The developing story on Michael Steele's financial records being stolen by Democratic Senatorial Campaign staffer is covered. It appears as though no jail time is needed. Lauren Weiner has a year to complete 150 hours of community service. Steele's attorney wants to know more about what was done with his financial records.

Here's the link:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...ocal-headlines

Drudge has a copy online in pdf format of her statement and signature agreeing to plea guilty. Here's that link:http://www.drudgereport.com/dem.pdf

Talk amongst yourselves...

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"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

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Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

__________________
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

Did you know that it was illegal to pretend to be someone else in order to get their credit report?



"Amongst" is a good word. You get extra points every time you use it.

__________________
Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

__________________
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

It appears as though Weiner (what irony in that name) may not be completely off the hook. Steele wants to know more.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...032401726.html

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"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

I am under impression that both U.S. political parties are corrupted.. I see the soft money in the political system as the main reason of corruption.. Let this corruption be legal or illegal, I see it harmful to democracy and threatening the American peoples' interests..

Still, I am also under the impression that the republican party would be somewhat more corrupted.. It is partly, because they receive much more soft money.. Also, the democratic party receives money from the unions, which while having interests conflicting with the majority, still represent rather wide masses of population and people we could consider as normal Americans..

Still, especially reading the Baer book it is easy to realize that also the democratic party is corrupted.. The main problem is likely in the deep political and bureocratic culture of Washington.. In one way, what would you expect when Pentagon staff rotates throught such employement circles as Pentagon-Boeing-Pentagon-Boing-route.. Neither the political control works, since the parties and politicians are more or less dependent of such corporations' financial support.. The politicians are simply either not interested of or they are actively participating in this system.. The ever increasing amount of pork would suggest that this culture of corruption is only deepening and growing more severe..

- BtD

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"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows."
[George Orwell, 1984]

I was being facetious, Senax. Not very well, but still.

The investigation seemed to skim over the top, didn't it? Did they even try to find out how she got Steele's SS number? It might be easy for all I know. I've never tried to get someone else's SS number (except for my kids). Does anyone have any ideas as to what the DSCC would be doing with it (besides checking up on his credit, that is,)?

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Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

Oh sorry, my bad. It was late and I was getting a bit bleary-eyed.

Yep, it did seem a tad shallow didn't it? Well, they asked her and she told them. It's in that second link above, in my original post with the pdf. Apparently she's so trustworthy, they didn't need anything else to investigate it beyond her say-so. The pdf of her signed plea reads:
Interesting how the media avoid using the name of the research director isn't it? Also, if she didn't think of doing it, why are they scapegoating her? Why not the research director who suggested she try for Steele's financial records? She is indeed guilty of impersonating Steele and committing fraud, but she's not the only one who is guilty here. You gotta' admit that using the DSCC credit card to get the information wasn't the smartest move in the book huh? LOL

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"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

OK. We have a naive staffer conducting innocent public records searches of the possible opponent. She inadvertently stumbles upon his Social Security number whereby the director (who did not know that this is against the law) suggests she check his credit. She then opened an e-mail account for the credit report and lied several times saying that she really was Michael Steele. The director then unknowingly provides her with a credit card number to use though she did not know the purpose. In the end, the research director keeps her job and the poor naive staffer takes the fall.

The DSCC may not have people lining up to work for them, but it does seem that they could find people with at least minimal intelligence.

Why wouldn't this story rate at least a little blurb in the NYT?

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Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.