] Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary
] Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a
] year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically
] passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The
] Globe.
]
] From the spring of 2002 until at least April 2003,
] members of the GOP committee staff exploited a computer
] glitch that allowed them to access restricted Democratic
] communications without a password. Trolling through
] hundreds of memos, they were able to read talking points
] and accounts of private meetings discussing which
] judicial nominees Democrats would fight -- and with what
] tactics.

This is another fucking outrage that the media will probably happily bury under 36 more hours of that Dean clip. My faith in journalism is virtually non-existent as it is, and every story they miss because they're busy giving people the sensational train-wreck reality tv shite that the public wants, reather than the news and information that people NEED, etches away a little bit more.

[incidentally, General Dynamics sounds familiar... is that the same company memestreams user Jessica works for? -k]

Boston.com / News / Nation / Infiltration of files seen as extensive

between Kos' post and the comments, this is a pretty good summary of the primary situation as it stands.

Of course the media is all over Kerry's piece right now, and continues to harangue Dean for rallying his supporters. God forbid we should want a politician with some spirit.

Daily Kos || Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.

good read... somewhat dense in spots for those of us without a lot of experience in political philosophies.

i take from all this that Neocons generally define themselves as pragmatists, acting in all cases in such a way as to maximize the global benefits for the U.S. specifically with a middle-of-the road approach to the tradeoffs between the size of government and the availability of social programs.

Conservatives and Neoconservatives

] Can Dean be stopped? A stop-Dean movement may appear
] quixotic, but it's not. Dean has no lock on Iowa, and a
] lead even as large as Dean's in New Hampshire is always
] precarious. Many Democrats are terrified that a nominee
] who vehemently opposes the war, likens the Bush
] administration to the Taliban, and plans to raise taxes
] on the middle class can't be elected. But they've been
] scared into silence by Dean's tough talk and momentum.

CBS News | Stop Howard Dean | December 18, 2003 14:30:42

] Sen. John F. Kerry's campaign spokeswoman is deeply
] unhappy with the New York Times' chief political
] correspondent for quoting her criticism of Howard Dean.
]
]
] The reason? The Massachusetts Democrat's team made the
] attack in an e-mail to reporters that contained a note
] asking that it be treated on "background," attributed
] only to a Democratic campaign. Adam Nagourney refused to
] go along.

Kerry's campaign sinks to ever deeper lows. He's already 6th (last among the credible candidates) in many polls, but he's going down screaming, taking potshots at the front runner as if he still has a chance, but trying to do it anonymously. Please, this is the kind of shit that kills interest in politics. Make your opinions attributable or shut the fuck up. Period.

Cutter claims that her "Truth Squad" is all about exposing the facts in this race for the public record, all the while sending pre-formatted attacks to the journalists she has cowed into printing them anonymously...

Stephanie Cutter -- getting a deserved smackdown

] The bad news for the Dems: Their nominee could emerge
] somewhat battered, and Republicans will recycle the
] attacks they're mounting now.

thank you. maybe the candidates will use their brains and tone down the anger level of the infighting.

there's a ton of good stuff in this column... some speculation and some fact... all worth reading.

Dean on the Griddle (washingtonpost.com)

] Dean is where he is because of hundreds of thousands of
] supporters. That is the essence of democracy. The system
] didn't give most of them a meaningful vote, and yet it
] didn't matter. They voted (and continue to vote) with
] their money and hard work.
]...
] Gore simply recognized the power of Dean's movement. Any
] of the other candidates would've killed for the
] endorsement, but they didn't earn it. Dean worked hardest
] for it, and that he got it isn't commentary on our
] political system.

an opinion on the endorsement...

Daily Kos || Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.

] "Dean has been the most vocal on this issue. He's become
] the symbol of the anti-Bush tax cut movement in the
] Democratic Party," said Stephen Moore, president of Club
] for Growth, which was founded in 1999 to help elect
] fiscal conservatives.

fair enough i guess, but you'd have a tough time characterizing Bush as a fiscal conservative...

Conservative group targets Dean; Gephardt airs ad in South Carolina

] In 2000 George W. Bush campaigned across the country
] telling voters: "My opponent trusts government. I trust
] you."
]
] Little wonder that some of his supporters are now
] wondering which candidate won that election.
]
] Federal spending has increased by 23.7 percent since Bush
] took office.

fortunately, 9/11 gave him the justification he'd been praying for. i think the public is starting to tire of that excuse...

The Bush Betrayal (washingtonpost.com)

] it's sort of gagging to see the pre-emptive switcheroo
] ahead, from job approval to personal approval, that the
] punditspeak will use-- the public still loves George
] Bush.... The "as a person" meme will be the strongest to
] defeat;

still, that's a pretty graph from where i'm sitting...

Daily Kos || Bush & Election 2004