BREAKING: Hillary AND McCain's Passport Breached as Well

CNN and MSNBC are carrying the breaking news banner.

No other details, other than Condi telling Clinton that it was breached.

I have nothing else to say...

...except this:

Is this country going to finally wake up to the illegality, corruption, secrecy, outright dodging lying bobbing and weaving of the Bush administration?

Sigh.  I won't hold my breath.

But at the very least, it gives the Democrats a GREAT issue to run on in November.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, from the most progressive liberal to the staunchest conservative...

Nobody likes their government snooping on them.

Except for, perhaps, the snoops themselves.

UPDATE: Per the comments, John McCain's passport was hit as well.  This is smelling great all around...

•  God damn this is messed up

  One other comment...this was done by "private contractors" apparently.

  When are we going to learn that outsourcing our government ain't the hottest idea in the world either?

  by wmtriallawyer on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:54:49 AM PDT

  •  Great catch man..

    At least this issue of absolute incompetence at Condi's State Department is something that Obama and Clinton supporters can unite around.

    by Scoopster on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:57:45 AM PDT

    •  Incompetence with this crowd

      is a feature, not a bug.

      "If the Goverment is a car setting out to give every one a ride to work, then for 40 years the Republicans have been puncturing the tires, pouring sand in the gas tank, stealing the distributor cap, and, whenever they can get their hands on the wheel, driving it straight into the nearest ditch and then, pointing to the wreckage as the tow truck backs up to it, saying, 'See, this proves that people were meant to walk.'
      And they do this so that they don't have to chip in on gas." - Lance Mannion

      by LostInTexas on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:59:28 AM PDT

      •  I don't think you should

        assume it happened because of incompetence.

        by el dorado gal on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:39:49 AM PDT

        •  Thank you

          "incompetence" gets tossed around so lightly these days, it is in danger of becoming "conventional wisdom" that BushCO government is merely guilty of garden-variety human error, on a regular basis, instead of being guilty of the crimes that they are actually committing.

          by o the umanity on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:59:44 AM PDT

          •  Oh my.. we wouldn't WANT people to think..

            ...that everything Bushco did was incompetence!

            (I'm sure some of it was deliberate fucking corruption)

            by Scoopster on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 05:38:55 PM PDT

        •  I didn't say incompetence was their ONLY feature

          I thought my sig would give that away....

          "If the Goverment is a car setting out to give every one a ride to work, then for 40 years the Republicans have been puncturing the tires, pouring sand in the gas tank, stealing the distributor cap, and, whenever they can get their hands on the wheel, driving it straight into the nearest ditch and then, pointing to the wreckage as the tow truck backs up to it, saying, 'See, this proves that people were meant to walk.'
          And they do this so that they don't have to chip in on gas." - Lance Mannion

          by LostInTexas on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 06:27:45 PM PDT

    •  And McCain! I suppose this puts and end to...

      the residual McCain/Rice ticket rumors.

      by waytac on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:15:12 AM PDT

    •  It may be incompetence but it is also damage

      control by the BushCo.

      If everyone's passport file is breached than the BushCo culpability is minimized.

      Good Strategy.

      by Flippant on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 10:12:13 AM PDT

  •  So whose passport file WASN'T breached?

    Or, could the culprits have gotten them all in order to get plausible deniability?

    I find the latter more likely and highly Rovian.

    I think it is an RNC Op.  They didn't know it would be McCain -- I bet Romney's file and Huck's were also breached.  Edwards and Richardson, too.

    by polecat on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:02:03 AM PDT

    •  No shit.

      And the fact this was all done by "outsoruced gov't contractors" makes it all the more suspicious.

      by wmtriallawyer on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:02:58 AM PDT

      •  blackwater is a contractor...nuff said

        by memofromturner on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:14:13 AM PDT

      •  Warrantless wiretap info is secure though, right?

        lmao

        by Kronos Blue on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:15:57 AM PDT

        •  In the spirit of Rummy...Who Knows????n/t

          by mouser68 on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:17:27 AM PDT

          •  ...something he knows that we may not know...

            by JVolvo on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 10:30:40 AM PDT

    •  And finally the MSM is asking...

      Has my file been looked at. (MSNBC commentator)  Duh!  Haven't we been saying that our civil liberties are being trashed constantly?

      by mouser68 on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:11:41 AM PDT

      •  She's still an idiot.

        Contessa Brewer just did that.

