Who Is In Charge Of The Failed System?

If Bush had waited three days to publicly speak about the Northwest Airlines terrorist attack, the media would have demanded his head on a platter. In any event, the London Telegraph gives 10 reasons why the Obama administration gets an F in homeland security:

There is no more solemn duty for an American commander-in-chief than the martialling of “all elements of American power” – the phrase Obama himself used on Monday – to protect the people of the United States. In that key respect, Obama failed on Christmas Day, just as President George W. Bush failed on September 11th (though he succeeded in the seven years after that).

Yes, the buck stops in the Oval Office. Obama may have rather smugly given himself a “B+” for his 2008 performance but he gets an F for the events that led to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarding a Detroit-bound plane in Amsterdam with a PETN bomb sewn into his underpants. He said today that a “systemic failure has occurred”. Well, he’s in charge of that system.

...In his studied desire to be the unBush by responding coolly to events like this, Obama is dangerously close to failing as a leader. Yes, it is good not to shoot from the hip and make broad assertions without the facts. But Obama took three days before speaking to the American people, emerging on Monday in between golf and tennis games in Hawaii to deliver a rather tepid address that significantly underplayed what happened. He described Abdulmutallab as an “isolated extremist” who “allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device on his body” – phrases that indicate a legalistic, downplaying approach that alarms rather than reassures. Today’s words showed a lot more fire and desire to get on top of things – we’ll see whether Obama follows through with action. In the meantime, he went snorkelling.

On this side of the Atlantic, Col. Ralph Peters (ret.) warns that we are dealing with the international equivalent of "Bill Ayers and the Weathermen, pampered kids unhappy with the world."

Despite limited Special Operations strikes beyond our recognized combat zones, we still don't accept the nature of the threat from jet-set jihadis. Our leaders and our military are obsessed with holding ground in Afghanistan -- even though al Qaeda's growth areas are in Yemen and Africa.

We voluntarily tie ourselves down, while our enemies focus on mobility. Worse, we've convinced ourselves that development aid (the left's all-purpose medicine) is the key to defeating al Qaeda.

That's utter nonsense. Abdulmutallab's a rich kid. He didn't come from a deprived background, bearing the grievances of the slum. He's a graduate of a top English university. And Osama bin Laden's from a super-rich family. How does building a footbridge in Afghanistan deter them?

The System Didn't Work, But The Passengers Did

Open borders advocate Janet Napolitano, the hapless Homeland Security Secretary, has back-pedaled on her claim that the system worked. Instead (probably after an attitude adjustment from White House spin doctors), she now says the system failed miserably:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded Monday that the aviation security system failed when a young man on a watch list with a U.S. visa in his pocket and a powerful explosive hidden on his body was allowed to board a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

The Obama administration has ordered investigations into the two areas of aviation security — how travelers are placed on watch lists and how passengers are screened — as critics questioned how the 23-year-old Nigerian man charged in the airliner attack was allowed to board the Dec. 25 flight.

A day after saying the system worked, Napolitano backtracked, saying her words had been taken out of context.

Here's the perhaps soon-to-be-former DHS secretary doing damage control on the Today show:

Last year, Ed Rendell, the governor of Pennsylvania, famously said (and then retracted) that Napolitano would be perfect for the job "because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote, literally, 19-20 hours a day to it." It appears, however, that the governor was incorrect.

Terrorist Foothold in South America

Leaving aside yesterday's attempted terrorist attack on the Northwest Airlines jet, a counterterrorism analyst maintains that Latin America could actually be America's Achilles heel in the war on terrorism:

“There is a growing presence of Islamic activism and fundraising in Latin America,” [former FBI Special Agent James] Conway told Newsmax. “There is a significant presence of human-trafficking organizations that terror cells have and could exploit for movement of people and materials into the United States, and that should be of a major concern to us from a national-security perspective.”

Passengers Use Self Help To Foil Plane Bomber

Self help in the law in general refers to a corrective or preventive remedy taken by a private citizen to solve a problem without running to court. That's kind of what the passengers did in stopping the suicide bomber on a Northwest Airlines flight:

A Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria, who said he was acting on Al Qaeda's instructions, tried to blow up the plane Friday as it was landing in Detroit, law enforcement and national security officials said.

