One or more people hack Sarah Palin's email account and publish her private correspondence on the web. So MSNBC and Politico naturally want to know if. . . Palin did anything wrong and whether there might be anything embarrassing to her in the purloined e-letters. Discussion of possible negative implications for Barack Obama? Zilch.
Talk about blaming the victim. Norah O'Donnell, subbing for Andrea Mitchell during MSNBC's 1PM EDT hour, interviewed Politico's Jim VandeHei.
View video here.
NORAH O'DONNELL: What do you think is the significance to this campaign, the fact that someone was able to hack into her private email account that she may or may not have used for state business?
JIM VANDEHEI: I mean, politically, I don't see any significance so far. Obviously people are talking about it, but there's nothing significant in those emails we've seen so far. And if she was really trying to hide something I don't think she'd be using gov.palin@yahoo.com. I mean, most of the stuff we're seeing is very casual in nature, very much about her family.
There's a bigger issue that's separate from this. There's been criticism that she may have used her personal account in Alaska to get around the state disclosure rules which would have applied to her official government email account, but there's nothing in these emails to suggest that that would feed into that.
O'DONNELL: And nothing embarrassing that we've seen of those particular emails. It is an interesting story --
VANDEHEI: Nothing yet. We haven't seen them all. Right. We haven't seem them all yet, and we don't know how many more are actually out there, so that doesn't mean that there couldn't something embarrassing, but the ones we reviewed so far, nothing embarrassing at al
Keep hope alive, Jim!
Let's turn the tables and imagine someone had broken into Obama's email account. Working imaginary MSM draft: "We interrupt regularly-scheduled programming for this Special Bulletin. In a country already concerned that the Bush administration has violated fundamental privacy rights in pursuing its so-called 'war on terror,' a troubling new development tonight. Unidentified persons, whose possible connection to the McCain camp are unclear, have committed a profound violation of Senator Barack Obama's privacy, invading his email account and publishing the results on the internet. Over the next week, we'll be devoting a special nightly segment to this story, which we've entitled: GOP--Threat to the Constitution?"
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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what a tin hat you are
September 18, 2008 - 13:13 ET by TruthMongerwhat a tin hat you are mark! harumph
Journalism is the opium of the liberals
The disgust and the
September 18, 2008 - 13:18 ET by bigtimerThe disgust and the hypocrisy about all of this, let alone the outrage that I feel, will backfire on these desperate filthy creatures.
Big Time.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Agree!
September 18, 2008 - 14:15 ET by MaximusBraveheartUhh what about bad for Obama and his "followers?"
This bias is just too "sick." And that means sick in the "old" sense, as in BAD!
"We haven't seem them all
September 18, 2008 - 13:19 ET by Susan I"We haven't seem them all yet, and we don't know how many more are actually out there, so that doesn't mean that there couldn't something embarrassing, but the ones we reviewed so far, nothing embarrassing at all"
We haven't seen them all? What are they looking at them for anyway? These are private! Yes, someone (yes i believe from the Obama campaign did it) leaked them, but does that mean that everyone has to look at them? That to me makes those who look just as guilty as those who illegally hacked!
I was thinking the same
September 18, 2008 - 13:33 ET by motherbeltI was thinking the same thing.
This is shades of "It all depends on what else we find out in Alaska."
(I don't remember which reporterette it was who said that, back when Palin was first named.)
They are just licking their chops, hoping that something juicy shows up. Maybe they should just demand access to every single email at once, instead of having to wait while they dribble out little by little.
And Mark, why would there be negaive implications for the Obama campaign? It most certainly wouldn't be an Obama supporter who did this!! <sarc>
I always knew...
September 18, 2008 - 13:28 ET by jawebster1MSNBC was bad. I always knew AP was bad and now we can add Politico to the list. What list you say? The list of media sources that says blame the rape on the victim in order to advance their far left political point of view and agenda. We can always expect the worst from these three sources. My mother said to always consider the source. How right she was. Jim Webster
Palin's Emails
September 18, 2008 - 13:23 ET by buddycMark
I have never been more angry over a political dirty trick and the reporting by the media.
Just so you know, if don't already:
1. Palin's emails were clean but that is totally irrelevant.
2. I have heard even some lawyers say that it was a violation of law to use her private email for government purposes. That is a flat out wrong statement of the law. Governors use all kinds of communication devices from telephone calls, to emails, to letters where the conversations might be private/personal or job related or some of both. The issue is not whether that violates the law. The issue is whether the records are public records available to inspection through the proper legal means. None in the so called media has even recognized that. They keep saying she might have violated the law by using her personal email for governor business. THAT IS NUTS! Show me the law applicable to a governor. The US laws applicable to presidential communications does NOT apply to a state governor.
