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Wikipedia Entries 'Cleaned' By Political Staffers
worb writes "According to the Lowell Sun, U.S. Rep Marty Meehan's staff has been heavily editing his Wikipedia bio, among other things removing criticisms. In total, more than one thousand Wikipedia edits in various articles have been traced back to congressional staffers at the U.S. House of Representatives in the past six months."
Democrats and Republicans are basically the same today.
Only if unimportant issues like abortion, foreign policy, ANWR/energy policy, taxes, religion and civil liberties don't matter to you.
I'm so sick of hearing this. Congrats to all the people who thought this and didn't come out to vote for Gore or Kerry. Or swallowed Nader's BS hook, line and sinker. You've handed the Federal judiciary to the far-right for the next few decades. You've alienated the rest of the World. You've committed American troops to be an occupying power in a hostile country with no foreseeable way out that doesn't create another theocracy.
No difference between the parties? Give me a fscking break.
Oh and if you think the Democrats are corporate sell outs or the Republicans don't represent true conservatism -- then why don't you register for whichever party and get off your lazy ass and vote in primaries? Or run for office? I guess it's much more productive to whine on /.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
If the edits in question had been made by the staff of a Republican, does anyone doubt that fact would be omitted from the summary? Had a Republican done this, we would have been informed of his party and had to suffer inane comments about the stifling of freedoms under the Bush administration. Just sayin'.
wouldn't it be easier to just write a script for slashdot that would copy all the stories from digg.com, after a 12-24 hour delay? This seems to happening for the majority of stories now. I'm not flamebaiting, just pointing out the obvious.
"Is this just useless, or is it expensive as well?"
Everybody go view the wikipedia entry on the Slashdot Effect, and it will be a victim of the very topic it is about.
Table-ized A.I.
WTF is this? I posted using my karma bonus, and the score was at Score:5, Informative a half hour ago. No negative moderations have occured, and now my post's moderation history doesn't say I used my karma bonus.
Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
Keep your eyes to the sky.
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff and an associate famously collected $82 million in lobbying and public relations fees from six Indian tribes and devoted a lot of their time to trying to persuade Republican lawmakers to act on their clients' behalf.
But Abramoff didn't work just with Republicans. He oversaw a team of two dozen lobbyists at the law firm Greenberg Traurig that included many Democrats. Moreover, the campaign contributions that Abramoff directed from the tribes went to Democratic as well as Republican legislators.
On washingtonpost.com | On the web
Among the biggest beneficiaries were Capitol Hill's most powerful Democrats, including Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) and Harry M. Reid (Nev.), the top two Senate Democrats at the time, Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), then-leader of the House Democrats, and the two lawmakers in charge of raising funds for their Democratic colleagues in both chambers, according to a Washington Post study. Reid succeeded Daschle as Democratic leader after Daschle lost his Senate seat last November.
Democrats are hoping to gain political advantage from federal and Senate investigations of Abramoff's activities and from the embattled lobbyist's former ties to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.). Yet, many Democratic lawmakers also benefited from Abramoff's political operation, a fact that could hinder the Democrats' efforts to turn the lobbyist's troubles into a winning partisan issue.
"It wouldn't surprise me to see the Abramoff controversy impact both parties," said Tony Raymond, co-founder of PoliticalMoneyLine.com, which gathers lobbying and campaign finance information.
Democratic lawmakers who responded to inquiries for this article said that any money they received from the tribes had nothing to do with Abramoff. They were quick to say they did not know the man.
Federal investigators are examining the millions of dollars in lobbying and public relations fees that Abramoff received from the tribes. They are also looking into his dealings with members of Congress and their staffs, lawyers involved in the inquiry said.
Most lobbying firms here are bipartisan, to give their clients access to key lawmakers of both major parties. Abramoff's group was no exception. Although he was recognized as a Republican lobbyist who was close to DeLay and other party leaders, Abramoff was careful to add at least two Democratic lobbyists to his group during his five years at Greenberg Traurig. By the end, seven of his lobbyists were Democrats.
"Lobbying shops typically direct contributions to both parties because they want contacts on both sides of the aisle," said David M. Hart, a professor of public policy at George Mason University. "Lawmakers in the minority can also have a lot of clout."
According to documents and tribal officials familiar with the Abramoff team's methods, the lobbyists devised lengthy lists of lawmakers to whom the tribes should donate and then delivered the lists to the tribes. The tribes, in turn, wrote checks to the recommended campaign committees and in the amounts the lobbyists prescribed. The money went to incumbents or selected candidates in open seats.
Because of the makeup of his team and the composition of Congress, the Abramoff lobbyists channeled most of their clients' giving to GOP legislators, according to a review of public records. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of an Appropriations subcommittee that frequently deals with Indian matters, received the largest amount from the tribes as well as from the Greenberg Traurig lobbyists who helped direct those donations: $141,590 from 1999 to 2004, the study showed.
But Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) ran second, with $128,000 in the same period. From 1999 to 2001, Kennedy chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which solicited campaign donations for House candidates.
Uhh, heard any Bush speeches lately?
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