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Bush Campaign Offices Burglarized 194

DesScorp writes "The Washington State offices of the Bush campaign were burglarized, and computers with sensitive campaign data were stolen. The computers belonged the executive director and officer in charge of the 'get out the vote' campaign; one was set to be delivered to another office within the state. The staff says that secret strategy information and voting data are on the computers, and ironically, they're comparing it to Watergate. The staff blames Democratic Party activists intent on stealing the information. Of course, they deny this."
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Bush Campaign Offices Burglarized

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  • by russeljns ( 806466 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:03PM (#10409755)
    1. Democratic Party operatives stole the computers. 2. Republican Party operatives stage a fake theft to make the Democrats look bad.
    • by El ( 94934 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:05PM (#10409772)
      3. Democratic Party operatives planted bags of pretzels, bicycles, and a Segway in an attempt to do in the incumbent president.
      • Bush-speak... (Score:4, Informative)

        by BrokenHalo ( 565198 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @12:29AM (#10411269)
        Burglarized?

        A burglar might burgle a property, in which case the property has been burgled

        • Re:Bush-speak... (Score:3, Informative)

          by recursiv ( 324497 )
          Verify [reference.com] your [reference.com] facts [m-w.com] before [yourdictionary.com] posting. [bartleby.com]
          That way, I won't have to do it for you.
          • This alternative spelling is one of the variations between American English and everyone else's English that the rest of the world finds highly amusing, such as missing the 'u' out of colour and getting the pronounciation of Colin Powell's first name all wrong.

            The references you quote also have the word listed without the unnecessary "ariz" in the middle. I get the feeling it's only in the dictionary in it's long form because enough people got it wrong for it to come into common usage.
        • What do you call one who burglarizes?

          A burglarizer
        • Even if you are incorrect in your word usage, "burgled" is simply more fun to say than "burglarized." Burgleburgleburgle! Robblerobblerobble!
    • by avalys ( 221114 ) * on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:05PM (#10409773)
      Yeah, or some junkie looking for quick cash broke into the offices, found a few laptops that had for some reason been left sitting around overnight, got spooked before he could take anything else, and left.

      Not everything is a conspiracy.
    • by br0ck ( 237309 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:07PM (#10409780)
      3. Random theft

      According to the article, police said theft is common in the area and stealing one or two things (the amt you can carry) is also common.
    • by Radical Rad ( 138892 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:38PM (#10409991) Homepage
      I can't help but wonder about the "fake" Bush service records too. They were created in such a way as to appear genuine until closely scrutinized. What if the content of the documents were generally correct but forged versions were prepared by Republicans to discredit the real ones that they feared were about to turn up. The Colonel's secretary stated on camera that although she did not type these particular documents, they were in agreement with her former boss's attitude and words. Also a member of the unit who was in the CQ the day the Bush records were disposed of told his story on camera. No doubt some neo hitler youth will accuse me of wearing a tinfoil hat despite that I am only suggesting this as a possibility, but I have heard of much stranger goings-on in Washington which actually came to light. Look at Watergate for a thoroughly investigated example of our two party's shenanigans.
      • I've been reading "Silent Coup" and I know exactly what you mean. It's really frightening because I'm sure we never hear about 99% of this stuff.

      • "They were created in such a way as to appear genuine until closely scrutinized."

        Closely scrutinized?! Do you know anything about the forged letter? It lacked the correct letterhead; in fact, it didn't have one at all! It was done on computer rather than a typewriter. A computer that supported variable character spacing and superscripting of numbers("1st", "2nd", etc.) which means it was probably done in a modern version of Microsoft Word. All of these things are clues even your average slashdotte

        • by A nonymous Coward ( 7548 ) * on Friday October 01, 2004 @10:11PM (#10410739)
          There have been plenty of analyses. The common letters (etaoinshrdlu...) are worn like they would be on a typewriter, and all the letters show slight variations in vertical and horizontal position and impression, just as they would be on a real mechanical typewriter. No one who had the patience for that kind of fakery would slip up on the obvious ones like letterhead.