3. This is no less horrifying as when Schumer's people violated the law and privacy rights of Michael Steele in stealing his credit information. Bush's "Political US Attorney offices" inaction and letting this slide probably encouraged the people to hack Palin's records.
Please follow up on this. Get an Alaskan lawyer to make sure the media knows that it is NOT a violation of law for Palin to use a personal email for some government communicatoin, even though the released emails don't show she did that.
I hope you are as outraged as I am that every story (MSNBC, CBS, ABC, AP etc etc also includes a statement that her violation of a non existent law in some half a@@ way of trying to justify this crime.
The people that did this should, at the least, go to prison for a long time.
Have not liberals been crying for 8 years that Bush violated their privacy? What could be more obnoxious that public release of private emails?
buddy... I couldn't agree
September 18, 2008 - 13:35 ET by bigtimerbuddy...
I couldn't agree more than with you and your outrage, this is partly why I haven't been here today, I heard about this late last night, my anger is still beyond description...
Your Steele example is spot on...and Schumer got away with everything, the slimy POS he is...I think some aide just got a slap on the hand basically.
This is illegal...big time and the msm is acting like this is normal...
Why of course it is for them, they are dems they never pay the price for illegality...zilch for accountability.
Search and destroy.
Where are the voices of outrage on our side of the aisle in the msm until something is done and done fast to the people responsible, let alone the msm for carrying this forward...
I am truly beyond furious with this./
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
SOUND LIKE DOMESTIC SPYING
September 18, 2008 - 14:08 ET by TruthMongerSOUND LIKE DOMESTIC SPYING TO ME:)!
DOMESTIC SPYING
DOMESTIC SPYING
DOMESTIC SPYING
DOMESTIC SPYING
DOMESTIC SPYING
DOMESTIC SPYING
DOMESTIC SPYING
DOMESTIC SPYING
DOMESTIC SPYING
DOMESTIC SPYING
Journalism is the opium of the liberals
Reading Hacked PRIVATE E-mails -- No Big Deal?
September 18, 2008 - 13:28 ET by ChasvsSo they don't see anything wrong with diging through her PRIVATE e-mails that were STOLEN to see what might be embarrassing?
How about when the Justice Department comes knocking on their door because of the THEFT invovled in this action?
Bet if these were Obama's e-mails they'd be calling for the Secret Service to get involved!!!
F*CK these Democrats!
no integrity
September 18, 2008 - 13:29 ET by MazziI watched political hacks run through this line of reasoning last night. It is absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!
The lack of ethics involved in reading someone's illegally obtained private correspondence is chilling. Really. These are the same people who scream about the Patriot Act, where the correspondence is legally obtained, and for a legitimate purpose.
I say that anyone who read these emails should be ashamed of themselves.
This is so scary on so many levels. If these people are not found and prosecuted, it is open season for hackers.
"When a government robs Peter to pay Paul, they can always count on the support of Paul." ~ George Bernard Shaw~
mf -- why imagine the tables being turned?
September 18, 2008 - 13:35 ET by Jack Bauermark -- why imagine the tables being turned?
Remember when the MSM went into Obama mode over this?
Until they discovered McCain's passport records had also been "hacked." Then the story "disappeared" down the mediacrity's could care less hole!
Not only the political plays
September 18, 2008 - 15:57 ET by TjexciteNot only the political plays but thousands including Anna Nicole Smith passport was accessed = non-story which will how this will end. Thousands have their yahoo account illegally accessed for span bots. Because they used week passwords or findable info on the security question.
Emailgate: A true successor to Watergate?
September 18, 2008 - 17:00 ET by CortillaenYou might want to rethink that response a bit. The media outrage (and, it appears, reason for disciplinary action) was over Obama's passport being accessed (note, legally, albeit without cause), not the "thousands including Anna Nicole Smith". In this case, there is ZERO outrage over a truly illegal action. In fact the MSM is making it clear that they view this solely as an opportunity to find dirt on Palin.
"Thousands have their yahoo account illegally accessed for span [sic] bots." Congratulations on the irrelevance. We're not talking about random people, and we're not talking about bots routing junk mail through a cracked account. We're talking about a specific, targeted crime against a VP candidate with the express purpose of disclosing private information in hopes of exposing some scandal. Compared to a few people looking at Obama's passport for kicks, this is far worse, and there has been no outrage on part of the media.
Fact of the matter is, if this was done by someone in the Obama campaign, it is a repeat of Watergate's events: Somebody broke into a political opponent's private documents and used them to benefit the candidate he/she works for. Obama, of course, would deny giving any orders to do so, as he does anytime someone working for his campaign might reveal the fraud in his claim to "a new politics". Quite the fleet of buses he keeps on hand, isn't it?
www.daybydaycartoon.... Proving that conservative comedy is very real.
