ICE Testimony: Immigration is Broken; Cannot Enforce Laws

DHS and Obama Pol Hacs Interfere with FOIA Request Process

from the Daily Caller:

New emails and testimony from Department of Homeland Security FOIA officer Catherine Papoi reveal that a former Obama campaign staffer repeatedly asked Papoi and her team to redact portions of “politically sensitive” documents, as well as portions of documents that were already publicly available.

Papoi, who came under fire at DHS for complaining that “sensitive” FOIA requests were being vetted by political employees, testified on March 3 that Willard “Clint” Carte, a DHS attorney with the title of “confidential assistant,” attempted to block a FOIA request for DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano’s calendar in which Napolitano’s secretary had referred to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as “Senator Clinton.” According to Papoi’s testimony, Carte asked that Clinton’s title be changed on the calendar in order to spare the department “embarrassment.”

“The front office wanted that changed before the response went out the door and we were pushing back saying that once you cast your net and retrieve a record, you can’t alter a record because of mere embarrassment,” Papoi said in her testimony.

According to Papoi, FOIA officers are told they can only “cast their net” one time. “Once you have retrieved the records, they lose…the living nature where they are evolving, and the statute requires that you retrieve the records and then process them,” she testified. “DOJ has also opined that you don’t cast your net twice, you cast once. You retrieve the records and you process them. So [the front office, where Carte worked] also suggested making the changes and then recasting our net, and it was explained that also was unacceptable.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/30/former-organizing-for-america-staffer-blocked-foia-requests-at-department-of-homeland-security/#ixzz1ID6cTOQ6

Sunday Joke: Janet Napolitano Mulls Over Senate Run

       While reading the paper over Sunday coffee, my dear wife said that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was considering a run for the United States Senate, for the seat that will be vacated when Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona retires in 2012. I almost choked trying not to spit out my coffee in laughter.

(Roll Call) — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, former Arizona governor and state attorney general, has made calls over the past few weeks to gauge support for a Senate bid. She could emerge as the early frontrunner. Wealthy businessman Jim Pederson, who challenged Kyl in 2006, isn’t saying no, and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon could run. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — currently recovering from an attempted assassination — could enter the race as late as April 2012 and still raise enough money to be competitive.

Democrats in the state have told reporters that Giffords should have the “right of first refusal” to run for the seat.

http://weaselzippers.us/2011/02/12/could-big-sis-be-the-democratic-candidate-for-jon-kyls-seat/

NOW that is a scary thought!

AZ Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Shot @ Public Gathering; Federal Judge and 9 Yr Old Child among the 5 Dead

     On Thursday, when the members of the House of Representatives took to the floor of the House to read the US Constitution, Arizona’s Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords read from the First Amendment about our right to “assemble, and to address our grievances”. Less than 72 hours later, a 22 year old opens fire in a crowd where Rep. Giffords was meeting with a crowd of constituents in the parking lot of a Safeway Grocery store in Tucson, one of her “Congress on the Corner” meetings.

      When the shooting ended, at least 19 had been shot, with at least 5 dead. Among the dead was US District Judge John Roll, who had been appointed to the Federal judiciary by George HW Bush, and a 9 year old girl. As for Rep. Giffords, it is reported that she was hit by a bullet that when in one temple, and exited the other side. She is reportedly out of surgery, in critical condition, with doctors indicating that she is responding to commands and they are optimistic about her recovery. It has alse been reported that Rep. Giffords was conscious at the scene despite her injuries

     “Gabby” Gifford would be considered a “fiscally conservative blue dog Democrat”, who was a Republican. She is “pro-life” and “pro-gun”, being a gun owner herself. Her district has 100 miles of border with Mexico. Her husband, Capt. Mark Kelly, is a space shuttle astronaut.

     Immediately, as was to be expected, the media and the left bloggers were already blaming “right-wing extremist”, “Tea Party activists”, and the Daily Kos is pointedly blaming Sarah Palin. Ironically, Rep. Giffords was listed in 2008 in the Daily Kos as one of the legislators who had “bulls eye” target on them for certain votes. Initially it was reported that the shooter was a veteran having served in Afghanistan. The Pentagon is stating they have no record of the shooter.