          Furthermore, interviews with the colonel's secretary says the tone of the letter and the information in it was exactly what was being talked about in the office at the time, that everyone knew how pissed the colonel was about Bush playing fast and loose with his obligation, and the pressure from above and outside to let Bush get away with it.

          Bush signed up for 5 yars flight obligation and walked away from the last two years.

          As for the rest of your comments, Bush is a lying whining coward. Sitting for 7 minutes reading a book like a deer in headlights while the country is udner attack --- what kind of bravery is that? Lying about the reasons for going to war is a lot more important than Clinton lying about who he had sex with. Whining about Kerry flipflopping when Bush has flipflopped over nation building, fiscal prudence, states rights, government bureaucracy -- he isn't even a republican!

          He can't even take responsibility for anything. He hasn't even got the guts to say I was wrong, I made a mistake. He just barges on as though nothing has happened. That takes real moral courage. The buck sure doesn't stop anywhere near the White House these days.

          Anyone who likes Bush is blind. Anyone who thinks he knows what he is doing has blinders on in addition.
          • I agree with most of what you say. But what about Kerry? This guy puts himself in for purple hearts for what amount to scratches.

            They're both lousy bums, and they're the only choice we're being given. So, which is it, Kodos or Kang?
            • Easy choice (Score:5, Insightful)

              by A nonymous Coward ( 7548 ) * on Friday October 01, 2004 @11:59PM (#10411167)
              I'd vote for the guy who got three purple hearts, a silver star, and a bronze star, anytime, over the guy who took the rich boy coward's way out and won't admit there was anything even remotely improper about it.

              Attacking any of Kerry's purple hearts is attacking every purple heart ever issued. That is not to say that all were well earned. No doubt some were for mere scratches, just as LBJ got a silver star in WWII basically to get him out of the war zone; MacArthur didn't appreciate politicians gallivanting around to get votes back home. But to single out one of Kerry's three purple hearts, when he was at least over there and getting shot at and rescuing a man, is pretty damned silly.

              A friend of mine was so pissed about the slimeball attacks on Kerry's purple hearts by the Bushies that when he saw a jeep with a purple heart license plate and a "Another vet for Bush" bumper sticker, he asked the guy if he had earned his purple heart. That's obnoxious as hell, but perfectly fair in the light of the Bushies attacking Kerry's purple hearts. Either check them all or leave them all alone. Don't single out Kerry.
              • Figures. I also ask the bush fanatics, and get lame-ass answers like this one. How does one let their brain rot enough to think like this. Have they surgically attached the puppet strings to your head and torso yet?

                Why would you want either of them? If this was football, it would be somehow fathomable. But whatever. My sole, small consolation is that a fool like you is likely to suffer just as much as myself when one of these two boobs wins.
                • Oh, not so (Score:3, Insightful)

                  If I had to choose between Kerry and Bush, based solely on their military service or what their military service showed of their character, it would be Kerry in a heartbeat, for the reasons stated above.

                  But here's how I really feel about politicians and voting and elections.

                  Firts, politicians are scum, but that's because we only choose scum. Look at all the flak Kerry has gotten for actually thinking about bills and voting differently as conditions change, and for giving detailed answers. What politicia
              • Re:Easy choice (Score:5, Insightful)

                by Kalak ( 260968 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @04:19PM (#10415276) Homepage Journal
                This goes against my nature to just say "me too" but I couldn't have said it better myself. Even if all Kerry had was a campaign ribbon, no Purple Hearts, and no Stars, and was a PFC loading boxes then it sure beats campaigning at home and not showing up for duty. I respect both the vets and the Guard members I've met (as all are pledged to put lives on the line), but being there is a far cry more service than not being anywhere. (AWOL may be the correct term, we don't have enough records, AFAIK, but we sure know he missed his physical he was ordered to show for.)