        Then she tried to drag Chuck Todd into wild speculation on a conspiracy theory because they didn't have any actual news, and they needed to fill the time. (She said that!)

        Todd looked and acted horrified and tried to back out of the conversation.

        I think MSNBC only hires anchors with no journalism background whatsoever so they can say anything they want and then play dumb.

        Thank you, Chuck Todd, for not falling for her stupid game.

        by Brooke In Seattle on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:17:21 AM PDT

        •  Maybe now someone will declare civil liberties an

          Issue and make something happen before the election!  

          by mouser68 on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:21:58 AM PDT

          •  Well, then

            this would be the perfect time for Candidate Constitutional Scholar-D to stand up for all of us, wouldn't it?

            I'm waiting. Seems to me that Senator Obama could easily pull in some fence-sitters with this issue. Not to mention it's important...

            by o the umanity on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 10:05:11 AM PDT

      •  We're all enemies of this state.

        We have been living in the Cheney era.

        by deben on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:20:22 AM PDT

    •  A COLOSAL RUSE TO DEFUSE

      This is an obvious ruse.  Late yesterday, it was Obama's passport file that had been violated.  Bad news for the Bush/Cheney/Rice regime.  So what did they do?  Made up a story over night to defuse any thought of a Republican conspiracy to steal information from Obama's passport file.  Now, all of a sudden, we hear that the passport files of both Clinton and McCain were breached as well.  Yeah, tell us about it, Bushies.  You people have made a career of lying to America.  you lied us into a war and you continue to violate the Constitution.  You, indeed, are an evil lot!

      Jim Michie

      by Jim Michie on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:14:28 AM PDT

      •  Cards Up Their Sleeve

        It remains to be seen just exactly what evidence points at what and whom. So we don't really know who's behind these breaches (though I doubt it's Obama - that would be really paranoid to believe).

        But it's not necessary for 'Leezy to have invented new breaches "of everybody" overnight. Whoever is responsible likely has a conspiracy inside the State Department (if this incident isn't actually pure incompetence and yet another conveniently neglected agency after all), which apparently kept the Obama breaches quiet even from the "automatic" investigations. Such a conspiracy, if it exists, could have conducted the "decoy" breaches all along, and hidden them too, and left them to be "discovered" only now that they're necessary to blur the blame arrow. That conspiracy could easily include Rice, though the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" conspiracy coordination that we saw Monica Goodling reveal at work in creating the list of US Attorneys to be fired.

        There will be plenty of damage to assign once the evidence is in. Let's not blow our hand jumping to conclusions the possible conspirators might very well have created as booby traps for the unwary. Dan Rather shall not have died in vain.

        by DocGonzo on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:28:36 AM PDT

      •  They did Greenwald in 2006

        The reality is that the State Department has been leaking information from peoples' passport files for ages.  Look at what happened to Glenn Greenwald in 2006.

        I can see why they'd go after Hillary Clinton -- probably hoping for more dirt.  McCain is the only one which doesn't fit the pattern.

        by silence on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:54:30 AM PDT

        •  it fits

          except there's no "pattern" when it's all a ruse.

          Sorry, I can't think right now, my bullshit-meter is clanging too loudly...

          by o the umanity on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 10:13:13 AM PDT

        •  Clinton's was gone after

          in a classroom training environment, from the inference at the press conference.  Not the same thing at all.

          Obama's happened twice, with employees fired, and no reporting.  Then it happened again, with somebody checking both his and McCain's file.

          I hope the Clinton incident doesn't cloud the issue too much here.

          by RidleyGriff on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 10:39:11 AM PDT

      •  I not sure but

        I think they also said that Obama AND McCain's were breached on the same day by the same person.  Please correct me if I got that wrong.

        by casablanca on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:59:22 AM PDT

    •  It might also be...

      Self-defense. If they're going in for Obama's/Clinton's and, as usual, they then assume that it's the Democrats who are going to be evil passport info thieves and not them it would be worth their while to grab McCain's as well so they know what's coming up. They'll also know when to say "You only know that because you looked at McCain's illicitly obtained passport file!" Even if that's not true. In fact, now that the file has been swiped especially if that's not true.

      But then, the evidence hasn't come in yet.

      by Shapeshifter on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:30:33 AM PDT

  •  Will Dick Cheney be quoted as saying,

    "So"?

    by GOTV on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:02:33 AM PDT

  •  In light of this

    One would think Pelosi would provide support by putting impeachment back on the table if answers are not provided post haste!

    by f furney on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:02:55 AM PDT

    •  Let it go.

