I used the “Executive Privilege.” Bitches love the Executive Privilege

• Tweet
• Email

• Tweet
• Email

What you need to know about operation Fast and Furious, you can learn from websites who don’t make it a point of regularly reporting on the activities of John Edwards penis, I’m sure. Suffice it to say, however, this morning’s news is worthy of space even here.

For the uninitiated, Fast and Furious is your run-of-the-mill drug war operation, in which America armed violent drug runners along our border with powerful weapons in a “Buy 3 M4s, Get One Free”-type program, which they then used to (shocker!) kill enemy drug lords, civilians and a number of ATF officers. Eric Holder allegedly knew quite a bit about the program, but refused to answer questions on it or turn over documents, because that would have made investigation of the incident uncomplicated. When he was nearing the end of his rope, despite claiming to not know what the documents contained, but rather to avoid Eric Holder being subject to a Contempt of Congress charge (which is essentially a pretty lame charge in and of itself), the White House claimed executive privilege over the evidence and here we are.

The showdown between the White House and key congressional Republicans over the administration’s response to a controversial program that allowed guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels kicked into high gear Wednesday.

President Obama granted Attorney General Eric Holder executive privilege on the matter, while the head of the House panel overseeing government conduct moved forward with proceedings to hold the nation’s top law enforcement official in contempt of Congress.

By asserting executive privilege, the Justice Department can withhold documents from Congress, even if Congress has issued a subpoena, as the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has.

At this point, there were two choices: end up having to give up the documents and look like a turd, or withhold the documents and look like a turd. Selecting the former would have at least given Congress a few more weeks of stuff to do that didn’t involve spending money. Selecting the latter means that a previously unheard-of-by-anyone-except-hardcore-political-junkies Congressional slap-fight is now a national headline, and worse than that, Obama has finally confirmed our deeply-held belief that, at his core, he’s a Republican.