                To question Kerry's service records is a straw man - Bush has no service record - correction, so he's actually missing a few of them. If that's your reason for not voting Kerry, or voting for Bush, then you are disrespecting all those who served in any capacity. If you can't get a real reason to vote for a candidate, maybe you should either examine the issues more, or just not vote. Look for the real issues, and pick a candidate based on those.

                p.s. This applies no matter who you end up choosing to vote for - just have a good reason, cause we're going to have to live with the decision, so I hope it's based on some good reason, not some crap.
              • Re:Easy choice (Score:4, Interesting)

                by MilenCent ( 219397 ) <johnwh@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Saturday October 02, 2004 @04:32PM (#10415371) Homepage
                I'd vote for the guy who got three purple hearts, a silver star, and a bronze star, anytime, over the guy who took the rich boy coward's way out and won't admit there was anything even remotely improper about it.

                Really? I'd vote for the guy who didn't freaking give tax breaks to the richest 1% of Americans under the cover of helping the middle class, double freaking pull back environmental protections it took decades to establish, quadruple freaking send us to war in Iraq under false pretenses, and super-duper-dippity-dang-dog-freaking exhibit a childlike love for junk science that furthers his beliefs.

                Yes, this means I'm voting for the same person as you. I just take the view that while it's nice that the guy you're voting for is honorable on the field of battle and all, under the present circumstances, that are dozens [mcsweeneys.net] of other, more important, reasons to vote against Bush.
            • There pretty little chance of a Vietcong blowing you up while you get drunk in a bar in Alabam.
              • Yes, and that's how I choose my presidents, based on pristine logic like yours. But have at it. You retards see problems when there are none, to justify voting for republocratic candiate A, and don't see them when they are there, to keep republocratic candidate B. The lunatics really are in charge of Asylum Earth, I just haven't figured out how I ended up here. Maybe because I keep hoping enough of you will wake up to truly change things?
          • Here's a rather in-depth analysis for you. [mac.com]

            Being crumpled up and run through a copier for a few generations will introduce some variation in the horizontal and vertical spacing (mostly to do with the position of the scanning element.)

            But the main jist is that the forged memo is impossible to duplicate on any typewriter of the era -- even the best $3000 Selectric Composer typesetting machine. Whereas if you load up a modern version of MS Word, keep the default settings, and type up and print out the text
            • Let's see here ...

              Being crumpled up and run through a copier for a few generations will introduce some variation in the horizontal and vertical spacing (mostly to do with the position of the scanning element.)

              and

              Whereas if you load up a modern version of MS Word, keep the default settings, and type up and print out the text of the memo, you get a perfect match.

              So you can make it mismatch and match at the same time? Crumple it up to make it misaligned and look like a typewritten document, but it sti
              • Re:Bullshit! (Score:2, Informative)

                by Rayonic ( 462789 )

                So you can make it mismatch and match at the same time? Crumple it up to make it misaligned and look like a typewritten document, but it still matches Word exactly? Pretty clever!

                Because the alignment distortion is consistent with modern photocopiers. Did you even look at the link I gave you? Here's a shorter one [littlegreenfootballs.com]. Keep in mind that nothing comes even vaguely as close as MS Word.

                As for not being required to finish his flight obligation, he signed documents to get into the Guard that he would spend

                • You say the documents don't count because they are forged, and they are forged because they contradict your position.

                  That praise of Bush is bog-standard fitness reporting. Ever heard of grade inflation? The military has it in spades. Just about everyone gets an A. You have to be really atrocious to get a bad report. Besides, no one says Bush wasn't ok to start with.

                  If you want to pick and choose documents, go ahead. There are a whole lot of documents, even some released by the white house, showing t
                  • You say the documents don't count because they are forged, and they are forged because they contradict your position.