"With your mind as high as Mt. Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things near to you." - Miyamoto Musashi
What's your point? Because
September 18, 2008 - 17:35 ET by Jack BauerWhat's your point? Because you don't seem to have one worth considering.
My contention (and I suspect NB) is that this is important, because it is yet another chapter in one of the most insidious, virulent and Stalinist assaults on a political figure in US history. And all in three weeks.
Thousands of people are murdered, yet for some reason it's more important whena President, or VP or candidate for either office is murdered.
Why doesn't MSNBC just get it over with
September 18, 2008 - 13:34 ET by c5thenand change their name to DNC-TV. It would be more accurate for their viewers.
DNCTV, the most biased name in news.
If Jim and Nora were around in 1969
September 18, 2008 - 13:37 ET by Mica the MagnificentJim: Yeah, that Mary Jo. All she had to do was swim out of the car, like Teddy did, and we wouldn't be talking about this at all. Poor Ted. Didn't the Kennedy's suffer enough? By the way, there's no evidence Ted did anything wrong. The police aren't investigating, so we're not investigating either.
Nora: Some people will do anything to embarrass the Kennedy's. So, how are the Kennedy's feeling about Mary Jo's inability to save herself? And can we expect Ted to concentrate on the important work for the people while wearing that painful neckbrace? Let's go to our sympathetic correspondent at the Kennedy compound.
The MSM only sides with
September 18, 2008 - 13:38 ET by kgThe MSM only sides with victims when they are Democrats.
"Forget change, I want improvement!"
Meanwhile, PDS has spread to Canada
September 18, 2008 - 14:04 ET by Prester JohnThis is pretty disgusting.
Columnist’s Labeling Palin Backers ‘White Trash’ Spurs Review at Canadian TV
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is reviewing complaints from both Americans and Canadians about a Web site columnist who recently described Sarah Palin’s supporters as “white trash,” compared the vice presidential candidate to a “porn actress” and called her daughter’s boyfriend a “redneck” and “ratboy.”
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/18/columnists-labeling-palin-backers-white-trash-spurs-review-at-canadian-tv//
As always, more class and dignity from the Left.
This guy (or girl) is screwed
September 18, 2008 - 15:32 ET by IgnatzJFahrquarJust read on Drudge an update. The two best lines:
"The FBI and Secret Service launched a formal investigation Wednesday." (Regardless of your opinion of these two investigative bodies, considering the growth by leaps and bounds of internet tracking that has come out from the war on terror, this person must be cleaning their underwear hourly)"
"Investigators were waiting to speak with
Gabriel Ramuglia of Athens, Ga., who operates an Internet anonymity
service used by the hacker. Ramuglia told the AP on Thursday he was
reviewing his own logs and promised to turn over any helpful
information to authorities because the hacker violated rules against
using the anonymity service for illegal activities. "If you're
doing something illegal and causing me issues by doing this, I'm
willing to cooperate," Ramuglia said." (yep, they're in deep dodo. Nothing like having the FBI and Secret Service knocking on your door.).
"All generalizations are false, including this one.” Mark Twain
E-Watergate
September 18, 2008 - 16:22 ET by deerjerkydaveThis is just like Watergate only it's in the electronic age. We'll probably find that the AP hacked it themselves, just like how they let Code Pink into the Republican Convention.
Somebody needs to do some jail time.
September 18, 2008 - 16:27 ET by AtTheWaterCoolerI've linked to this post from http://www.jeremiahf... It appears that the person that broke in is not the same person who latter broke in and made the screen shots.
The fact that a lock for say a mailbox is broken, does not mean that it is legal to rummage through that person's mail.
More Questions
September 18, 2008 - 20:46 ET by pbthinkerOK, I'm not too bright sometimes so I need to ask this question. Has Obama ever won an election where some dirt hasn't been dug up on his opponent. It seems to me I read where, in the first IL. Senate Campaign, he was asked to replace a Senator who was going to run for Congress, that Senator lost in the primaries and wanted to regain their seat and Obama refused.
In his run for the U.S. Senate, Chicago newspapers were successful in getting sealed files of his opponents divorce, opened and dragged out enough dirt to force him to not run.
Now comes the Palin e-mail hack. Is this, yet another concerted effort, to get so much dirt on Palin, if they can, that she will bail out before November?
It appears that, on the Palin front, Obama keeps coming up empty. Sooner or later they're going to have to either find something or quit.
I'd love to know if anyone in Obama's campaign had anything to do with this.
Democrats: Stuck on Stupid since 2000.