Thursday, February 05, 2004
Staffer who led effort in which Democrat's files were stolen from Capitol server to resign
To spend more time with his family, no doubt. Via Pandagon here:
Wow. Great stuff. The problem isn't that Republicans are dirty, is just that the Democrats caught them. There you have it, folks!
To recapitulate: Over a two year period, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee (through a sysadmin-type screwup) had access to all the Democratic files on the system, a great intelligence victory in their war to pack the courts with wingers. And they didn't tell the Democrats about it. And then they over-reached and leaked some of the files to the press.
So why on earth would our (gutless, feckless) Beltway Dems be persuaded by the sacrifice of a helpless staffer? What about the Republican Senators and all the other operatives (Mr. Rove) who read them? How about the (gutless, feckless) Beltway Dems start out with a demand for some sort of apology? How about the (gutless, feckless) Beltway Dems demand to know who leaked the files to the press? How about the (gutless, feckless) Beltway Dems set up a secure system all their own, so this never happens again?
And say, here's an idea—why not, gasp, politicize the issue so voters can be fully informed when they make judgments about the character of their elected representatives? I mean, any fool—except the Republicans, the SCLM, and any "persuaded" Democrat—knows this is a very, very, simple issue:
You don't read other people's files without permission. Which, BTW, is the real issue here, not the subsequent leakage of the files to the media.
Merciful heavens. Sometimes the obvious is so hard to see.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s (R-Tenn.) top aide on judicial nominees is expected to announce his resignation at the end of this week — a sacrifice offered by the GOP leadership in hope of persuading the Democrats to wind down the fight over leaked Judiciary Committee memos.
If they can tamp down the furor over the leaked memos, Republicans could focus on the content of the documents, which illustrate the influence outside groups such as the NAACP and People for the American Way have had on Democratic decisions to block nominees.
“It’s capitulation to the old Democratic trick that if you catch us with our hands dirty, we’ll blame Republicans for dirty tricks,” said a GOP aide.
Wow. Great stuff. The problem isn't that Republicans are dirty, is just that the Democrats caught them. There you have it, folks!
To recapitulate: Over a two year period, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee (through a sysadmin-type screwup) had access to all the Democratic files on the system, a great intelligence victory in their war to pack the courts with wingers. And they didn't tell the Democrats about it. And then they over-reached and leaked some of the files to the press.
So why on earth would our (gutless, feckless) Beltway Dems be persuaded by the sacrifice of a helpless staffer? What about the Republican Senators and all the other operatives (Mr. Rove) who read them? How about the (gutless, feckless) Beltway Dems start out with a demand for some sort of apology? How about the (gutless, feckless) Beltway Dems demand to know who leaked the files to the press? How about the (gutless, feckless) Beltway Dems set up a secure system all their own, so this never happens again?
And say, here's an idea—why not, gasp, politicize the issue so voters can be fully informed when they make judgments about the character of their elected representatives? I mean, any fool—except the Republicans, the SCLM, and any "persuaded" Democrat—knows this is a very, very, simple issue:
You don't read other people's files without permission. Which, BTW, is the real issue here, not the subsequent leakage of the files to the media.
Merciful heavens. Sometimes the obvious is so hard to see.