Passengers subdued the man and may have prevented him from detonating the explosives, officials said.

Meanwhile, U.S. counterterrorism officials were apparently aware of the the man's terrorist ties, but gave him a visa despite the red flags:

The father of the al Qaeda terrorist behind Friday’s attempted explosion aboard a Northwest flight bound for Detroit reported his son’s fanatical religious views to the U.S. Embassy six months ago, according to a Nigerian news outlet.

The young man, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, is the son of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a former Nigerian minister and bank chairman. He became wary of his son’s religious beliefs and reported his activities to the U.S. Embassy as well as Nigerian security services half a year ago, according to the Nigerian newspaper This Day.

The elder Mutallab had left his home in Katsina today, a city in Northern Nigeria, to speak with security agencies, the site reported, quoting family sources.

...A source close to the dad said he was shocked that his son was allowed to travel to this country after he’d reported his extreme views.

As with the Ft. Hood incident, lawmakers are wondering why security officials didn't take preemptive action:

Congressional lawmakers are looking to "get to the bottom" of the attempted terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound flight, pledging to hold hearings next month and raising questions over how the suspect was allegedly able to smuggle an explosive mixture onto an airplane.

Analysts and lawmakers say the incident raises troubling questions and could lead to changes in airline security which has already gone through an overhaul since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Officials also questioned whether intelligence agencies were properly sharing information about the suspect, since sources said his name was on a federal watch list even though he was not on a "no-fly list." The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, had been in an intelligence database that includes people with known or suspected terrorist ties, and officials knew about that possible connection for "some time," a U.S. official told Fox News.

Christmas in Bethlehem...But For How Much Longer?

Despite the ever-present propaganda, let's not forget that Israel is the only country in the Middle East where people are free to practice any religion or no religion:

The pilgrims will be there as midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity is again broadcast live around the world this Christmas Eve -- but the town of Bethlehem is fast losing its last few year-round Christian residents.

Christians are fleeing the town of Christ's birth, and the much-reported hardship that Israel inflicts on residents of the West Bank town has little to do with it. It's the same reality across the Arab world: rising Islamism pushes non-Muslims away.

Islamists frown on real-estate ownership by non-Muslims -- Christian, Jew or anything else. And though the secular Palestinian Authority still controls the West Bank, the clout of groups like Hamas is growing: Even in Bethlehem, where followers of history's most famous baby once thrived, Christians are ceding the land.

Yes, ever since the PA took control of the West Bank in the early '90s, its leaders have taken care to show the world an idealized picture of Muslim-Christian solidarity. But it's a facade -- a way to score anti-Israeli political points.

...Practically the only place in the region where the Christian population is growing is in Israel.

[Source: New York Post]

Gitmo Stays Open For Another Year

As Congress balks at funding Gitmo North, this political soap opera continues:

Rebuffed this month by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy a prison in rural Illinois, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money to replace the Guantánamo Bay prison.

As a result, officials now believe that they are unlikely to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer its population of terrorism suspects until 2011 at the earliest — a far slower timeline for achieving one of President Obama’s signature national security policies than they had previously hinted.

While Mr. Obama has acknowledged that he would miss the Jan. 22 deadline for closing the prison that he set shortly after taking office, the administration appeared to take a major step forward last week when he directed subordinates to move “as expeditiously as possible” to acquire the Thomson Correctional Center, a nearly vacant maximum-security Illinois prison, and to retrofit it to receive Guantánamo detainees.

But in interviews this week, officials estimated that it could take 8 to 10 months to install new fencing, towers, cameras and other security upgrades before any transfers take place. Such construction cannot begin until the federal government buys the prison from the State of Illinois.

The federal Bureau of Prisons does not have enough money to pay Illinois for the center, which would cost about $150 million. Several weeks ago, the White House approached the House Appropriations Committee and floated the idea of adding about $200 million for the project to the military spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year, according to administration and Congressional officials.

