U.S. Rep. Bill Sali, R-Idaho, said Friday that his complaints about the slogan - "Always Think Forfeiture" - persuaded the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to end its use on the Leatherman tools handed out to participants in a training program.So who the hell does BATFU think they are to require a FOIA demand before they'll release the names of other congressmen who "had inquired about the slogan"? Why is that not a freely-accessible public record, and does it not nicely illustrate what light-fleeing shadow-dwellers they are?
But a spokesman for the federal agency said Friday that the agency actually stopped using the slogan about two months ago, when other members of Congress first raised concerns.
Oh, and nice try, Walt Minnick. I see you credit yourself with being "instrumental in the creation of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)." So I see what you mean about "pay[ing] attention to details" when the topic of assert forfeiture comes up.
I also see that as of a couple months ago, the majority of your support came from out of state donors--that'll serve the independence of Idahoans well--nothing like a little carpetbagging by proxy, eh?
I truly don't fault Sali. You don't know what you don't know, and those other congressmen should have come to the fore on this and been the leaders they tell us they are. And BATFU getting all snitty didn't help. The bottom line is, it's a good thing.
Here's somethihg else good that came out of this:
That changed March 19, when a blogger looking at ATF contracts on a government-purchasing database found an order for 2,000 Leatherman tool-kits engraved with the slogan.It's very nice to see Jed get some recognition, and affirms that bloggers can and do affect the course of things.
The blogger wrote about it on www.freedomsight.net, and the issue took on a life of its own in the blogosphere. Gun owners and private property rights activists seized on the phrase as a sign that the agency was biased toward law-abiding gun owners.
So--who knows how to file that FOIA request? Not that I don't automatically believe every word they say...
[Via Wayne Newton :) ]