      Impeachment at this point is idiotic and unrealistic.

      by Rasputin on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:21:13 AM PDT

      •  Why?

        Repugs and criminals (do I repeat myself?) fight tooth and nail, using every tool they can find to their advantage. What do you suggest?  Gumming them into non-criminality?

        by Yellow Canary on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:37:25 AM PDT

      •  Without the threat of impeachment

        We've gotten no answers and the Constitution continues to get used as if it were a roll of Charmin! That's why!

        by f furney on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:42:38 AM PDT

        •  Yeah, you go with that.

          It will certainly help Hillary and Obama.  

          by Rasputin on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 10:08:45 AM PDT

          •  This isn't about Hillary and Obama

            This is about laws being broken. Every Republican I know wants Bush impeached. Dems would not be looked at as vindictive for going after Bush. They'd be looked at as developing a spine!

            by f furney on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 10:33:02 AM PDT

            •  You hang with some interesting Repubs then.

              by Rasputin on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 11:21:40 AM PDT

              •  Well

                I do live in a very blue state

                by f furney on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 11:41:58 AM PDT

  •  Remember Greenwald's passport breaching?

    The guy who did it hasn't been caught as far as anyone knows.  More about it here.

    by Phoenix Woman on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:04:52 AM PDT

    •  Another link perhaps? n/t

      by sailmaker on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:24:54 AM PDT

      •  Here's Greenwald's account

        Glenn Greenwald posted a recap today.

        by silence on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:55:24 AM PDT

  •  waiting for a retraction

    from those who hopped all over the 'ZOMG!!! Hillary questioned Obama's travel and that must mean she was behind the passport breach".

    More likely, we'll hear that she did it to herself too in order to cover up the snooping on Obama and McCain.

    by clammyc on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:05:00 AM PDT

    •  Hereby retracted. Or at least my rec

      of that diary is retracted. I un-recced.

      Thought it was an interesting discussion at the time.

      Not so much anymore.

      by wmtriallawyer on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:06:12 AM PDT

    •  Heh, I tell ya clammy

      it's just more evidence to me that many are suffering from emotional derangement syndrome( over hyped on the candidate of choice regardless of info/facts) during this primary. Jumping too soon makes so many appear so foolish.

      by Its any one guess on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:07:55 AM PDT

      •  just more proof

        that what I said the other night (after thinking it for months) is so very much on point.

        And the ironic thing is that I don't like Clinton and haven't for years.

        by clammyc on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:13:10 AM PDT

    •  Hillary is so evil

      she obviously used the Bush administration to plumb her passport as well as BHO and McBush to deflect suspicion from her which she knew would arise on this website that has become increasingly irrelevant having devolved into such tit for tat madness.

      by Tony McArthur on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:12:34 AM PDT

    •  I know that's an appealling thought for many, but

      there's no evidence to support it.

      by GOTV on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:16:22 AM PDT

    •  just go up a few comments and you'll find

      just that. kind of pathetic.

      by AngryFinn on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:50:21 AM PDT

  •  I'm sure they were no-bid contractors, too.

    by darthstar on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:06:31 AM PDT

  •  Hmmmm...could this a be a lie?

    Conveniently, now everyone's been violated. Makes it easier to say it was just nosy idiots breaking the law for no political reason, just curiosity, like they said at first.

    by poxonyou on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:07:17 AM PDT

  •  Private contractors=KBR???

    by mkfarkus on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:08:35 AM PDT

    •  Or...

      What private contractors have a very public association with the State Department?  Blackwater.

      Or, as a friend calls them, Al Christa.

      by Nina Katarina on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:26:46 AM PDT

  •  Shuster says

    That the Clinton breach was a training mistake.

    by turneresq on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:12:17 AM PDT

  •  Outsourcing Benefits

    Outsourcing the government is more efficient at destroying the government. When you remove the (even vestigal, for some) compensation of government work that is patriotism, and turn it into just another job (that can be shipped overseas), you sell the integrity to the highest bidder.

    That's the fascist formula that drowns government in a rented bathtub.

    by DocGonzo on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:32:31 AM PDT

  •  I heard this guy the other day

    He was advocating opening up daily mail delivery to "competition."