But Democratic leaders refused to include the politically charged measure in the legislation. When lawmakers approved the bill on Dec. 19, it contained no financing for Thomson.

Separately, former terrorism prosecutor Andrew McCarthy points out in NationalReviewOnline that the Obama Justice Department just released 12 Gitmo detainees and sent them to al Qaeda hotbed Yemen, Afghanistan, and Somaliland. McCarthy also explains that "DOJ is rife with attorneys who represented and advocated for the detainees, and, in particular, Attorney General Holder's firm [Covington & Burling], represented numerous Yemeni enemy combatants."

Because of his past associations, shouldn't have Holder recused himself from all decisions pertaining to detainees? Isn't that Legal Ethics 101?

Secretary of State Project Gears Up for 2010-2012

The American Spectator warns that the so-called Secretary of State Project, the George Soros-sponsored vote fraud initiative from the 2008 elections, is reloading for the next election cycle:

A group backed by [George] Soros is gearing up to steal the 2012 election for President Obama and congressional Democrats by installing left-wing Democrats as secretaries of state across the nation. From such posts, secretaries of state can help tilt the electoral playing field.

ACORN Under Federal Scrutiny

This inquiry is long overdue and let's hope it is a real investigation rather than just a whitewash, but the congressman is correct that given the magnitude of the corruption, the FBI should also come into the case:

The Government Accountability Office has opened an investigation into ACORN’s use of taxpayer dollars, two House Republicans said Thursday.

Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) made the announcement in the course of demanding a separate FBI investigation into the group.

“Only an independent criminal investigation conducted by the FBI can get to the bottom of the nationwide allegations against ACORN,” Smith said in a news release.

The GAO investigation will be completed jointly with the executive branch’s inspector general.

FBI-DHS Spar Over Intelligence Access

Apparently a disconnect exists between the FBI and Homeland Security over information sharing:

The White House has taken the unusual step of wading into a dispute between the nation's top law enforcement agencies over how much terrorist-threat information should be shared with state and local law enforcement, according to officials.

The White House involvement reflects the unusual nature of recent high-profile terrorism cases, including that of alleged bomb-maker Najibullah Zazi, which along with some undisclosed terrorist "activities" have raised tensions between the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, officials said.

Those tensions were aired during a weekend meeting at the White House with President Obama's counterterrorism chief, John Brennan, Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and others, according to officials.

DHS officials say information about on-going investigations should be shared broadly so local authorities can identify threats in their communities, but FBI officials say some of that information could compromise their investigations and ultimately sabotage anti-terrorism efforts.

On Tuesday, Napolitano and Holder announced "major steps" to improve the sharing of threat information, but such new efforts may be undermined by the recent tensions, one U.S. official said.

Didn't inter-agency rivalries and turf protection put the U.S. at risk prior to 9/11?

Supremes Reject Gitmo Prisoners' Appeal

The detainee lobby loses one at the high court:

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that it rejected an appeal by four former Guantanamo Bay prisoners arguing that they should be able to proceed with their lawsuit against top Pentagon officials for torture and religious abuse.

The justices refused to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that dismissed the lawsuit by the four British citizens over their treatment at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba on the grounds the officials enjoyed immunity.

...The Obama administration urged the Supreme Court to reject the appeal. It said the appeals court's decision was correct and that further review of the case was unwarranted.

Narco-Terrorist Stimulus Program

Drug traffickers apparent have their own bank bailout plan:

Drugs money worth billions of dollars kept the financial system afloat at the height of the global crisis, the United Nations' drugs and crime tsar has told the Observer.

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said he has seen evidence that the proceeds of organised crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year. He said that a majority of the $352bn (£216bn) of drugs profits was absorbed into the economic system as a result.

This will raise questions about crime's influence on the economic system at times of crisis. It will also prompt further examination of the banking sector as world leaders, including Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, call for new International Monetary Fund regulations. Speaking from his office in Vienna, Costa said evidence that illegal money was being absorbed into the financial system was first drawn to his attention by intelligence agencies and prosecutors around 18 months ago. "In many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital. In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor," he said.

