In 2001, Michael L. Connell of GovTech Solutions, L.L.C., a notoriously partisan GOP operative and Bush family confidant, was selected to re-organize the Capitol Hill IT network. Under the guise of selecting a female-owned IT company (Connell’s wife Heather is listed as the owner), former Congressman and convicted felon Bob Ney reportedly arranged for Connell to be the man behind the firewall for the U.S. House of Representatives. Connell’s role and activities need to be investigated by putting Connell under oath and examining how arguably one of the country’s most zealously partisan IT specialists managed to land the contract and be allowed access to this electronic communication system.
I can't believe Gephardt and Daschle just sat there and let that happen.
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Why Can't You Believe It?
Isn't that par for the course, at least for Daschle? It would be divisive not to let a GOP hack set up your computer system. Gephardt is a bit more surprising and it was for the House.
The Democrats operate like they're dealing with the party of Ike when they're really dealing with the party of Vito Corleone.
About that two party system...
This is not the same as saying the two parties are the same, but I'm starting to think -- after FISA -- that shit like this happens because the Dems want it to happen. This really is the direction they want to country to go, and we're just in Good Cop, Bad Cop mode.
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
their funders/donors want it to happen, but
i think they just don't care at all either way--like with FISA or Patriot Act or torture or anything.
You can't?
I can. Daschle, huh?
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
no matter how often I see evidence of it
it never ceases to amaze me
It's Amazing DCBlogger
because stuff like this isn't in the Demcorats' interest even if they agree with the RNC on big things like authoritarian surveillance systems and the Village's exemption from the rule of law. Somehow, a lot of Democrats don't seem to understand that even if they agree with the GOP on a lot of things, the one thing the GOP will never agree to is sharing power with Democrats. Oh, sure, the GOP is all for bipartisanship when the Democrats are ascendant. But the minute the GOP recovers, they'll be kicking the Dems again and using these kinds of systems to do it.
Of course, if the Dems were effective politicians, they'd be kicking the GOP right now, trying to push them further down the ladder instead of offering a hand up in the name of bipartisanship. But most Dem leaders aren't effective politicians, regardless of whether you agree with their policies or not.
They are absolutely effective
The only question is, effective at what?
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
Only In the Narrowest Sense
The GOP is so weak and broken, the Dems could be building a brand and machine that will dominate national politics for at least the next decade. Instead, they have allowed the GOP to create openings it will be able to use to come back a lot sooner, possibly even in 2010.
I'm not talking so much about policy, as about politics. First, by constantly talking about how much they want to work with the GOP and talking up potentially nominating a Republican for the VP (even if it is just talk), they legitimize the Republicans as a party. And they're doing this at a time when the Republicans are already largely discredited. They're giving the GOP oxygen, when they should be working to cut it off. Second, allowing the GOP to get away with this kind of shit, setting up the email systems, as well as Democratic silence on a lot of the voting machine and voter purge crap, gives the GOP leverage over the political system as a whole whether or not Democrats control Congress and the WH.
So both in terms of image and function, the Democrats seem determined to keep the GOP on life support. Something the GOP would never do for the Democrats, which is why they've been so successful for the past 40 years. They've worked to demonize Democrats and liberals at every opportunity.
They Dems could go along with all the GOP policies they like while still stomping on the GOP brand and not permitting GOP hacks to set up their infrastructure. But they've convinced themselves that simply winning this year will somehow be enough when it won't be. Not even close.
It's like how when the GOP thought the media was being biased, it set up an alternative media. It took decades, but it worked. It not only added conservative voices and framing, it influenced mainstream media to move in that direction as well to compete. That's good politics.
Instead of doing something similar, the Dems seemed mired in their belief they simply need to find a way to fit into the media frames. If the media is biased against them, don't change the media, change the Democratic message. In the long run, it's a loser in terms of gaining political power, IMO.
WOW. Great comment, BDBlue @ 14:45..
T/u.
leadersheep
The didn't learn anything from the Starr Chamber or Siegelman, it is always going to happen to someone else
The reason the Democrats act this way is really quite simple.
They're Republicans.
"You'd better get this straight. Wise up before it's too late." -- Sister Sledge