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The Ridiculous LexisNexis Search that the Justice Department Used

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the your-government-ruining-america dept.

jamie writes "The politicization of Bush's Justice Department, which this week was officially determined to be illegal, has a funny side too. Sometime in 2005-2006, White House Liaison Jan Williams attended a seminar on LexisNexis searches, and wrote one herself. When she left, she passed it on to her successor Monica Goodling in an email. Justin Mason, author of SpamAssassin, is skeptical about its accuracy:

[First name of a candidate]! and pre/2 [last name of a candidate] w/7 bush or gore or republican! or democrat! or charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam! or defend! or iran contra or clinton or spotted owl or florida recount or sex! or controvers! or racis! or fraud! or investigat! or bankrupt! or layoff! or downsiz! or PNTR or NAFTA or outsourc! or indict! or enron or kerry or iraq or wmd! or arrest! or intox! or fired or sex! or racis! or intox! or slur! or arrest! or fired or controvers! or abortion! or gay! or homosexual! or gun! or firearm!

Needless to say, when asked about it, Williams first said she didn't remember ever seeing it, then said she'd used an edited version just once. LexisNexis records show she used it, as shown, 25 times." Note that 'sex!' appears twice in the query. Must be VERY important.

5 of 589 comments (clear)

  1. Re:spotted owl? by Oh+no,+it's+Dixie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Spotted Owl Party members are among the most dangerous people to have in the DOJ. If allowed into the DOJ, they will do everything in their power to preserve the environment and wellbeing of this bird, no matter what the financial or human cost.

  2. Re:spotted owl? by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not really surprising. Spotted owls are notoriously poor prosecutors. They also have a well-known bias against rats and other vermin, making them unsuitable for political work.

  3. Re:spotted owl? by gnick · · Score: 5, Funny

    My clock is digital with 1 minute resolution and is set ~30 seconds slow. It's right 1440 times a day - Try that trick with a broken clock.

    You insensitive clod.

    --
    He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  4. Re:The spotted owl is a shibboleth. by Intron · · Score: 5, Funny

    Whereas anyone who said "To hell with the Republicans!" was probably a Spotted Owl.

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  5. Re:Yes, you hate George Bush ... by sqrt(2) · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...the damage good ole [President Bill Clinton]...did to us

    8 years of peace and prosperity ending with a budget surplus?

    --
    If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org