“And when you have not just one, but a series of attempts to tap into people’s personal records, that’s a problem, not just for me, but for how our government is functioning.” — Sen. Obama:

The senator's words came in response to the revelation that employees within the State Department had been spying, not just on him, but all three presidential candidates. In addition, it has been revealed that the spying has been going on for months without the State Department revealing the fact. According to The New York Times,

The breaches are particularly mortifying for the State Department because officials there discovered them as far back as last summer, in the case of Mrs. Clinton, but did not inform any of the candidates until Thursday, after The Washington Times reported that Mr. Obama’s privacy had been violated.

At this point, it is still unclear whether the pilfering of private information was motivated by anything other than idle curiosity on the part of employees with too much time on their hands and too little work to do, or was motivated by some other, more insidious factor. But considering the culture of corruption and the attempts to undermine the constitutional government of The United States by the Bush administration, it should not be surprising.

What might be the motive? The private information could have been used for political dirty tricks in order to besmirch the names of the office seekers. We've already seen how easy it is to plant seeds of doubt into voters' minds. Despite the notoriety that Sen. Obama's Christian minister has gained, there are still fools who believe the senator is a Muslim. In a close election, a few idiots can make a difference in the outcome. As students of history are all too aware, even dead people might affect the outcome of an election (1960?).

U. S. Falls Behind in "The Debtor's Race":

Today's New York Times reports that not only has America fallen behind the European Union in terms of wealth, but we are also no longer the world's leading debtor nation! According to Times' reporter Julia Werdigier, "personal debt in the United States is $13.8 trillion, including mortgage debt, slightly less than the country’s $14 trillion G.D.P." While the sum of money far exceeds the $2.8 trillion debt owed by Britton's citizens, the latters gross national product (GNP) is slightly less than the total debt owed. (They have fewer people and make less stuff.)

Never fear, though, the U. S. still has 303 days of the Bush administration left. I'm sure George has a plan to put us back in first place.

Good News on the Medical Front:

According to The New York Times, "A long-running federal investigation into the orthopedic device industry’s suspected kickback payments to hip and knee surgeons now has the doctors in the spotlight." Who would have thought doctors capable of such things? (Right, as if this sort of thing hasn't been going on for decades.)

Power and Sex:

Gail Collins wants to get back to the nuts and bolts of state politics. She's tired of the sex scandal thing. Let's face it: we want our politicians to be like our parents—people who take care of us and people we can't imagine as having sexual appetites.

If you had studied history at all, you'd know there's nothing new about all of this.

Tales of the Housing Fiasco:

These stories are starting to show up everywhere. Today's Washington Post relates the tale of Glenda Ortiz, who agreed to pay $430,000 for a run-down, one-story house in 2005 that had sold for just one-third that amount the previous year. Apparently, Mrs. Ortiz couldn't read English, although she is a citizen of the U. S. She also paid $5,000 MORE than the asking price.

Shouldn't somebody be going to jail for this one?

Your daily dose of Bushism: "No question that the enemy has tried to spread sectarian violence. They use violence as a tool to do that." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., March 2006.