Senate Inquisition -- Hatch, Frist Eating Their Own....

The Wall Street Journal ^ | January 29, 2004 | Editorial

[ConservativeGadfly]

A man from the U.S. Senate's Sergeant-at-Arms Office called this week, asking us to give up the name of one of our sources. A formal probe is under way to discover how last November we got our hands on Democratic strategy memos on how to defeat President Bush's judicial nominees. We politely told the gentleman to take a hike.

[ConservativeGadfly]

There just are no words.....

[steve50]

Isn't hacking a government computer against the law?

[ConservativeGadfly]

Ping

[clintonh8r]

There is a distinct lack of testosterone on the Republican side of the aisle....and Hatch has his eye on a seat on the Supreme Court. Ha!

[ConservativeGadfly]

I don't know how many times I can say this....

THERE.....WAS.....NO.......HACKING.

It was an OPEN SERVER. AN OPEN SERVER.

[George W. Bush]

In the proudly bipartisan tradition of Trent Lott...

[sd-joe]

There was NO hacking.

Both Repubs and Demonrats shared access to a computer. The Demonrats put NO security in place. The documents were available for anyone to see.

[Forrestfire]

Never count your Hatch before he chickens.

[ml/nj]

But we have a question of our own: Why are Senate Republican leaders, specifically Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch and Majority Leader Bill Frist, cooperating

Maybe they did it for the same reason they failed to hold a real trial of Bill Clinton? Maybe they did it for the same reason that they look the other way at illegal immigration? Or government prescription drugs? Maybe we err when we think they are on our side?

ML/NJ

[Revolting cat!]

Everyone, repeat after me: there is only one party in Washington, there is only one party in Washington...

[deport]

Isn't hacking a government computer against the law?

---

Most Likely.... now can you provide sources that this was a hack job or was is a screw up when the Senate committee changed from Dem to Rep and the Dems failed to secure their side of the serve? If it's open is it then a hack job?

[A. Goodwin]

What is in the memos seems pretty reprehensible, but I have no difficulty seeing that both sides are wrong here. Just because a directory isn't locked up is not an invitation for all and sundry to explore it.

I bet the person who wrote this editorial would see it a lot differently if he found that his cubicle-mate had been snooping through his filing cabinets for personal advantage.

[ConservativeGadfly]

Amen, my brother.

Check out this series of fun:
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/carney200401230902.asp

http://www.democrats.org/news/200401260004.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/carney200401290849.asp

[Eva]

Thank you for reposting this, be ready for the onslaught of complaints, though. WSJ articles deserve a morning posting, so that they can receive full attention.

Anyway, we need to make this a priority. The administration has denied it's base on spending and immigration, let's not allow this to slip by. I wonder if we could start some kind of campaign to call attention to this issue. I don't have any idea how to get started, though.

[steve50]

If it was open it might not be illegal. Although I wouldn't be sure considering the laws. If my house is unlocked my neighbor still can't take my TV.

[TomGuy]

the way Senators Hatch and Frist have been rolling over for the same Democrats who have been treating them with contempt the past three years.

Yeh, that about sums up the Republican majority control of the Senate. Maybe they should seriously consider giving it back to the Dems. At least the Dems know how to be the majority party when they control the Senate.

[prov1813man]

What can they be thinking ? The other side leaks bona fide secret info, linked to our national security and the press focuses on the information revealed, not the law broken in releasing it. Here, an OPEN SERVER reveals.....you're right, there are just no words. I will vote for the President, but no money to the spineless ones in the Senate until they show some stones. Hatch is pathetic.

[DouglasKC]

Isn't hacking a government computer against the law?

Hacking wasn't involved. It's equivelent to the Democrats building a room without any doors, locks, or any other devices on it to keep people out. Into this room, they place documents in plain sight for any and all to read. They never mark the room as private. They never try to prevent anyone from going into the room. They then tell other democrats where they can find these documents.

At the very worst you can say that the Republicans had no right to go into that room. But in computer parlance they were granted permission to enter this room, maybe by mistake, but it was done nonetheless.

The Dims blew it, but they have been remarkably effective in making this "scandal" about something bad republicans did instead of what is really bad...the documents themselves.

[DouglasKC]

If it was open it might not be illegal. Although I wouldn't be sure considering the laws. If my house is unlocked my neighbor still can't take my TV.

That's true. But in a computer network you either specifically grant permission for people to enter, or you bar access. Intentions aren't enough. The Dims put a big sign on the door saying "Feel free to enter and look around." They might have believed the sign wasnt' there, but that's their own fault because they are the ones that set it up in the first place.

[ConservativeGadfly]

Fine by me. Let them complain away. Far as I'm concerned, this is the story of the day. WSJ seems to think so too. I don't care if it is wallpapered across Free Republic -- this deserves attention. Apparently the last post died this morning. I didn't see it. Sorry.

But this is critical. Those memos have serious ethical violations on the part of Senate Dems that are going unnoticed because the Republicans are too interested in investigating our own people.

So as long as people read this editorial, I could care less how much they complain.