paranoia if they really are after you.
My thought is that the PTB ought to want Melson locked up more than we do. He's not safe anywhere he goes.
June 23, 2011 at 2:20 PM
No, CowboyDan, they want him DEAD. Not merely "locked up." Dead.
June 23, 2011 at 3:51 PM
I suggest that Melson saty out of canoes, parks, and hillery's office.
June 23, 2011 at 4:43 PM
Looks like yet another dead-on call on your part, Mike:
Federal ATF chief said to resist pressure to step down
Kenneth Melson of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms faces controversy over the agency's surveillance program that allowed U.S. guns into Mexico. He is said to be eager to testify to Congress.
June 23, 2011 at 7:12 PM
"No, CowboyDan, they want him DEAD. Not merely "locked up." Dead."
Right on, Mark.
Bad things sometimes happen in jails, don't you know? It may keep people in, but it doesn't always keep them safe. There are some bad people in jail; not many, but there are some. Some of the bad guys wear inmate suits, some of them wear the other kind.
June 23, 2011 at 8:22 PM
YEAH, BUT....
Maybe Melson has set it UP with Holder/Hussein that he should be fired! That is, Melson was OBVIOUSLY made certain promises/guarantees/commitments by Obama regarding Melsons REAL love--the ASCLD/LAB. After all, Obama gave Melson the White House Subcommittee on Forensic Science at the SAME TIME Melson was hired for the ATF job. So maybe Melson has agreed to be fired IF Obama provides continued support for the forensics project! If Obama lies, Melson can still bust him by cooperating with Issa/Grassley. If Obama comes through, Melson will have virtual control of all forensic labs in the nation...which is what he's been after from day one anyhow. And with that little chestnut, why would he care if he was fired!
June 26, 2011 at 4:14 PM