                    No, they are forged because they were typed up in Microsoft Word, and are impossible to replicate using any known 1970's typewriter.

                    which is given the lie by the very fact that Bush jumped the queue to get into the guard

                    "Jumped the queue"? That's a Michael Moore fabrication. There were plenty of flight slots open when Bush applied. There was no mythical unified queue.

                    5 years. Th

                    • Let's see, photocopies that distort only certain letters (etaoi...) which happen to be the most common ones, and the ones that wear out on typewriters. That's pretty fancy technology. But I suppose you could tart up the fonts that Word uses.

                      It also distorts by jumping some characters up, like a typewriter. That's even better, now you'd have to muck around with Word very much weirdly.

                      They don't look typewritten when you only see them thru Rush's eyes. Try looking at them with your own eyes. Figure out
        • by Seraphim_72 ( 622457 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @11:36PM (#10411081)

          And even if he went crazy in office, he'd only be there for, at most, 4 years.
          See there are two problems here.
          • The first is that the there is a known fact that a second term President has nothing to lose and so is willing to push all his craziest stuff. This is not only a Republican issue, ask any good Republican about Clintons second term, or even better Ronnie's.
          • The second is that I, a person who is so liberal that it would make your teeth hurt, has many (many, many it seems :() very conservative (btw, you def, not mine, by mine ...well...) friends have heard them say the following "Well, he (quote [include finger motions]) wasn't elected(/quote) Then it is only his first term right?? HUGE laughter ensues.

            And as a Liberal of the First Stripe I will tell you this; we are scared of the "Patriot Act" the Eternal "War on Terror" and the loss of life in Iraq - on who ever's side. We are Dismayed at the sigle mindedness of the President, and see his "Stedfastness" as ignorance. We see Big Oil and $money$ everywhere - and it scares us. The Bush White House has done nothing to ally those fears while chuckleing about them under thier collective breath. He walked into office wanting this war and drummed up a reason - or at least that is what two of his closest advisors have said. His White House exposed an Agent for political backlash, his record as a military man is suspect. All of this bothers us, and we want it talked about, the Administration will not, "All is Good" is what they say and all we hear. From Revolution to Iraq, mine is the only generation of my family that has never gone to battle for the USA - I was born at the wrong time it seems, I have a nephew and a good friend on the ground in Iraq - I heard it said on the radio that this war is this generation's Vietnam - the other guy corrected him - he said 'No, this is Isreals West Bank.'

            I am an Armchair General (same thing as an armchair quarterback, but you have to worry about MRE's) I fought the war in Iraq 5 years before we went in - there was no way to win. Truth be told Bush Sr. has several quotes about Iraq - all of them right - look them up, some great statements about why you would *never* want to go into Iraq, - Jr. should have read them.

            Sorry it was you, but I had to get that off my chest. Take Care.

            Sera

          • The first is that the there is a known fact that a second term President has nothing to lose and so is willing to push all his craziest stuff.

            Which still has to, for the most part, be approved by YOUR representatives in Congress. Or do you actually believe Bush would stage some sort of military coup?

            Regardless, my point was that many liberals, for whatever reason or another, have completely lost their logic due their hatred of Bush. Ted Kennedy less than a week ago likened a vote for Bush to a vote fo

            • Even if you don't agree with my assessment of the Bush administration's success in the war on terror, look no farther than the enemies. Hamas is handing out free copies of Fahrenheit 9/11!

              You see it one way - I see it as an enemy handing out material that shows just how mutch of a boob the President is - but I would really enjoy knowing why you think they are handing it out.

              You know I was asked by some republican friends of mine about Zell Miller's speech at the convention, my reply was - "It is too bad

              • ...but I would really enjoy knowing why you think they are handing it out.

