Actually it is logical to shy away from politics. The costs of learning enough about every candidate's positions on the issues you care about so you can make an informed decision are high. (Quick: Where does each Democrat stand on H1B visas?) There is also a cost involved in going to the polling place. In nearly all elections, the actual benefits (as opposed to the feel-good psychological benefits) are low. In addition, politicians tend to employ inflammatory rhetoric, weak reasoning, and sometimes just say nonsense. Paying attention to politicians can make you dumb. Just look at the idiocy from Al Sharpton in this week's presidential debate (others said stupid things too, but this is remarkable): http://www.politechbot.com/docs/sharpton.debate.012204.txt He wants to eliminate "mass production." Because the average standard of living for everyone was better in a feudal society, I suppose. -Declan --- From: "Douglas Campbell" <drcampbell@private> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan@private> Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 18:00:35 +0000 Subject: Senate panel's GOP staff pried on Democrats - from the Boston Globe You'll probably see this more than once, but it definitely belongs on the PoliTech list: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/01/22/infiltration_of_files_seen_as_extensive/ (and they wonder why so many Americans hate politics) Infiltration of files seen as extensive Senate panel's GOP staff pried on Democrats By Charlie Savage, Boston Globe Staff, 1/22/2004 WASHINGTON -- 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. The office of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms William Pickle has already launched an investigation into how excerpts from 15 Democratic memos showed up in the pages of the conservative-leaning newspapers and were posted to a website last November. With the help of forensic computer experts from General Dynamics and the US Secret Service, his office has interviewed about 120 people to date and seized more than half a dozen computers -- including four Judiciary servers, one server from the office of Senate majority leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, and several desktop hard drives. But the scope of both the intrusions and the likely disclosures is now known to have been far more extensive than the November incident, staffers and others familiar with the investigation say. The revelation comes as the battle of judicial nominees is reaching a new level of intensity. Last week, President Bush used his recess power to appoint Judge Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, bypassing a Democratic filibuster that blocked a vote on his nomination for a year because of concerns over his civil rights record. Democrats now claim their private memos formed the basis for a February 2003 column by conservative pundit Robert Novak that revealed plans pushed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, to filibuster certain judicial nominees. Novak is also at the center of an investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA agent whose husband contradicted a Bush administration claim about Iraqi nuclear programs. Citing "internal Senate sources," Novak's column described closed-door Democratic meetings about how to handle nominees. ... - - - When I die, bury me in Chicago so I can keep voting. Douglas Campbell, P.E. The Green Party's first candidate for Governor of Michigan, 2002 335 e. Lewiston Ferndale, Michigan 48220-1356 42° 27' 52" N - 83° 8' 5" W - 645' MSL DrCampbell@private (248) 542-5216 (voice) (419) 735-17-87 (fax) ----- End forwarded message ----- _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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