The Justice Department has retracted a second statement made to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  During a hearing last week, Attorney General Eric Holder claimed that his predecessor, then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey, had been briefed about gunwalking in Operation Wide Receiver.  Now, the Department is retracting that statement and claiming Holder "inadvertently" made that claim to the Committee.  The Department's letter failed to apologize to former Attorney General Mukasey for the false accusation.  This is the second major retraction the Justice Department has made in the last seven months.  In December 2011, the Department retracted its claim that the ATF had not allowed illegally purchased guns to be trafficked to Mexico.  Sen. Chuck Grassley's letter and the Department's response can be viewed here.

In addition, the Justice Department released only one page of additional material prior to the Attorney General's meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.  It is a page of handwritten notes by a public affairs specialist for the Deputy Attorney General, which the Department says it "just recently discovered."  The notes indicate that when Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein met with senior ATF officials on April 28, 2010, regarding the problem of gunwalking in Wide Receiver, the Deputy Attorney General's public affairs specialist also attended the meeting. These notes can be viewed here.

The notes indicate that Fast and Furious was also a topic discussed at the meeting, in addition to Wide Receiver.  These notes further corroborate contemporaneous emails in 2010 that show Criminal Division Chief Lanny Breuer and Weinstein seemed to have been more concerned about the press implications of gunwalking than they were about making sure ATF ended the practice. (These emails can be viewed here.)  The notes also undermine the claim that senior DOJ officials failed to "make the connection" between the gunwalking in Wide Receiver?which Breuer admitted to knowing about?and gunwalking in Fast and Furious.  In fact, both cases were discussed by senior Department leadership and senior ATF leadership.

Grassley made the following comment on these developments.

"This is the second time in nearly seven months that the Department has gotten its facts wrong about gunwalking.  Attorney General Holder accused Attorney General Mukasey, without producing any evidence, of having been briefed on gunwalking in Wide Receiver.  The case Attorney General Mukasey was briefed on, Hernandez, is fundamentally different from both Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious since it involved cooperation with the Mexican government. Attorney General Holder's retraction should have included an apology to the former Attorney General.

"In his eagerness to blame the previous administration, Attorney General Holder got his facts wrong.  And his tactic didn't bring us any closer to understanding how a bad policy evolved and continued.  Bad policy is bad policy, regardless of how many administrations carried it out.  Ironically, the only document produced yesterday by the Department appears to show that senior officials in the Attorney General's own Department were strategizing about how to keep gunwalking in both Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious under wraps."

For the first time, a new poll shows more Americans "strongly support" same-sex marriage than "strongly oppose" it, a finding that could be attributed to changes occurring within organized religions, says a Presbyterian elder and lay preacher.

"For 2,000 years, religion has been the genesis of antipathy toward homosexuals, but now, three major American denominations have approved ordination of openly gay clergy," says Paul Hartman, a retired PBS/NPR station executive and author of The Kairos (www.CarpeKairos.com), a novel that imagines Jesus as gay.

"Gay has become the civil rights issue of the 21st century," he says.

The May survey of more than 1,000 adults found a dramatic reversal from earlier surveys: more adults now "strongly support" same-sex marriage rights (39 percent) than "strongly oppose" them (32 percent).  Over all, Langer Research Associates says, 53 percent of Americans believe same-sex marriages should be legalized - up from only 36 percent just six years ago.

"Episcopalian, Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations have overturned centuries of tradition in welcoming openly gay clergy," Hartman says. "There's a growing realization that religion can and should help lead us all toward a more mature understanding and acceptance of minority sexual orientations."

In 2012, he says, there is a new human rights landscape in the United States. He cites these additional recent developments:

• The U.S. military joined 43 other countries when it repealed "Don't ask, don't tell" and allowed openly-gay service members.

• Same-sex marriages are now legal in six states and the District of Columbia. Three other states -- Washington, Maryland and California -- have same-sex marriage under active consideration. Eleven more offer "civil union"-type status for same-sex couples.

• A federal appeals court in Boston recently struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (which defines marriage as "one man, one woman"), making consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court almost certain.

• Dr. Robert Spitzer, one of the last nationally-respected scholars whose studies lent credence to "gay reparative" therapies, recently offered a retraction and apology to the gay community.

"Unfortunately, the occasionally hateful crowd still resonates with a very small group of people, including those headed by preacher Fred Phelps and congregants, who continue to make news as they picket the funerals of soldiers and celebrities," Hartman says.

