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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (256415)	10/19/2005 3:13:15 PM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 1573824

Schumer's Plumbers Posted 10/3/2005 Politics: Staff members for a champion of the right to privacy and a leading critic of identity theft fraudulently obtained the credit report of a rising black political star. Your turn for tough questions, Sen. Schumer. While the media focus on House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's alleged skirting of campaign laws to get Republicans elected, former Education Secretary Bill Bennett's alleged racially insensitive hypothetical regarding blacks, crime and abortion, and Sen. Bill Frist's recent sale of stock, a real crime against a black politician has been committed in virtual silence. Sen. Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and it's his job to get Democrats elected in hopes of wresting Senate control from the GOP. Michael Steele is lieutenant governor of Maryland, and the DSCC, and along with most everyone else, expects Steele to run for the open seat of retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes. Steele, an African American, is a rising star in a Republican party regularly accused of racial insensitivity if not outright racism, a party that thought so highly of him and his political future that it chose him to be the deputy permanent chairman of the 2004 Republican Convention. Steele, a Catholic who once trained for the priesthood, was inspired to join the Republican Party by Ronald Reagan's failed 1976 presidential bid. He demonstrated in his appearance at the 2004 convention that he has charisma, warmth and a keen grasp of public policy. He has already won statewide in Maryland. Apparently nothing frightens the DSCC more than an articulate and charismatic black American who also happens to be a Reagan conservative. How else to explain the behavior of two of Schumer's campaign committee members — research director Katie Barge and junior staffer Lauren Weiner — who dug for dirt using Steele's Social Security number, reportedly culled from court records, to fraudulently and illegally obtain his credit report? Columnist Michelle Malkin has reported that as of Sept. 30, according to Steele staffers, Schumer, who is a longtime crusader against identity theft and denies any knowledge of the scheme, had offered no apology for the invasion of Steele's privacy by people in his employ or given any hint as to what they were after or why they did it. These were no naive, overzealous interns. Barge is a longtime Democratic operative who led the research unit for a liberal media watchdog group run by journalist David Brock. She led the opposition research team for failed Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards. She knew the ropes and the rules. So what motivated her and Weiner to knowingly and willingly break the law and put their freedom and future at risk? Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, knowingly and willfully obtaining a credit report under false pretenses is a felony punishable with a fine and a maximum two years in prison. Reportedly, the two women confessed to the act in July, were suspended with pay until Aug. 31 and finally resigned in mid-September. One would think a potential felony by staffers for a top Democrat — a case being investigated by the U.S. attorney's office in D.C. as well as the FBI — would at least get a paragraph of coverage somewhere between the grocery coupons and the obituaries. Can you imagine the media firestorm if staffers for, say, Frist, had used Barack Obama's Social Security number to fraudulently obtain his credit report looking for stuff to derail his Senate campaign? Frist would have been before a media firing squad faster than you can say Bill Bennett. investors.com

To: combjelly who wrote (256415)	10/19/2005 3:45:40 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573824

"Disgusting........Bush approved of Rove's anonymous leaks to reporters." Ted, you miss the importance of this. If true, then it means that Bush personally is indictable for conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice. Now true, his previous testimony before the GJ was not under oath, but lying to a GJ is a crime regardless of being under oath or not, assuming he was asked by them if he knew who was the leaker. Given the circumstances, one has to assume that he was asked, else why interview him? That, plus his public statements about not knowing who leaked and how everyone was cooperating to get to the bottom of this, puts him in a precarious situation. My sense of the comment in the article was that Bush in general approved of Rove's anonymous contacts with the press...........it didn't suggest any kind of specificity. So then, if Bush broadly approved of the way Rove dealt with issues and the press, that's a blanket statement that, in light of his GJ testimony, maybe warrants a slap on the wrist. However, if Bush told Rove to go ahead and out Phlame, that's a serious act and his testimony in front of the GJ then becomes a serious and clear O of J. I read the article to mean the former; that Bush generally approved of the way Rove handled these kinds of problems without specifically directing him. Do you disagree? Maybe this is why Fitzgerald has been playing it so quiet. There have been many reasons to remove this president, and yet he's like a cat with 18 lives, double the normal count. I have become very cynical and don't trust anyone to do the right thing. So maybe we will see something entertaining like Cheney resigning and Bush appointing Rice as VP. He then resigns and Condi pardons Bush, Cheney, Rove, etc. And then Condi appoints Dubya as VP, and resigns because the pardons were so controversial. And then Bush appoints Cheney as VP, while smirking... Nah. As entertaining as that might be, they aren't that dumb. If you say so. <g>