Some welcome dissension in the ranks of the BATFE

Kimberman over at the Forum has alerted everyone over there to the existence of a website called Cleanup ATF, which claims on its home page to have been created by "members of the ATF community to promote restoration of integrity, accountability and responsibility to ATF's leadership, and regain the trust of the American taxpayer."

That certainly sounds like a noble (and sorely-needed) task, and we admire them for taking it on.

The site seems to be legit, and is stuffed with what appears to be insider information (complete with internal documents) about some of the outrageous abuses of authority many people accuse that agency of committing, including against its own employees.

We especially enjoyed perusing the Hall of Fame section, which includes this excerpt from a deposition which, after reading, we agree with the site authors demonstrates "an extraordinary absence of basic competence and/or honesty" on the part of the agent being questioned under oath.

The fact that the site creators took this drastic step speaks volumes about the way the ATF is currently being (mis)managed, in our opinion. The authors seem to have truly thought that they had no other recourse but to warn the American public in such a public manner to beware of the out-of-control agency that employs them, an organization which purports to "serve" citizens but instead all too often treats law-abiding people quite unprofessionally, if not with outright contempt.

We fervently hope that this is but a small first step which will lead to the eventual overhaul (if not complete dismantling) that that particular agency desperately needs.