Grapevine: Uncle Sam sold animals he was charged to protect

Rancher bought horses from the federal government and sold them for slaughter

And now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine…

Protect and Serve?

Uncle Sam -- selling the very animals he was charged to protect -- for slaughter.

Tom Davis -- a rancher with supposed connections Interior Secretary Ken Salazar -- bought almost 2,000 horses from the federal government for $10 each.

The Inspector General says -- Davis then sold them -- for a profit -- to buyers in Mexico -- to be slaughtered -- despite agreeing not to do exactly that.

One animal advocate calls it business as usual for the Bureau of Land Management.

Quote -- "They fervently declare and defend that they have a policy or protocol. When you bring things to the public that prove they do not follow said policy protocol they simply say -- oops, it did occur but we have done nothing wrong.'"

BLM says it has taken steps to prevent a similar incident -- and will no longer deal with Davis.

The U.S. Attorney's office declined to proceed with any civil or criminal charges.

Material Support

The U.S. military has spent about $470 million supporting Afghan Local Police Units -- with another $420 million expected to be spent through 2018.

But an Inspector General questions whether it is money well spent.

Quote -- "supplies ordered for the ALP are often diverted -- delayed -- of inferior quality -- or heavily pilfered."

Politics have also come into play.

Quote -- "Some ALP personnel have been used inappropriately as bodyguards for Afghan government officials."

The IG calls for the oversight of U.S. funds to be improved -- and a plan for the future transition -- sustainment-- or dissolution of the police units.

Up in Smoke

Finally -- Arkansas' legalized marijuana push may be undone in part -- by poor grammar.

The state's Attorney General rejected a ballot proposal to legalize marijuana -- citing numerous issues -- including sloppy drafting -- quote --

"Amending the Arkansas Constitution is a serious matter that merits greater attention to detail than evidenced by the proposal -- which contains several errors of spelling and syntax that tend to obscure its meaning. I urge you to review the proposal carefully to locate and correct such errors in the event you redesign and resubmit the proposal."