74. Katie Pavlich, op. cit., p. 126. These are all minimum figures, reflecting crimes after which the gun was recovered and traced. Crimes in which a Fast and Furious gun was used but the criminal left with it in his possession cannot be known.
75. Charlie Savage, “House Finds Holder in Contempt over Inquiry on Guns,” New York Times, June 28, 2012, online at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/us/politics/fast-and-furious-holder-contempt-citation-battle.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
76. Mary Michel, “Fast and Furious Cover-up Rewarded,” American Thinker, Mar. 24, 2015, online at http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/fast_and_furious_coverup_rewarded_in_appointment_of_new_atf_director.html.
77. John Dobson, op. cit., p. 280. This could happen because federal pay grades (“GS” for General Schedule levels) have much overlap. Each has ten “steps,” which are climbed one per year at the outset, rising to one per two or three years at the higher steps. Thus, currently the base pay (i.e., without locality adjustments, which can be considerable) for a GS 14 step 1 is $88,136, and a GS 13 step 7 is $89,500.
78. Ibid.
79. Katie Pavlich, op. cit., p. 117.
80. Katie Pavlich, “After Inappropriate Firing, ATF Settles Lawsuit from Agent and Whistleblower Vince Cefalu,” Townhall, Oct. 7, 2014, online at http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/10/07/after-inappropriate-firing-atf-settle-lawsuit-with-agent-vince-cefalu-n1901826.
81. “Univision Exposes Fast and Furious’ Rising Body Count,” Investors’ Business Daily, Oct. 1, 2012, online at http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/univision-reveals-fast-and-furious-murders/ (reporting estimates of 100 to 300 deaths resulting from Fast and Furious).
CHAPTER 8
1. Joseph Mallia & Maggie Mulvihill, “Minister Dies as Cops Raid Wrong Apartment,” online at http://www.druglibrary.org/think/~jnr/botched.htm.
2. “Mistaken Drug Raid on Venice Mayor,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 5, 1992, p. 12.
3. Some would term him, and not without reason, a Fascist. See Peter Moskos, “RIP Daryl Gates,” Cop in the Hood, Apr. 16, 2010, online at http://www.copinthehood.com/2010/04/rip-daryl-gates.html.
4. Donald Ostrow, “Casual Drug Users Should Be Shot, Gates Says,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 6, 1990, online at http://articles.latimes.com/1990-09-06/news/mn-983_1_casual-drug-users.
5. Canning Kennedy, “Daryl Gates: The Thin Blue Line Between Personal and Structural Racism,” Colorlines, online at http://www.colorlines.com/articles/daryl-gates-thin-blue-line-between-personal-and-structural-racism.
6. Peter B. Kraska & Louis J. Cubellis, “Militarizing Mayberry and Beyond: Making Sense of American Paramilitary Policing,” Justice Quarterly, vol. 14, p. 607 (1997), online at http://cjmasters.eku.edu/sites/cjmasters.eku.edu/files/mayberry.pdf.
7. John Fund, “The United States of SWAT,” Mediachecker, Apr. 18, 2014, online at https://mediachecker.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/the-united-states-of-swat.
8. Ibid.
9. See “Ex-Marine Shot by SWAT has Local Roots,” Nogales International, May 12, 2001, online at http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/ex-marine-shot-by-swat-has-local-roots/article_ad1df515-5c1a-5c65-a0da-ac4ba356447b.html; “23 Seconds: Documents Show the May 5 SWAT Raid Moved Quickly,” KGUN TV, June 10, 2011, online at http://www.webcitation.org/5zuTCDuuW; Fernada Echavarri, “SWAT Team Fired 71 Shots in Raid,” Arizona Daily Star, May 11, 2011, online at http://tucson.com/news/local/crime/article_d7d979d4-f4fb-5603-af76-0bef206f8301.html; Tim Steller, “Let’s Learn Something from Guerena Killing,” Arizona Daily Star, Sept. 29, 2013, online at http://tucson.com/news/local/column/steller-let-s-learn-something-from-guerena-killing/article_d2079a62-f68c-5bdc-8b84-6e6eb60d7e87.html.
10. Associated Press, “Police to Release Details of Fatal Drug Raid,” Santa Cruz [CA] Sentinel, Jan. 28, 1993, p. 6; “Officer, Retiree Killed in Bogus Raid,” Sacramento Bee, Jan. 26, 1994, online at http://www.druglibrary.org/think/~jnr/botched.htm.
11. Joseph Mallia & Maggie Mulvihill, “Minister Dies as Cops Raid Wrong Apartment,” online at http://www.druglibrary.org/think/~jnr/botched.htm; “Boston Oks $1 Million in Raid Death,” Chicago Tribune, Apr. 25, 1996, online at http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-04-25/news/9604250226_1_police-commissioner-paul-evans-police-officer-informer; “Police Mistakes Cited in Death of Boston Man,” New York Times, May 16, 1994, online at http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/16/us/police-mistakes-cited-in-death-of-boston-man.html.