    I cannot imagine what it would be like if we had to deal with a private contractor who pays their employees the least amount of money possible.  I would stop receiving anything of value in the mail.  That's how paranoid I would be about it.

    by otto on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:52:58 AM PDT

•  Goin out Watergate style

  Is Condi going to serve out her term?

  by HeavyJ on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:55:18 AM PDT

  •  You're kidding right? nt

    by lgcap on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:56:12 AM PDT

    •  Sort of

      It doesn't really matter - she's practically nonexistent as far as policy goes.

      And no, she won't resign over this.

      by HeavyJ on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:59:43 AM PDT

      •  We can look forward to Condelezza

        investigating these contractors with the same thoroughness she investigated her Blackwater contractors.

        by deben on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:06:02 AM PDT

        •  and with the same honesty

          as she displayed in front of the 911 commision.

          by Tony McArthur on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:14:48 AM PDT

  •  She's doing a heckuva job!

    by f furney on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:03:45 AM PDT

•  Apparently Hillary wasn't told

  at the time either.

  Strange.

  Still no report as to the identity of the snooper, or the name of the contractor.

  by lgcap on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:55:35 AM PDT

  •  Identity of the snooper

    Is presumably the same. It should be made public.

    by HeavyJ on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:57:31 AM PDT

    •  The reports are that

      it happened to Clinton and McCain once, and Obama three separate times, by three separate people.

      Weird.

      by lgcap on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:01:48 AM PDT

      •  do you mean five separate people?

        3 for obama, one for mccain and one for clinton?  Or did one person get to more than one of them?

        by eparrot on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:15:07 AM PDT

      •  McCain and Obama's were breached

        by same contractor..not different...

        I say again, innocent until proven guilty...BUT...

        my spidey sense is going off...

        by justmy2 on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:31:27 AM PDT

  •  Contractors were listed last night

    in several diaries.

    by Brooke In Seattle on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:20:34 AM PDT

•  Well now we KNOW it was the Administration..

  These fucking Bushites are such scumbags.

  by Scoopster on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:55:46 AM PDT

  •  Or someone clever enough to spy on themselves

    in order to diffuse suspicion...

    ...or someone outside the govt. with an economic need to dominate politically...

    ...in short, we don't know nothin'.

    by SensibleShoes on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:05:25 AM PDT

•  Goddamnit!

  I am just so freaking cynical.
  The first thing that came to mind is that this is a lie about Hillary Clinton's Passport to deflect attention.

  by irishamerican on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:56:17 AM PDT

  •  Right

    Hillary called Condi and says help me cover my ass.You are soooo out of it.

    by kayfromsouth on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:58:42 AM PDT

    •  evidence for this assertion? n/t

      by teacherken on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:59:29 AM PDT

      •  Ken.

        It's a gut feeling, not based in any fact.

        by irishamerican on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:11:23 AM PDT

      •  I think it's a joke. n/t

        by Matt in AA on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:16:48 AM PDT

    •  Hi, Condi, It's Hillary

      howya doin?  Hey, you know, 'bout this passport thingy?  Yeah.  Could you....could you say mine was violated, too?  Yeah.  Sure, sure, say McCain's was as well.  Yeah.  That would be great.  No.  No.  Bill's been a good boy.  Why, have you heard anything?  Not that I care....but...have you?

      by Tony McArthur on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:17:36 AM PDT

  •  Extraordinary claims require extraordinary

    evidence.  I really think accusing the Clintons of something without any proof beneath the standards of this site (and yes, I am talking about that diary on the Rec List).  We are a reality based community.

    by beachmom on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:04:01 AM PDT

    •  Amen

      There's a little more cause for suspicion in terms of State Department incompetence and the uses to which this information could have been put, than there is for the direct involvement of the HRC campaign.  But even so, this may end up being no more than a case of snooping.  I can imagine that a contractor with access would be tempted to check out Obama's file just out of pure curiosity.  About the only thing we can say right now is that the information management systems at the State Department suck and that there was a major failure of oversight in addressing a breach of confidentiality.  

      We may suspect spying on candidates for nefarious purposes, but we don't know that yet.

      The sudden proliferation of conspiracy theories is starting to wear me down.  I'm angry at the Clintons (more so at the DLC types who screwed her campaign), and I'm as staunch an Obama supporter as you will find.  But to read some of these comments, you would think Hillary is the antichrist, behind every possible dirty trick.  She is not.

      by ivorybill on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:19:18 AM PDT

      •  Certainly not EVERY possible dirty trick. /eom

        by converse on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:40:07 AM PDT

•  2 Democrats. Zero Republicans.

  So far, the illegal snooping has been found to have targeted only Democratic candidates for the Presidency.