                I believe they're handing it out because they know his proactive approach to their cause is working. Furthermore, it gives them hope by showing the Achilles Heel of the giant after them--the U.S.'s complex internal politics. All they have to do is try to stay alive long enough for some idiot like Michael Moore to put some soldier's (who was probably killed by friendly fire anyway) mother in front of a camera and milk her for ever

          • The Patriot act has a sunset... which means that ALL legislators.. not just republicans, will have to affirm it to be renewed and NO there is not a republican majority like there was when it was enacted to begin with...

            The 'War on Terror' was affirmed by both sides, it's more a matter of how, not why at this point... conservatives feel they can not trust the rest of the world to do a damn thing about it (The UN talks and talks and passes various pieces of commentary but never acts on anything)... the liber
        • He's not trying to take over the world or whatever nefarious deeds you've conjured up in your imaginations.

          Umm.. yes he is. I can't believe you don't think that he is. [newamericancentury.org]

          Afghanistan, Iraq == "Two Shining Examples of Western Democracy In the Middle East"

          My ass he's not trying!
      • I don't care how Bush acted in the National Guard...to me I don't care if he had a stellar record there and did an outstanding job or if he snorted cocaine on the flight-line...everyone is missing the big, overall point here.

        He dodged the draft! He dodged going to Vietnam. Look, there were 3 ways to get out of going to Vietnam if your number came up back then. 1, skip off to Canada. 2, be in college forever. 3, Join the National Guard.

        And again, this same way of thinking can be applied to Kerry. The "Swif
        • Should we hold this against Bush? I mean, I would have mightily endevored to stay out of Vietnam myself. I am a little peeved, however, that it was daddy's influence that kept him out instead of a means that would have been available to me, were I of draftable age (or even born) then.

          From one perspective, Kerry was honorable for going oversees and participating in that iffish little war. From another, let's call it the "Rincewind perspective," he was stupid for doing so.

          I find myself thinking more and
      • There is something really fishy about the whole thing. Have a look at this [buzzflash.com].

        On the other hand, the break-in doesn't quite have the Rovian flair. I think it was just one of those freak crimes by some anarchist.
    • Ah no, the evil genius of Karl Rove is far more subtle. The computers were _actually_ stolen, and he convinced some low level DNC patsies to do it because:

      1) The plans on the computers were fake outs
      2) The low level patsies will be easilly caught, making for a scandal
      3) Karl Rove is eeeeEEEEvil.

      This comment is not the opinion of the author, just guessing what democracticunderground.com will be saying about now.

      Tinfoil hats have no part affiliation.
    • There are photos of the Republican Ninjas at the DNC . Hawaiian shirt and patent leather shoes. http://aliensandchildren.org/ThoughtScreenHats.htm [aliensandchildren.org]
  • by commodoresloat ( 172735 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:03PM (#10409759)
    Karl Rove also denies any involvement.
  • It couldn't be some third party that is opposed to Bush, but isn't the Democratic Party.
  • Is this the "big surprise" Rove was talking about?
  • I did it (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:08PM (#10409787)
    Those laptops were not running Free Software, as should be befitting of a party that defends Freedom. I have reformatted and installed Debian GNU/Linux; as soon as I get X, the sound card, the ethernet card, and the USB working, I will return them with a polite note.

    -- Smelly GNU/Hippie 'puter poacher
    • I think the Patriot Act makes it illegal to joke about subjects that could put the American people in harms way. Your post about Free Software is clearly in violation of this new [proposed] law. Please remove the post, or I will be forced to call in my friends in Washington; they will have no choice but to shut slashdot.org down entirely as a "potential enabler of a potential enemy combatant of the state".

      Free Software is EVIL and only Al Queida sanctions it's use; and we'll have none of that!
  • Let's see. Computers were stolen.

    What I suspect is that it was a routine case of people stealing other peoples' stuff. If they were after the data, there are other more surreptitious means to go about this, but I get the feeling that they were more concerned with the hardware than the data.

  • by commodoresloat ( 172735 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:10PM (#10409807)
    From TFA: "But, he said, the loss creates a potential security breach about the campaign's so-called 72-hour plan, the Bush get-out-the-vote effort."