12. Cheye M. Calvo, “Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo Recalls Errant SWAT Raid,” Washington Post, Sept. 20, 2009, online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091701680.html. See also Radley Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop (2014).
13. “Shoot First, Ask Later,” Washington Post, Aug. 7, 2008, online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/06/AR2008080602795.html.
14. Kate Abbey-Lambertz, “Lawsuit Alleges Police Cover-Up in Fatal Shooting,” The Huffington Post, Apr. 2, 2015, online at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/02/aiyana-stanley-jones-lawsuit-conspiracy_n_6993756.html.
15. Radley Balko, op. cit., pp. 171, 249.
16. Eyder Peralta, “Arizona Sheriff Uses a Tank and Steven Seagal to Arrest a Cockfighting Suspect,” National Public Radio, online at http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/03/23/134803230/arizona-sheriff-uses-a-tank-to-arrest-cockfighting-suspect; Richard Ruelas and J. J. Hensley, “MCSO, Actor Seagal Sued over 2011 Arrest,” Arizona Republic, Mar. 7, 2012, online at http://archive.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/20120301mcso-seagal-sued-arrest.html.
17. Jim Fisher, “Did Veterans Affairs Police Kill Dialysis Patient Jonathan Montano?,” Jim Fisher True Crime, June 23, 2015, online at http://jimfishertruecrime.blogspot.com/2014/05/did-veteran-affairs-police-kill.html.
18. Jim Armstrong, “FBI Uses Chainsaw in Raid on Wrong Fitchburg Apartment,” CBS Boston, Jan. 31, 2012, online at http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/01/31/fbi-uses-chainsaw-in-raid-on-wrong-fitchburg-apartment.
19. Taylor Wofford, “Former Cop Indicted in Maiming of Toddler in Botched SWAT Raid,” Newsweek, July 28, 2015, online at http://www.newsweek.com/former-cop-indicted-maiming-toddler-botched-swat-raid-357570.
20. George Joseph, “New SWAT Documents Give Snapshot of the Ugly Militarization of U.S. Police,” The Intercept, July 7, 2015, online at https://theintercept.com/2015/07/07/new-swat-documents-give-snapshot-ugly-militarization-u-s-police.
21. ACLU, War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing, online at https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/jus14-warcomeshome-report-web-rel1.pdf.
22. Radley Balko, op. cit, p. 175.
23. Peter B. Kraska and Victor E. Kappeler, “Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units,” Social Problems, vol. 44, p. 9 (1997).
24. Ibid., p. 10.
25. Radley Balko, op. cit, p. 308.
26. Tom Coburn and Adam Andrzejewski, “Why Does the IRS Need Guns?” Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2016, online at http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-does-the-irs-need-guns-1466117176.
27. Candice Bernd, “USDA and Submachine Guns,” Truth-out, June 7, 2014, online at http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/24186-usda-and-submachine-guns-latest-example-of-mission-creep-as-federal-policing-expands.
28. Radley Balko, op. cit, p. 243.
29. Jonathan S. Landay, “Police Tap High-Tech Tools of Military to Fight Crime,” Christian Science Monitor, Apr. 2, 1997, online at http://www.csmonitor.com/1997/0402/040297.us.us.2.html.
30. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Speech, Papers of the Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower, pp. 1035–40 (1960).
31. P.L. 104–201, 110 Stat. 2639, codified as 10 U.S.C. §2576a.
32. Congressional Research Service, The “1033 Program,” Department of Defense Support to Law Enforcement, Aug. 28, 2012, p. 3. Online at https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R43701.pdf.
33. Ibid.
34. Aaron Poynton, “Military and Civilian Resources,” Dom
Prep Journal, Sept. 2014, vol. 10, p. 24, online at http://www.webcitation.org/6XKhUGKS2?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.domesticpreparedness.com%2Fpub%2Fdocs%2FDPJSeptember14.pdf.
35. Arezou Rezvani, “MRAPs and Bayonets: What We Know About the Pentagon’s 1033 Program,” National Public Radio, Sept. 2, 2014, online at http://www.npr.org/2014/09/02/342494225/mraps-and-bayonets-what-we-know-about-the-pentagons-1033-program.
36. Radley Balko, op. cit, p. 240.
37. Robert Bottum, “Even Small Towns Are Loading up on Grenade Launchers,” The Federalist, Dec. 19, 2014, online at http://thefederalist.com/2014/12/19/even-small-towns-are-loading-up-on-grenade-launchers.
38. Totals are taken from the interactive map at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/15/us/surplus-military-equipment-map.html.