  Paparazzi snooping?  Idle curiosity?  Just low level employees?  Just coincidence that the targets are political enemies of this administration?  My ass.

  by deben on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:56:22 AM PDT

  •  And if McCain's records got rifled too...

    it changes nothing.  McCain was never the administration's choice to succeed them.  Just another enemy of these paranoids.

    by deben on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:00:20 AM PDT

    •  Then That Means . . .

      Giuliani's was never breached, right?  He was originally the MSM's choice.

      by norm on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:28:11 AM PDT

      •  God knows, at this point.

        Political dirty tricks are what these people do.  Repugs have no ideas left and needed some totems to worship, so it looks like they disinterred the corpses of J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon.

        by deben on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:47:39 AM PDT

  •  Oh, I wouldn't suggest it ends there

    This administration has all sorts of political enemies, not just those who are running for president.

    We're just scratching the surface of this story.

    by CA Libertarian on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:03:53 AM PDT

•  And what do

  Hillary and Obama have in common?

  They're both Democrats. And you wonder why Spitzer and Siegelman went down?

  Wake up, people.

  by MBNYC on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:56:31 AM PDT

  •  Good point

    Seems like a trend.

    by mengelhart on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:05:56 AM PDT

•  McCain's passport too??

  as per MSNBC

  by bumblebums on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:56:45 AM PDT

  •  McCain has passport files?

    I thought it was a papyrus.

    by jhecht on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:00:55 AM PDT

    •  Stone tablets

      by quaoar on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:04:35 AM PDT

      •  Stone tablets come with RFID tags?

        C'mon.  More etched likely whale bones.

        by mengelhart on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:08:26 AM PDT

        •  Sorry, typing before thinking

          More etched likely whale bones.

          Try -- More likely etched whale bones.

          by mengelhart on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:15:11 AM PDT

•  NBC is now reporting McCain got hit too

  by nsdq on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:56:49 AM PDT

  •  I did not hear that--McCain???

    by Phil S 33 on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:58:23 AM PDT

  •  What the hell???

    Now the only pattern is presidential candidates.

    Is anyone gonna check to see if the passport info for Edwards, Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel, Kucinich, Huckabee, Romney, Paul, both Thompsons, Brownback, Gilmore ALSO got hit??

    by Scoopster on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:01:07 AM PDT

    •  I guarantee that Huckabee doesn't have

      a passport.  Ga.  Ran.  Tee.

      by mengelhart on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:09:46 AM PDT

      •  wrong

        he was grand marshal of a squirrel cook-off in scotland last month

        by memofromturner on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:17:02 AM PDT

      •  He took a break from his campaign

        to fly to give some wingnut paid address to a bunch of businessmen or Xtian type hucksters in the Cayman Islands - for which he would have needed a passport.  

        by ivorybill on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:20:52 AM PDT

        •  ok

          but doesn't he seem like someone who wouldn't have one.  Just sayin'.

          by mengelhart on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:28:27 AM PDT

    •  Don't forget

      Back when there were lots of Republican candidates, McCain was seen as "too liberal" and wasn't the preferred candidate, for the Bush faithful.

      by el dorado gal on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:47:08 AM PDT

•  Sure's gonna make that current diary on

  the rec list look pretty silly now, huh?

  by Stand Strong on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:57:03 AM PDT

  •  Tis why it's always wise to wait

    until the whole story becomes more fleshed out.

    by Its any one guess on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:58:00 AM PDT

    •  yep...

      no argument here...

      by Stand Strong on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:58:25 AM PDT

    •  is this the whole story?

      do you really believe the Ste Dept. neglected to tell us the other files were also looked into? That it just now occurred to them? "Oh by the way..." I mean, c'mon.

      by gnat on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:07:58 AM PDT

      •  I wouldn't know.....that's why I wait

        to reserve judement on this mess.

        by Its any one guess on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:10:19 AM PDT

  •  Why I urged everyone to be careful

    in that diary. Also why I didn't rec it.

    by discocarp on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:00:40 AM PDT

    •  People are rooting through passport files...

      And you're posting "I told you so?"
      Wow, it must be nice to feel smug right now instead of feeling scared s**tless for the future of Democracy.

      Or maybe you're so multi-talented that you can feel both at once?

      by notksanymore on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:27:05 AM PDT

      •  (rolls eyes) -nt-

        by discocarp on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:31:52 AM PDT

  •  Good lord, yes.