    The following is from the document they found:

    Bush's 72 hour plan

    1. Tell people to vote for me.
    2. Remind them that my opponent is in favor of terrorism.
    3. Remind them that my opponent forgot about Poland.
    4. Ask Mr. Cheney what to do next.
    5. ???
    6. President!
  • Where's Forrest Gump when we need him?
  • In other news... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:25PM (#10409906) Journal
    In other news, if said computers were using encrypted filesystems, none of this would matter. Could be a simple computer theft, could be DNC dirty tricks, could be anything. It just wouldn't matter.

    We live in a nation where we can freely (mostly) obtain and use encryption, and people choose not to do so.

    When will they ever learn?
    • ...about the need to use encryption for sensitive stuff, but that still doesn't justify the theft, especially if it was done for political purposes.

      Perhaps I ought to pass along the suggestion to my local party offices. Not much of a leftist-hacker crowd down here, though. Seattle, now, that's a different story.

      I'll probably send that suggestion into the national GOP offices. "Hey, this maybe-liberal guy on slashdot has a really good idea...". Maybe even get you credit for it :P

    • > In other news, if said computers were using encrypted filesystems, none of this would matter. Could be a simple computer theft, could be DNC dirty tricks, could be anything. It just wouldn't matter.

      Yes, and politicians should be particularly careful to make sure they encrypt their /pr0n partition. Larry Flynt is probably offering a bounty on the computers already.

  • Security? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Rheingold ( 2741 )
    And we've got these people in charge of national security?
    • Re:Security? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Hank Reardon ( 534417 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:59PM (#10410128) Homepage Journal

      You must be trolling.

      The campaign managers are in charge of national security in much the same way that you're in charge of putting the dishes away at my house.

      That's like walking into a drug company convention and exclaiming "We let these salespeople do surgery?"

      Come the fuck on; he's running for President, not applying for a job as a system administrator, security consultant, or even an MCSE.

      If you were talking foreign policy, domestic policy or something that a potential POTUS would be responsible for, fine. But the stuff was ripped off from a campaign office by a rock through the window.

      I'm just sick to death of both sides screaming "This is what we want?" at every little fucking thing that comes up from break-ins to which campign offical is involved in what 527 group.

      Find some fucking issues that matter, figure out where Kerry and Bush have different ideas on how to handle the issues, and make your choice on how well their views match with yours.

      If "got campaign headquarters broken into" is top on the public list to vote Kerry instead of Bush, we are indeed in deep shit.

  • the top ten (Score:4, Funny)

    by pizza_milkshake ( 580452 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @07:39PM (#10410003)
    the top ten things the Republican laptops were last seen doing:

    10. hacked by democrats looking for Windows XP serial#
    9. kicked off IRC for inventing words
    8. tricked into running a Word macro virus by therightisright@hotmail.com
    7. accidentally installed YouthfulIndiscretion XP, regrets it
    6. voting negatively in the online polls at homosexualmarriage.org
    5. busy checking paypal transactions from SaudiArabia@hotmail.com
    4. engaged in IM session at Halliburton.com
    3. busy DDoS-ing iran.com
    2. browser choked on pretzel.com
    1. infected by trojan whilst browsing alt.sex.binary.gay.marriage

  • stolen (Score:2, Funny)

    by durtbag ( 694991 )
    Those b0x3n must have also had all of Bush's witty retorts that were planned for the debate last night. God knows he could have used them....

    BTW, anyone know where to find the debate video for d-l? Not streaming, straight download, be it torrent or otherwise. Thanks.

  • (Just to clear that up.)
  • by aztektum ( 170569 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @08:02PM (#10410144)
    They act like it's just two parties. They automatically blame the Democrats. What if it was people from the Green or Libertarian Party.

    Oh wait, I forgot those two groups have no chance of winning for President so lets automatically blame our biggest competitor.