Western cultures' condemnation of same-sex love appears to have originated from Judeo-Christian scriptures, but contemporary biblical scholarship amends old interpretations, he says.

"That's why I wanted to tell a religion-based suspense story about homophobia," Hartman says. "It addresses fear of all kinds, because in passage after biblical passage, scripture tells humans who are facing change, sickness, alienation, death, and everything else: 'fear not.'  It applies to homophobia, as well."

About Paul Hartman

Paul Hartman is a retired PBS/NPR station executive with a passion for biblical history. He is a Presbyterian elder, a lay preacher and a Dead Sea Scrolls aficionado. Hartman, a father and grandfather, confesses he is a lifelong fear-fighter.

In a letter sent to the President this afternoon, the senators asked for written responses to a list of detailed questions and a briefing from the administration officials who will be responsible for the program.   They described their concerns about President's circumvention of Congress in issuing the directive and questioned the impact of allowing work authorizations for illegal immigrants at the same time young Americans face record-high unemployment rates.

Grassley's letter was signed by Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Mike Crapo of Idaho, James Risch of Idaho, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, John Boozman of Arkansas, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, David Vitter of Louisiana, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Mike Lee of Utah, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, John Barrasso of Wyoming, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

A veterinarian is asking anyone who will listen - legislators, judges, fellow pet owners - if the loss of a pet is akin to the loss of furniture, a computer or a car.

Kenneth Newman, a 33-year veterinarian and author of Meet Me at the Rainbow Bridge (www.meetmeattherainbowbridge.com), has proposed a law that answers his question. Gracie's Law recognizes the emotional bond between pet and owner by entitling the owner of a pet killed through an act of malice or negligence to $25,000 in damages.

"It's time we change the laws to more accurately reflect what pets mean to the average American," says Newman.

Gracie's Law would not supersede current laws, he says, which entitle owners to the property value of their pet. And it would not replace criminal prosecution for acts of malice. And owners who decline a recommended veterinarian procedure to save a pet would not be held accountable under the law, he says.

Newman's dog Gracie was killed in April 2008 when a negligent driver backed up 25 yards without looking, crushing Newman and Gracie between two vehicles. The vet escaped with a broken leg; Gracie saved his life, he says.

"An attorney looked me in the eye and said that my dog was a piece of property, that I wasn't entitled to anything for the dog, and that this was a simple broken-leg case," he says.

In every state, he says, laws view pets as property. Owners are entitled to no more than replacement value; no law takes into consideration the loss of companionship, grief, or pain and suffering.

Newman says that doesn't jibe with Americans' attitude toward their pets. According to an American Animal Hospital Association survey, 90 percent of owners consider their animals part of the family. Other findings:

• 52 percent of Americans would rather be stranded on a deserted island with their pet than with another person.

• 83 percent call themselves "Mommy" or "Daddy" in reference to their pet.

• 59 percent celebrate their pet's birthday.

Cases involving pet owners' bonds are increasingly showing up in the courts, Newman points out:

• Matrimonial law: Attorneys have experienced a 23 percent increase in pet cases, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. This includes custody battles over pets, veterinarian bills and visitation rights. Harvard now has a course dedicated to pet law.

• The North Carolina Court of Appeals: While the plaintiff's wrongful death lawsuit was denied, animal activists applaud a judge's willingness to at least hear a case involving a Jack Russell terrier that died while undergoing tube feeding at a state facility.

• Texas justice: On Nov. 3, 2011, Fort Worth's 2nd Court of Appeals ruled that value can be attached to the love of a dog. That overruled a 120-year-old Texas Supreme Court case, which held that plaintiffs can only recoup the market value of their pets.

• Largest award: In April, a Denver judge awarded Robin Lohre $65,000 for the death of her dog, Ruthie. Lohre had accused Posh Maids cleaning service of negligence for allowing the dog to get outside, where it was hit by a car. Newman notes this sets a new precedent for pet value, but that such uncapped awards may threaten affordable veterinary care.

To read Gracie's Law and copy it to share, visit meetmeattherainbowbridge.com, click "image gallery" and scroll down.

About Kenneth Newman DVM

Kenneth Newman graduated from Purdue University with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1979, and has since been a practicing vet. He experienced a badly broken leg and the death of his Labrador retriever Gracie due to the negligence of a driver in April 2008. Since then, he has proposed and advocated Gracie's Law, which recognizes that pets are more than common property. Newman lives with his wife and their son, as well as several pets.