39. Radley Balko, “Obama Moves to Demilitarize America’s Police,” Washington Post, May 18, 2015, online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/05/18/obama-moves-to-demilitarize-americas-police.
40. Andrew Becker & G. W. Schulz, “Local Police Stockpile High-Tech, Combat-Ready Gear,” Center for Investigative Reporting, Dec. 21, 2011, online at http://cironline.org/reports/local-police-stockpile-high-tech-combat-ready-gear-2913.
41. Dan Bauman, “Campus Police Acquire Military Weapons,” Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 21, 2014, online at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/world/americas/campus-police-acquire-military-weapons.html.
42. Molly Knefel, “What Obama’s New Military-Equipment Rules Mean for K-12 School Police,” Rolling Stone, May 29, 2015, online at http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/what-obamas-new-military-equipment-rules-mean-for-k-12-school-police-20150529.
43. This factor was brought home by my experience in a Waco-related Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The BATF, FBI, and the Department of Justice all lied repeatedly and outrageously to the court in order to conceal documents. The military just sent me the documents to which I was entitled.
CHAPTER 9
1. VA Office of Inspector General, Veteran’s Health Administration, Review of Alleged Patient Deaths, Patient Wait Times, and Scheduling Practices at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, online at https://osc.gov/PublicFiles/FY2016/16-41-DI-14-2839-DI-14-2975/16-41-DI-14-2839%20and%20DI-14-2975%20Agency%20Report.pdf.
2. “Shinseki’s statement on VA problems,” USA Today, May 30, 2014, online at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/30/shinseki-statement-veterans-affairs-problems/9763139.
3. Luke Rosiak, “VA Paid $871M in Medical Malpractice Deals in Past Decade,” Daily Caller, Dec. 17, 2015, online at http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/17/va-has-paid-230m-in-medical-malpractice-settlements.
4. Luke Rosiak, “Feds Return Nurse’s Aide Accused of Manslaughter to Work,” The Libertarian Republic, Dec. 11, 2015, online at http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/feds-return-nurses-aide-accused-of-manslaughter-to-work.
5. “Whistleblower describes encounter with new Phoenix VA Medical Center Director in 2012,” AZcentral, online at http://www.azcentral.com/videos/news/politics/investigations/2014/05/02/8595901.
6. “Triage” comes from military medicine, where it referred to the division of incoming wounded into three classes: those who will recover without further treatment, those who will die despite whatever treatment is available, and those who will recover with further treatment but may die without it. The last class gets the priority for treatment.
7. Office of Special Counsel, letter to the President, Sept. 17, 2015. Online at https://osc.gov/publicfiles/fy2015/15-40%20di-14-2754/15-40-di-14-2754%20letter%20to%20the%20president.pdf.
8. Dennis Wagner, “Second VA doctor blows whistle on patient-care failures,” AZcentral, May 1, 2014, online at http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/investigations/2014/05/02/second-va-doctor-blows-whistle-patient-care-failures/8595863.
9. Dennis Wagner, “The Doctor Who Launched the VA Scandal,” online at http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/investigations/2014/05/31/va-scandal-whistleblower-sam-foote/9830057.
10. Merritt Hawkins, 2014 Survey, Physician Appointment Wait Times and Medicaid and Medicare Acceptance Rates, online at https://www.merritthawkins.com/uploadedfiles/merritthawkings/surveys/mha2014waitsurvpdf.pdf.
11. VA Office of the Inspector General, Review of Alleged Patient Deaths, Patient Wait Times, and Scheduling Practices at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, p. iii (Aug. 26, 2014).
12. Ibid.
13. VA Office of the Inspector General, Access to Urology Service Phoenix VA Health Care System, p. 4 (Oct. 15, 2015).
14. Ibid., pp. 11–13.
15. Office of Special Counsel, letter to the President, Sept. 17, 2015, online at https://osc.gov/publicfiles/fy2015/15-40%20di-14-2754/15-40-di-14-2754%20letter%20to%20the%20president.pdf.
16. VA Office of Inspector General, Interim Report: Review of Alleged Shredding of Claims-Related Evidence at the VA Regional Office Los Angeles, California, Aug. 17, 2015.
17. VA Office of Inspector General, Veterans Crisis Line Caller Response and Quality Assurance Concerns Canandaigua, New York, Feb. 11, 2016.
18. Edwin Mora, “VA Hospitals Potentially Exposed 2,609 Veterans to Infections,” CNS News, Sept. 28, 2010, online at http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/va-hospitals-potentially-exposed-2609-veterans-infections-such-hiv-and-hepatitis.
19. “Anatomy of a Calamity,” Denver Post, Aug. 9, 2015, online at http://extras.denverpost.com/aurora-va-hospital.