Some of the evidence put before his office indicated that gang money was used to save some banks from collapse when lending seized up, he said.

Also from the British media, Costa earlier this month warned about drug trafficking in certain areas in Africa:

The head of the UN drugs agency (UNODC) has warned that widespread drug trafficking is transforming Africa into a major crime hub.

Antonio Maria Costa said huge amounts of heroin and cocaine were being traded by "terrorists and anti-government forces" to fund their operations.

He called for a trans-Saharan network to be set up to tackle criminal groups.

The BBC report adds that "drug traffickers have saturated Russia, much of Western Europe, and they are now spreading into Africa."

Related story from the New York Post:

Three accused terrorists arrested in Africa arrived in Manhattan [on December 18] to face charges that they plotted to fund al-Qaeda by smuggling thousands of pounds of cocaine into Europe. Oumar Issa, Harouna Toure and Idriss Abelrahman were captured in Ghana on Wednesday and arrived in the city early this morning. They are expected to appear before a federal judge this afternoon. It's the first time suspected al-Qaeda operatives have been charged in a drug-trafficking plot, prosecutors said.

And now it appears that drug cartels are diversifying into the oil business:

Drug traffickers employing high-tech drills, miles of rubber hose, and a fleet of stolen tanker trucks have siphoned more than $1 billion worth of oil from Mexico’s pipelines over the past two years, in a vast and audacious conspiracy that is bleeding the national treasury, according to US and Mexican law enforcement officials and the state-run oil company.

Using sophisticated smuggling networks, the traffickers have transported a portion of the pilfered petroleum across the border to sell to US companies, some of which knew that it was stolen, according to court documents and interviews with American officials involved in an expanding investigation of oil services firms in Texas.

The widespread theft of Mexico’s most vital national resource by criminal organizations represents a costly new front in President Felipe Calderon’s war against the drug cartels, and it shows how the traffickers are rapidly evolving from traditional narcotics smuggling.

Reagan: Free Enterprise Must Prevail Over Socialism

Whether you agree with his policies or not, one of the many admirable things about Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, was his unique and colorful career in the private sector before he sought public office. This background is in stark contrast to the career politicians, i.e., those who never held a real job, currently running the federal government. With great hubris, these politicians want to invade "the precincts of private citizens" as Reagan says in this amazingly prophetic and eloquent 1961 audio commentary about socialized medicine.

If we recall correctly, one of Peggy Noonan's books used the metaphor of Ronald Reagan, the high school lifeguard, as guiding America safely back to shore after the failed Carter presidency.

Egypt To Build Border Fence

There was a huge international outcry when Israel built a security fence in the West Bank area to protect itself from Palestinian suicide bombers. Has anyone said a word about Egypt's plans?

Egypt has begun the construction of a massive iron wall along its border with the Gaza Strip, in a bid to shut down smuggling tunnels into the territory. The wall will be nine to 10 kilometers long, and will go 20 to 30 meters into the ground, Egyptian sources said. It will be impossible to cut or melt.

The new plan is the latest move by Egypt to step up its counter-smuggling efforts. Although some progress had been made, the smuggling market in Gaza still flourishes.

Egyptian forces demolish tunnels or fill them with gas almost every week, often with people still inside them, and Palestinian casualties in the tunnels have been steadily rising.

Flipper Gets Busy

Marine mammals enlist in the war on terror:

The Navy has approved a plan to step up anti-terrorism efforts at a Washington base by sending specially trained dolphins and sea lions into surrounding waters.

Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor near Washington’s Puget Sound is stepping up its security by employing aquatic mammals to patrol its restricted waters. The animals’ deployment in 2010 will mark the realization of a program that has been more than three years in the making.

The dolphins and sea lions to defend the base were trained as part of the Navy Marine Mammal Program in San Diego. Working with human handlers, dolphins will search surrounding waters for rogue divers and swimmers. Tom LaPuzza, a spokesman for the program, told Scientific American that upon finding a diver, the dolphin will return to the handler and the handler will assess the severity of the threat.

