It was conducted by the BATFE..

Hello??? Who do you think the ATF reports to?

The ATF is a bureau within the Justice Dept, which is part of the Cabinet, which is part of the executive branch, which is the President.

Bush has responsibility for what they do.

Yeah but Bush is dumb he won't take responsibility for anything. The ATF is doing this independantly of Bush. Bush is a republican and does believe in the right to bear arms even though he lets the ATF slip under his not so watchful eyes.

Well, if don't practice what you preach, then what you preach is irrelevant.

Well thats the problem Bushes inability to practise.

TheChief is right, the executive branch has minimal control over law enforcement agencies.

On a similar note, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided Conservative Party Headquarters last week. And guess what, the Conservative Party is the governing party.

The RCMP reports to the Minister of Public Safety, who is a Conservative!!!

I am not surprised if the Bush administration can't do jack to the ATF.

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"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." — John Stuart Mill

The president has more than minimal control. He can fire the agency's leadership if he doesn't like the way they operate.

But its embarrassing when he removes people for political reasons. Remember when the justice department removed all of those prosecuters, how much public outrage there was.

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"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." — John Stuart Mill

Not if he hired them; and he hired both the Acting Director and the Deputy Director. He's free to fire them whenever he wants without any political fallout.

I'm pretty sure his presidency is over hes just waiting so he can leave and retire.