20. U.S. Government Accountability Office, VA’s Actions to Address Cost Increases and Schedule Delays at Major Medical-Facility Projects, p. 5 (2016), online at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2193893-gao-report-january-2015.html.
21. “It’s Not Just Phoenix,” The American Legion’s Burn Pit, online at http://burnpit.us/2014/05/its-not-just-phoenix.
22. “VA Hospital May Have Infected 1,800 Veterans with HIV,” CNN, July 1, 2010, online at http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/30/va.hospital.hiv.
23. Travis J. Tritten, “House Considers Bill to Reclaim Implicated VA Managers’ Bonuses,” Stars and Stripes, Jan. 13, 2015, online at http://www.stripes.com/news/us/house-considers-bill-to-reclaim-implicated-va-managers-bonuses-1.323744.
24. Mark Flatten, “Veterans Affairs Moves to fire Retiring Hospital Director,” Washington Examiner, Sept. 26, 2014, online at http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/veterans-affairs-moves-to-fire-retiring-hospital-director/article/2554015.
25. Bill Theobald, “More Bonuses for VA Employees Despite Ongoing Problems at the Agency,” USA Today, Oct. 28, 2016, online at http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/10/28/more-bonuses-va-employees-despite-ongoing-problems-agency/92837218.
26. Government Accounting Office, VA Health Care: Actions Needed to Improve Administration of the Provider Performance Pay and Award Systems, pp. 12–13, 27 (2013), online at http://docplayer.net/6458291-Va-health-care-actions-needed-to-improve-administration-of-the-provider-performance-pay-and-award-systems-report-to-congressional-requesters.html.
27. Office of Special Counsel, letter to the President, Sept. 17, 2015, online at https://osc.gov/publicfiles/fy2015/15-40%20di-14-2754/15-40-di-14-2754%20letter%20to%20the%20president.pdf.
28. Luisa Yanez, “Nurse Is Implicated in VA Patient’s Death,” [Miami] Sun-Sentinel, May 8, 1999, online at http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1999-05-08/news/9905070751_1_blood-medical-assistance-nurse.
29. Jonah Bennett, “Most Recent Phoenix VA Whistleblower Suffers Retaliation after Filing Claim,” Daily Caller, Apr. 20, 2015, online at http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/20/most-recent-phoenix-va-whistleblower-suffers-retaliation-after-filing-claim.
30. Tom Richards, “VA officials used medical records to smear Whistleblowers,” Watchdog, Sept. 22, 2015, online at http://watchdog.org/239323/va-smear-campaign/.
31. Office of Special Counsel, letter to the President, Sept. 17, 2015, online at https://osc.gov/publicfiles/fy2015/15-40%20di-14-2754/15-40-di-14-2754%20letter%20to%20the%20president.pdf.
32. Tom Richards, “VA officials used medica
l records to smear Whistleblowers,” Watchdog, Sept. 22, 2015, online at http://watchdog.org/239323/va-smear-campaign.
33. Luke Rosiak, “Senate Caves to All of Union’s Demands on Veterans Affairs Firing Bill,” Daily Caller, May 3, 2016, online at http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/03/senate-caves-to-all-of-unions-demands-on-veterans-affairs-firing-bill.
34. Nicole Ogrysko, “DoJ Says Key VA Choice Provision for SES Appeals Is Unconstitutional,” Federal News Radio, June 3, 2016, online at http://federalnewsradio.com/workforce-rightsgovernance/2016/06/doj-says-key-va-choice-provision-ses-appeals-unconstitutional.
35. Online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_soldiers%27_home. The conqueror’s perks arose from a nineteenth-century custom. Traditionally, an army that captured a resisting city would subject it to a “sack,” during which conquering forces drank all available wine while engaging in rape, murder, looting, and arson. By the nineteenth century, this was frowned upon (the last major sack occurred when Wellington’s army got out of control at the siege of Badajoz in 1812). It was, however, felt that the conquerors should at least be compensated for having waived their rights to a sack, and so conquered towns would negotiate and pay an agreed-upon price for this. By custom, one-third of the price went to the victorious commander, so that by the end of the Mexican War General Scott had quite a bit of ready cash.
36. See Office of Personnel Management, Healthcare & Insurance, online at https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/plan-information/plans/.
37. Online at https://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/plan-information/plan-codes/2017/brochures/71-005.pdf.
CONCLUSION
1. 346 U.S. 15, 50.
2. Discretionary Function Exemption of the Federal Tort Claims Act and the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Governmental Relations of the House Judiciary Committee, 91 (1989).
3. U.S. Department of State, “Departmental History,” online at https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory.
4. Henry Barrett Learned, “The Attorney General and the Cabinet,” Political Science Quarterly, vol. 24, p. 444 (1909).
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