     In the hours since the shootings, with the suspect Jared Lee Loughren in custody, the emails, posts, MySpace comments, have come forward, showing a twisted individual, and one who is not the right wing individual that the media “wants” him to be.  Hillbuzz.org is reporting that the suspect had posted comments that his Congresswoman (Giffords) had voted against Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, and that she was “Dead to me”. These posts were shown earlier on Daily Kos, but they have since been scrubbed, presumably because they do not fit the “right wing extremist” theory.

       President Obama and Speaker Boehner both made statements that state there is no place for violence in our free and open society. One has to wonder what Frances Fox Piven or Van Jones are thinking right now, both having made statements recently calling for “violence”.

Hillbuzz.org ongoing coverage:

http://hillbuzz.org/2011/01/08/important-document-in-real-time-how-the-left-is-covering-the-gabrielle-giffords-story-in-the-media-what-narrative-are-they-pushing-from-moment-one-and-how-are-they-trying-to-spin-this-tragedy-for/

Links to the shooter’s ideology:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE0BzDZ6yMY&feature=player_embedded#!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2653538/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2653532/posts

 

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/jared-lee-laughners-youtube-site-reveals-clues-about-killer-lists-mein-kampf-and-communist-m

 

http://hillbuzz.org/2011/01/08/my-congresswoman-voted-against-nancy-pelosi-and-is-now-dead-to-me-eerie-daily-kos-hit-piece-on-gabrielle-giffords-just-two-days-before-assassination-attempt-on-her/

 

 

TSA and the Speedo Protester: Big Sis Is Watching!!

AP: DHS Stalls FOIA Requests Until “Party Affiliation” Is Determined

The Most Transparent Administration Evah has yet another example of doublespeak and opacity uncovered by the Associated Press.  A lengthy investigation shows that the Department of Homeland Security investigated people making Freedom of Information Act requests for their politics, and delaying legally mandated disclosures based on political considerations.  The demands for information included the party affiliation of those making the requests, a policy that came from the top:

For at least a year, the Homeland Security Department detoured requests for federal records to senior political advisers for highly unusual scrutiny, probing for information about the requesters and delaying disclosures deemed too politically sensitive, according to nearly 1,000 pages of internal e-mails obtained by The Associated Press. …

Career employees were ordered to provide Secretary Janet Napolitano’s political staff with information about the people who asked for records — such as where they lived, whether they were private citizens or reporters — and about the organizations where they worked.

If a member of Congress sought such documents, employees were told to specify Democrat or Republican.

I’ll take a wild guess that the process was not expedited for requests coming from Republicans.

This policy stopped after DHS became aware that the AP was pursuing the story, but it’s appalling nonetheless.  One career employee got reprimanded simply for referring a reporter to a public Coast Guard website for open-source information without first checking with the political politburo working for Napolitano.  The policy demanded approval before release from the political appointees, who apparently often exercised a “pocket veto” on the requests by simply never responding.  The materials that required such approval included anything relating to a White House policy priority, “controversial or sensitive” topics — and anything requested by lawmakers, journalists, activists, and watchdog groups.

for full article: http://hotair.com/archives/2010/07/22/ap-homeland-security-probed-foia-requesters-delayed-data-based-on-politics/

Newest Plan to Plug the Oil Spill Hole in the Gulf

That should get the job done!!

Gov. Jan Brewer takes on the “Big Guns”

Enuff Said !!

DHS Sec’y Napolitano says it is UNFAIR to ask her about the Security of the Arizona Borders

Isn’t that HER JOB !!!

http://weaselzippers.us/2010/04/27/dhs-chief-janet-napolitano-its-unfair-to-ask-me-if-arizonas-border-with-mexico-secure/

John Brennan: CIA Operative to National Security Advisor

     During the Obama campaign in 2008, John Brennan advised the camapign on national security concerns. After all, he was a former CIA operative.

    Brennan was an advisor to Obama at the time that Obama made the brief mention of his college-days tour to Pakistan. This revelation, which the media pursued as they did his ties to Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, was never mentioned in either of Obama’s books.

     The Pakistan revelation was mentioned a mere two weeks after the passport files of Barack Obama had been “compromised” or breached at the State Department. It was determined at the time that the passport files of several of the candidates, including Obama and Clinton, had been breached, and that it was done by employees of an independent contractor to the State Department, a company called Analysis Corp.

      It is fair to mention that the “someone” at Analysis Corp.’s boss was none other than John Brennan.

      Mr. Brennan is now Obama’s National Security Advisor.

     Napolitano and Brennan— do we feel safe?