Big Media - Andrew Who?

Since the MSM doesn't seem interested in publishing information about Andrew Traver, I'm republishing his entire post as well as ALL the pertinent links on just how anit-2nd Amendment he and the Obama Administration really are.  The original post can be found here. 

If one was to depend on the mainstream media or big media to know that Andrew Traver had been nominated by President Obama to be the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, you'd be out of luck.

Only two of the 25 largest newspapers in the country have any mention of the Traver nomination. The New York Times had a report on Nov. 15th and originally spelled Traver as "Taver". They didn't give much info other than that Traver is the SAC for the Chicago Field Division and that his confirmation would probably be opposed.

Al Kamen had a brief mention of Traver in his In The Loop column yesterday. Kamen's column was where Traver's nomination was first floated as a trial balloon back in August. He had this to say about it:

As we mentioned back on Aug. 4, if approved, Traver would be the first-ever Senate-confirmed ATF director. The position had been filled (at the Treasury Department and more recently at Justice) without Senate input. Since the job became Senate-confirmable in 2006, it seems, no one has made it past the watchful eyes of the gun lobby.


Hard to imagine Traver will be approved by the new Senate.

The only mention of Traver's nomination in the Chicago area was on the WLS-TV, the ABC affiliate. Even then all they did was reprint the relevant parts of the press release from the White House announcing the nomination. No other newspaper or TV/radio station has any mention of Traver on their websites and that includes both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.

So what about the major broadcast and cable networks? Nothing. No ABC, NBC, or CBS. No CNN, Fox, or MSNBC.

One must wonder why Andrew Traver is being treated as such a stealth candidate in the media. Is it because his appointment only matters to the gun culture and the anti-gun rights forces and for the rest of the world it is considered ho-hum news? Or is it because the intent is to sneak Traver through the confirmation process?

Sebastian at Snow Flakes in Hell is of the opinion that Obama is just waiting until Congress goes into recess to make this a recess appointment which wouldn't require the advice and consent of the Senate. Traver would hold the office until the end of the next Congress or until the 112th Congress ends in 2012. We'll just have to wait a few more days and see.

UPDATE: David Codrea agrees with Sebastian on the possibility of a recess appointment for Traver. He goes over the details in his National Gun Rights Examiner column.

UPDATE II: Welcome Instapundit readers and thanks to Glenn for the Instalanche!

Here are links to my earlier posts on Andrew Traver.

NRA on Traver
Brady Center on Traver
Jesse Jackson, Jr. on Traver
Who is Andrew Traver
I Don't Believe in Coincidences
First Post on Traver

Feel free to post any or all of these blog entries on your favorite forum. Since the Big Media isn't going to publicize the nomination, it will take an Army of Davids to do it instead. All I ask is that you include a link back to the original.

So as the author John Richard said, feel free to copy this in it's entirety and post it on your own blog...send the links to anyone who will listen...then call your US Senators and voice your opinion on this.

UPDATE: Via Say Uncle, the NRA has come out to oppose the  appointment of Mr. Traver. 

The National Rifle Association Strongly Opposes the Nomination of Andrew Traver to Head BATFE


Calls on President Obama to withdraw the nomination
Statement from Chris W. Cox, executive director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action

The National Rifle Association of America strongly opposes President Obama’s nomination of Andrew Traver as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). Traver has been deeply aligned with gun control advocates and anti-gun activities. This makes him the wrong choice to lead an enforcement agency that has almost exclusive oversight and control over the firearms industry, its retailers and consumers. Further, an important nomination such as BATFE director should not be made as a “recess appointment,” in order to circumvent consent by the American people through their duly-elected U.S. Senators.

Traver served as an advisor to the International Association for Chiefs of Police’s (IACP) “Gun Violence Reduction Project,” a “partnership” with the Joyce Foundation. Both IACP and the Joyce Foundation are names synonymous with promoting a variety of gun control schemes at the federal and state levels. Most of the individuals involved in this project were prominent gun control activists and lobbyists...

Please follow the link above to read the whole thing.