“The [Republican presidential candidate] debates return Wednesday night in Mesa, Arizona, as CNN partners with the Republican Party of Arizona to bring America the final debate before Super Tuesday, and what may be the final debate of the season,” Steve Krakauer of CNN reports.
“What has made the debates the fuel to feed the media's insatiable yearning for political fare?” he asks.
Certainly not the Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal, as highlights from previous debates listed in his story bear out.
And while the topic has been raised before, acknowledgments that this is more than just a personnel issue and merits a criminal investigation are few and far between—with one notable exception, the irrepressible Ron Paul.
And that’s in spite of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus promising Fast and Furious would be a “2012 election theme.”
Here’s what to look for tonight:
Will the subject be raised?
If it is raised, will the question be phrased in a way to elicit an unequivocal answer—and to make weasel-worded non-responses evident?
Recall that the party leadership has managed to duck hardball questions about gun issues before.
And understand that their current political leader, John Boehner, chose a say-nothing platitude in response to a direct question about Attorney General Eric Holder and the Gunwalker investigation.
It’s par for the course from a party that’s learned it can take gun owners for granted. They’re so confident in that, they don’t even feel they have to list the right to keep and bear arms on their website “Issues” page.
Any bets they’ll feel compelled to offer anything but vague and meaningless bromides tonight?
Pray that I am wrong. Because I sincerely do.
UPDATE: No one is surprised, I trust.
Also see:
- Fair enough: Ask them all
- A Journalist’s Guide to ‘Project Gunwalker'(most current volume) for a complete list with links of independent investigative reporting and commentary done to date by Sipsey Street Irregulars and Gun Rights Examiner. Note to newcomers to this story: “Project Gunrunner” is the name ATF assigned to its Southwest Border Initiative to interdict gun smuggling to Mexico. “Project Gunwalker” is the name I assigned to the scandal after allegations by agents that monitored guns were allowed to fall into criminal hands on both sides of the border through a surveillance process termed “walking” surfaced.
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