    Anything that comes out of Washington D.C. these days just makes me sick to my stomach.
  • by for(;;); ( 21766 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @08:12PM (#10410193)
    ...during an election in, I believe, the mid-70's. (See "Bush's Brain".) All the reporters could tell Rove was behind it, but had to report the bullshit anyway. That's what will happen this time.

    The lapdog media will fall for Rove's tricks every chance they get. Like with McCarthy, they have to report lies if someone important says them.
    • by megabulk3000 ( 305530 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @09:56PM (#10410674) Homepage
      That's funny, I was just reading about this here [theatlantic.com], in an article by Joshua Green in the Atlantic Monthly about Rove's dirty tricks. Here's the quote:
      One of the first highlights of his career was the famously tight 1986 Texas governor's race, in which his candidate and mentor, the Republican oilman Bill Clements, sought to oust the Democratic incumbent Mark White. The race is legendary in Texas political lore for Rove's discovery that his office was bugged--news of which, coincidentally or not, distracted attention from an evening debate in which his candidate was expected to fare poorly.
  • http://www.blackboxvoting.org/?q=node/view/938&PH P SESSID=d9a9956c80c5aacf55c9a6b7faea173d Bev Harris reports that somebody in Snohomish County, WA used fake technician's credentials to get polling place access on the day of the primaries (9/14/04). Election workers report that it's "Democrats" doing it - we don't know (yet) how that determination was made...bumper sticker maybe? They got a car license plate number... Bev is filing a public records request to try and get details on that case. If i
  • You know, I bet these were those activist judges you keep hearing about.

    Anyway, I'm sure all the sensitive data (if not the entire hard drive) was encrypted, so the only thing we have to worry about is the terrorists finally getting their hands on encryption software.
  • Ironically? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "...ironically, they're comparing it to Watergate."

    How is a comparison to Watergate ironic?
  • by Masker ( 25119 ) on Friday October 01, 2004 @09:16PM (#10410469)
    1) Watergate was the national campaign headquarters for a national political party.
    2) The Watergate burglars [watergate.info] were caught red-handed in the offices

    Trying to equate this to Watergate is really weak.
  • ... a Democratic/Liberal equivalent to G. Gordon Liddy. But the mind just boggles. I suspect the thief just wanted the hardware.
    • Two words: James Carville.
      • Oh please. Carville may be Liddy's counterpoint in political opinion, but their histories are nothing similar. I mean look at all the shit that Liddy pulled leading up to Watergate. Nixon was chased out of office as much for employing people like Liddy as any of his more direct actions.

        There's just no equivalent of Liddy on the left -- unless you believe the Hiliary-is-Satan conspiracy buffs. And if you do, go join the UFOrians and Illuminati-Skulters over on the other side of the room. This discussion is

  • by RealProgrammer ( 723725 ) on Saturday October 02, 2004 @01:10AM (#10411383) Homepage Journal

    The two sides are both so cynical I am ready to ignore them both and write in Pete Rose [yahoo.com]. If they'd each quit pandering to the other's base for a minute, they'd quickly understand how simple it is:

    What the Republicans need to do is quit trying to look liberal, and instead convince middle class subdivisionites that George Bush is God's Own Candidate. They'll turn out in droves.

    What the Democrats need to do is quit trying to look like anti-war-but-tough-on-terror hawks, and instead convince undecided voters that John Kerry has a firm position on some issue. They already know he isn't George Bush; he can stop running on that now.

    No, the two sides keep hitting their talking points and strategizing about getting out the vote of this or that demographic.

    I think I'll turn my attention to something important. Don't they know there's a pennant race [yahoo.com] going on?

  • Christ!

    Next we'll have people saying "Last night I was burglarized by burglarizer"!

    Or perhaps in a few years time it shall be known as getting 'burglarizered'...

    WHEN WILL THE MADNESS END?

I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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