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with apologies to Wallace Beery! 

 

I can't wait to hear the justification some progressive will give to defend Holder's decision.  Especially those that support Assange.  DOJ's argument that it will harm morale is just sick -- the bullets that killed two US agents already accomplished that. 

 

"The ATF agent who blew the whistle on Operation Fast and Furious has been denied permission to write a book on the botched anti-gun trafficking sting "because it would have a negative impact on morale," according to the very agency responsible for the scandal. 

 

After first trying to stop the operation internally, ATF Agent John Dodson went to Congress and eventually the media following the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010. Two guns found at the murder scene were sold through the ATF operation. 

 

Dodson's book, titled "The Unarmed Truth," provides the first inside account of how the federal government permitted and helped sell some 2,000 guns to Mexican drug cartels, despite evidence the guns killed innocent people. 

 

Dodson, who is working with publisher Simon & Schuster, submitted his manuscript to the department for review, per federal rules. However, it was denied. 

 

Greg Serres, an ATF ethics official, told Dodson that any of his supervisors at any level could disapprove outside employment "for any reason." 

 

Serres letter said: "This would have a negative impact on morale in the Phoenix Field Division and would have a detremental effect [sic] on our relationships with DEA and FBI." 

 

The national office of the American Civil Liberties Association is representing Dodson as he fights the decision. ACLU attorney Lee Rowland says the agency's restriction is overly broad. 

 

Rather than provide a specific objection which would allow for a line-by-line redaction, ATF used a policy that "grants supervisors the discretion to censor critical speech simply because it annoys or embarrasses the ATF," Rowland wrote in a letter delivered Monday. 

 

"Given the national importance of both the Fast and Furious operation and ATF practices more broadly, ATF faces an extremely high burden in demonstrating that its interests outweigh Agent Dodson's right to speak -- and the public's right to hear -- his views about Operation Fast and Furious," she explained. 

 

First Amendment rights are especially strong when the speech affected deals with public policy, Rowland said, requiring the government to meet a very high bar. Precisely because Dodson's views differ dramatically from those of his supervisors, his "thoughts and opinions" should not be censored, Rowland said. 

Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl said the federal code prohibiting employees from outside compensation from speeches and writing could pose a significant problem for Dodson. 

 

"He is still an agent with the ATF and the ATF has very strict restrictions," Wiehl said. "You can't receive compensation for outside employment, including writing a book, without permission." 

On the other hand, Wiehl said, the ATF may have overplayed its hand by saying it can deny publication "for any reason." 

 

"What kind of hubris is that when a whistle-blower wants to go on public record -- the First Amendment says he should be able to go forward," she said. "The ATF created their own embarrassment, maybe its own negligence -- that agent Dodson had the courage to reveal. And now he is being punished for that." 

 

The ACLU argues ATF rules are "constitutionally inadequate (and result) in impermissible censorship of the speech of a public employee." 

 

Dodson says "The Unarmed Truth" will come out in January, with or without the ATF's permission.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politic...rom-publishing-book/

 

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TRUTH -- THE NEW HATE SPEECH!

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Surely you expect no more from THIS Administration.  Had this been a Republican there would have been calls for uprisings and impeachment and the national media would have front page stories each day revealing things that somehow are disregarded by the bulk of voters who voted for this Administration and also re-elected it.  

 

There have always been warnings about what Liberals would bring if they were entrenched into Government so why be surprised when it comes to being?  At least you can rest in some solace that you didn't re-elect the person. Those that did though have their own scapegoats and those are the Republicans in the House.  They will not ever admit to what they actually brought about by support of people that they thought represented the average person when actually all they represented was a very few ultra liberals who feel like they are empowered to control everyone else and that they know what's best for everyone else.

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