How long will it take before some "civil liberties" group runs to court charging that the dolphins constitutional rights are under assault?

Gitmo Detainees Headed to Illinois Prison

According to BigGovernment.com, the Justice Department has drafted plans to send the enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay to the Thomson (Illinois) Correctional Center, a maximum security prison. As we've asked over and over, how does bringing these individuals to the mainland make America more safer and secure? And will it turn out that some fat-cat local real estate mogul and various other operatives in the "Chicago Way" foodchain get to cash in in some manner? Just asking.

Judge: ACORN Funds Freeze Unconstitutional

A Clinton-appointed judge has issued a temporary injunction preventing the government from cutting off federal funding to the corrupt community organization ACORN:

The U.S. government's move this fall to cut off funding to ACORN was unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Friday, handing the embattled group a legal victory.

U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon issued the preliminary injunction against the government, saying it's in the public's interest for the organization to continue receiving federal funding.

In general, this is the kind of politically motivated lawsuit that is "judge shopped" by the plaintiffs to a ideologically blinded, easily manipulated jurist to get a desired outcome. Although the Obama Justice Department is probably thrilled with the result, the judge's decision demands an immediate appeal to a higher court.

Guest Blog: Silent Night

Guest blogger Jason Tabrys of Painespeak.com shares his thoughts on the expiration of the Congressional COBRA subsidy:

Images of ivory towers. Of men and women fattened off the wealth of our labor, lackadaisical. They wake from their slumber and address the masses with promises of splendor and ease and then rumble back to their lavish suites uninspired to act with any sense of urgency. So long as they lay warm who is bothered by the cold? The Senate, the House, frozen, immobile like a glutton too overstuffed to rise from the table.

We have seen this all before, blustering and pontificating on the need to do something and then appropriately doing nothing until absolutely forced. How many Americans languished on the vine, desperately clawing their way to survival? Drowning victims praying that they would once again know air while the upper Senate debated and bickered over an unemployment compensation extension for months.

It seems yet again the mood of the Senate and House, is relaxed, while the reality for millions is anything but. Americans helped greatly by the COBRA subsidy that saw the Government pick up 65% of the health insurance premiums for those who had been laid off or otherwise lost their healthcare insurance are about to be thrust into a horrific position. Pay the full premium amount, a number that averages nearly 85% of the average monthly unemployment payout, or risk losing health coverage and be punished by future insurers who can charge exorbitant premiums and flat out deny coverage for pre-existing conditions for anyone who has been without insurance for a brief period.

With this crisis upon us Congress has done that which is typical, unleashing a mass of sound and fury signifying nothing. Bills have been proposed and are moving their way to the floor encased in Congress’ typical brew of quick dry cement and molasses. Nothing will happen before Congress takes yet another vacation to sip eggnog and bask in their good fortune. After all, they aren’t the poor souls whose cursed existences force them to rely on the timely help of elected officials for survival. One imagines the wheels of government might turn a little faster if there were more dedicated to stoking the fires.

ABC: Feds Leaked How-To Manual For Getting Past Airport Screeners

Please don't let this shake your faith in those in charge of security procedures at America's airport checkpoints:

In a massive security breach, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) inadvertently posted online its entire airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers.

The most sensitive parts of the 93-page Standard Operation Procedures were apparently redacted in a way that computer savvy individuals easily overcame.

The document shows sample CIA, Congressional and law enforcement credentials which experts say would make it easy for terrorists to duplicate.

The improperly redacted areas describe that only 20 percent of checked bags are to be hand searched for explosives and reveals in detail the limitations of x-ray screening machines.

"This is an appalling and astounding breach of security that terrorists could easily exploit," said Clark Kent Ervin, the former inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security. "The TSA should immediately convene an internal investigation and discipline those responsible."

Just in time for the holiday travel season. And this is the same government that, by the way, wants to take over the medical delivery system, including gaining control of individual medical records. Wired.com has more on the TSA security breach.

Missouri AG Having A Cow Over Raw Milk

With all the threats to homeland security that law enforcement has to deal with, Missouri undercover cops are going after... family farmers that sell raw milk.