    Looked pretty silly initially, too.

    by Pegasus on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:01:15 AM PDT

  •  Nah

    I predict there will soon be a diary that blames these new developments on a conspiracy by Hillary to deflect attention. This diary will immediately jump to the top of the rec list.

    by quaoar on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:01:23 AM PDT

  •  It was already a stupid diary on its own merit

    The information Hillary cited had already been public.

    by CA Libertarian on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:02:02 AM PDT

    •  The solution is easy: people should unrecommend

      It's embarrassing, and I agree, it was embarrassing even before this new news came out.

      by beachmom on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:06:53 AM PDT

      •  It's somewhat beyond that

        I've hidden a couple of the diarists' more obvious conspiracy theorist posts now.  At this point, I think that's the only meaningful shot across this bow we can send.

        Whether conspiracy theories are anti-Clinton or anti-Obama, we should treat them both with the same disdain.

        by CA Libertarian on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:08:56 AM PDT

  •  Actually, it doesn't.

    That someone else accessed HRC's file doesn't mean HRC didn't access Obama's.  

    by Inland on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:02:10 AM PDT

    •  Geez, give it up already. n/t

      by mspicata on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:04:17 AM PDT

      •  Just pointing out the fallacy of the argument.

        It's pretty silly to think that, if HRC did Obama's file, she's the only asshole out there.  It's like saying someone who's been robbed can't be be a criminal himself.

        by Inland on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:06:01 AM PDT

        •  Rec'd for logic illustration ...n/t

          by TX Unmuzzled on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:35:38 AM PDT

    •  And she probably illegally accessed

      her own and McCain's, right?

      by Stand Strong on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:12:07 AM PDT

      •  I didn't say that.

        I doubt she had any part in it, but the fact that hers have been accessed as well doesn't bear on the issue of what she did at all.   All other things being equal, HRC could have accessed Obamas and someone else accessed hers.  

        by Inland on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:16:30 AM PDT

        •  So let me get this straight...

          Breaking news this morning is that Obama's, and only Obama's passport info gets breached.

          Diary goes up on the rec list basically insinuating Hillary must've had something to do with it.

          A short while later, it comes out that not only Obama's passport was breached, but so was Hillary's and McCain's.

          Then, despite the slam that earlier mentioned diary takes for making such wild accusations in the first place before more is known since, well...more is now known, you suggest that Hillary still could be responsible for breaching Obama's passport...

          ...but not her own or John McCain's.

          Don't you see the ridiculousness in that argument that if Hillary could've breached Obama's passport, there's simply no way she could've done her own or McCain's?

          Perhaps, as you say though, it's just a passport breaching orgy...I breach yours, you breach mine, you know...

          by Stand Strong on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:45:21 AM PDT

          •  It's really not that complicated.

            At least, what I'm saying isn't that complicated.  I can't make heads or tails out of what you're trying to say.  .

            The fact that HRC's passport info was breached is irrelevant to the question of whether she had anything to do with Obama's passport info being breached.

            by Inland on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:53:49 AM PDT

  •  only if you believe in the Easter Bunny

    and this story is now as implauiable as the Easter Bunny: there is no way in hell they forgot to mention that Clinton and McCain's files were also rifled through.

    by gnat on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:06:55 AM PDT

  •  NO - turns out that the HRC event was during

    a training exercise with new people who were hired to process the huge backlog - and while the trainers usually recommend you enter your name or a relative's name, a trainee chose to enter HRC - it was immediately stopped and nothing happened and the time frame was last summer ... OTOH the Obama passport rifling was quite different, and the person that was merely disciplined was the same man who did the march look into Obama and McCain's ...

    source here is: live questions and answers on right now by State Dept person

    by sundancekid11 on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:31:12 AM PDT

•  wow!

  by slinkerwink on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:57:20 AM PDT

•  Now they are saying McCain too!

  This is a bullshit coverup.
  No way it is all three.

  by irishamerican on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 08:57:48 AM PDT

  •  Well

    it'll be pretty easy to verify because of those computer trip wires. We knew the dates of the Obama snooping within hours, I'm interested to see the HRC and McCain dates, if it was the same people, and what/if any political ties these people have.

    by sarashina nikki on Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 09:01:50 AM PDT

    •  Shouldn't we have known

      Within hours of them happening?? AKA Jan 10-11?, Whenever Hill's and McBush's? were, unless..

      OK, my tinfoil may be too tight on this one, but the next morning after Obama????

      We may never know what actually happened, and that may be the most scary thing of all..

      by Los