As Mike Adams, the self-designated health ranger writes:

In a world where children are being poisoned by aspartame, senior citizens are being drugged into zombie-like states in nursing homes, where school boys are being dosed with "speed" amphetamine ADHD drugs, bacon is laced with a cancer-causing chemical known as sodium nitrite and two-thirds of the broiler chickens sold in grocery stores are contaminated with salmonella, are you telling me that the friendly selling of raw milk in a parking lot is at the top of the list of "crimes" being investigated by the Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and his overworked staff?

While not every holistic nutrition expert recommends raw cow's milk, there is a consensus that it is far superior than pasteurized, factory produced milk. To learn more about the health advantages of raw milk, visit the Weston A. Price Foundation website and draw your own conclusions.

Montana's Would-Be U.S. Attorney

If we recall correctly, in the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters, each character wanted to be with someone else. Maybe that describes all of Woody Allen's movies. Anyway, in real life, that A wants to be with C rather than B doesn't necessarily make any of them bad persons. In general, it all depends on the circumstances. Moreover, the details of one's private life (messy or otherwise) should be kept completely private; personal privacy is one of our most cherished assets. That is, as long as public office (or the interests of shareholders) aren't implicated. The Appalachian hiking excursions of the South Carolina governor would be example of a legitimate inquiry, while the celebrity driven controversy now engulfing a certain professional golfer falls into an entirely different category altogether.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, the New York Times ran with a flimsy, page one story about Sen. McCain's supposed inappropriate relationship with a lobbyist. The story was later completely discredited. This is the same news organization that didn't lift a finger to look into McCain's opponent's qualifications or agenda.

So can you image the massive headlines that would have resulted in March if someone on McCain's side of the aisle tried to pull this stunt?

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus’ office confirmed late Friday night that the Montana Democrat was carrying on an affair with his state office director, Melodee Hanes, when he nominated her to be U.S. attorney in Montana.

According to a source familiar with their relationship, Hanes and Baucus began their relationship in the summer of 2008 – nearly a year before Baucus and his wife, Wanda, divorced in April 2009. The Senator had informally separated from his wife in March 2008 and they were living apart when he began dating Hanes, according to Baucus' office.

Hanes ended her employment with Baucus in the spring of this year.

Hanes, who is divorced and now lives with Baucus in the Eastern Market neighborhood of Washington, D.C., ultimately withdrew her name from consideration for the U.S. attorney position in order to move to Washington, and she now works in the Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention as a counselor to the administrator.

According a Baucus spokesman, Hanes got the DOJ job "based solely on her merit."

DHS Chief Warns Of Terrorist Sympathizers

Open borders advocate Janet Napolitano is suddenly worried about man-caused disasters:

Al-Qaeda followers are inside the United States and would like to attack targets here and in other countries, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday night.

The secretary's comments were her bluntest assessment yet of terror threats within the country, and they came one day after President Obama, in announcing his decision to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, warned that extremists have been "sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit more acts of terror."

..."The fact is that home-based terrorism is here. And like violent extremism abroad, it is now part of the threat picture that we must confront," Napolitano said. "Individuals sympathetic to al-Qaeda and its affiliates, as well as those inspired by their ideology, are present in the U.S., and would like to attack the homeland or plot overseas attacks against our interests abroad."

Napolitano has also conceded that DHS will flunk a 2012 deadline for scanning incoming ship cargo for nukes.

ACORN: Obama's War Room?

When ACORN commits ballot fraud, voters get disenfranchised. When it steals federal funds, taxpayers gets disenfranchised. Isn't it time for a full-scale federal investigation of this corrupt organization by the Justice Department?

House Republicans accused the Obama administration Tuesday of covering up criminal activities committed by the embattled community activist group ACORN, saying that the president has used the group as an illegal political tool to help himself and other Democrats get elected.

"The current administration is fast becoming, in reality, the war room of ACORN's political machine," said Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican. "I am concerned that the era of corruption promulgated by ACORN and protected by the White House is just the beginning."

Source: Washington Times.