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3 US workers face investigation over Obama e-mail »
Posted by: Aidenag 1 year, 10 months agoThree federal employees are being investigated for unlawful political activities after they allegedly sent an e-mail falsely accusing Barack Obama of being a "radical Muslim," the Globe has learned.
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Aidenag
Photographer by day, news junkie by night. My main areas of interest are politics and the environment.
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Comments: 90
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BronxBomber
Jan. 27, 2008, 7:09 p.m."A spokesman for the special counsel office, which has about 100 employees and a $17 million annual budget, said news of the investigations could deter other government employees from spreading partisan information over the Internet - including many who do NOT know it is illegal."
Yet they are aware of the violation of the Hatch Act, a 1939 law designed to help protect career government employees and the government workforce from the influence of partisan politics. The act bans civil servants from taking "any active part" in political campaigns while on the job.
This is murky, are they making up alibi's as they're going along? Are they saying that ignorance IS an excuse then?
Somethings not right here, and the punishment doesn't fit the crime in this case. They should be doing some time in the 'shark tank'.
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not2needy
Jan. 27, 2008, 7:10 p.m.FTA:
The US Office of Special Counsel - the independent federal agency responsible for enforcing a law banning civil service workers from engaging in political activism while performing their official duties - has launched investigations of two employees at one agency and one employee at another agency. All three are believed to have forwarded the erroneous chain e-mail about Obama from their government e-mail accounts.)
I worked for state govt here in Ky, and any usage of the computer for forwarding chain letters, comics, porn etc is illegal, and can result in termination. I am sure these employees knew the ramifications of what they were doing when they did it. They should be punished. NO EXCUSES!
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Beau7890
Jan. 27, 2008, 7:11 p.m.I'm not surprised. It's going to be hard for the Bush defenders to blame this one on the Clintons.
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NelsonR
Jan. 27, 2008, 7:18 p.m.Very hard to believe anyone could still think Obama is Muslim or other related misinformation.
Obama is accomplishing his own downfall hopefully if people read and think.
I would agree his oratory skills are superior and he invokes the words of other Presidents but if you look at his past and his known criminal associates you just may come back from the realm of hope and change and see what is. The man is a liar and a corrupt person without any redeeming qualities other than seemingly great lip service.
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AntiNeoCon
Jan. 27, 2008, 7:23 p.m.Are they serious? I think everyone got at least one email to that effect...I got several. No bid deal. They probably just forwarded the junk like everyone else does. I think BronxBomber may have sent me one. j/k
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uncle-dave
Jan. 27, 2008, 8:02 p.m.The pity is that the Hatch Act was designed to protect government employees from being pressured to support candidates that they may not want to support. Yet these Bozos forward these erroneous emails without any thought of the consequences of their actions.
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ProudBlueTexan
Jan. 28, 2008, 10:34 a.m."The e-mail questioning Obama's faith and patriotism, though widely discredited, is still alive on the Internet, where it has been forwarded to thousands of voters and has appeared on right-wing blogs."
It takes a republican.
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nikkibabe
Jan. 28, 2008, 10:41 a.m.First investigate these people:
Dick Cheney
Karl Rove
Alberto "Abu Ghraib" Amigo
Karen Hughes
Ari Fleischer
One or more of the above would be the culprits behind this. No one other than a disgraced neo con Republican would want to send e-mails like they did.
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scott4261
Jan. 28, 2008, 11:06 a.m.Barack Obama is not Muslim. That is patently false. This smear campaign will not be successful. And I believe he has energized young America unlike any candidate since John F. Kennedy.
The paradigm has shifted.
My mother is a 71-year old Republican who supported Presidents Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and - until recently - George W. Bush. The last Democratic presidential candidate she supported was Jimmy Carter in 1976. She is a classic conservative Catholic.
She says,"Do you remember Reagan Democrats? If Obama is the Democratic nominee, you will see many Obama Republicans...myself included!"
IMO, this is very telling. If the Democrats nominate Barack Obama he will win in a landslide!
The energy is different today. Obama's charisma will outshine and outlast Hillary's negative campaign against him. I must say I'm thoroughly disgusted by that.
He has widened the gap in the delegate count. And the energy toward Super-duper Tuesday February 5th changed Saturday.
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Klarissa
Jan. 28, 2008, 11:41 a.m.To be fair to Obama you should look at his church, no mention of Muslim.
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Searchbeam
Jan. 28, 2008, 11:47 a.m.Scott,
You are right on the money!
There are a lot of true Republicans AND Conservatives who are sick and tired of Dumbya years and the NeoFascist tactics. They are mad at the skyrocketing deficit, devaluation of Dollar and a godforsaken war started on lies and deceit, in a blatant disregard for the Constitution.
These are the folks who always voted their conscience, based upon the record of the candidate in true harmony with the Conservative principles.
They are frustrated that their party has been hijacked by NeoFascists and evangelical extremists such as Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell. They want to bring their party back to its roots and moorings. Obama offers the best hope to accomplish that, because he has emphasized over and over that we should not demonize our opponents. They have good ideas, too! He has stated his desire to bring this country together based on common values and common dreams.
More..
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Leemck02
Jan. 28, 2008, 2:39 p.m.When I think about the economy, including the sub-prime disaster, Vets that are not getting treatment, disaster preparedness in disarray, crumbling infrastructure and one calamity after the other, then something greater is wrong, knowing that government employees are part of the solution. Sad to say, but making an example has an effect. These workers should know they are being paid for services. Not only that, they have enough slander machines hired by the administration to spin and deceive. Some report just came out that said where other administrations had 1 to 2 PR firms, this Administration has 8. We are getting the best propaganda money can buy. Perhaps, these employees felt they needed to contribute a little more.
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THOMNH62
Jan. 28, 2008, 3 p.m.Klarissa for president, go girl and don't take any crap from these lib weenies, it surely sounds more like Hillary to me, what does GWB have to gain by calling Obama names. he may not be a radical muslim but his father was pretty damn close.
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THOMNH62
Jan. 28, 2008, 3:19 p.m.do a little digging and you may not like what you find, this is the type of stuff Hillary will be pulling out soon if she fears a loss. His father was a radical muslam and responsible for many crimes against humanity. The dirty little secret that is in his closet will be exploited by Hillary very soon, politics at it's best.
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Blackacereturn
Jan. 28, 2008, 4:28 p.m.I am afraid in the name of race and party politics we will miss out on a man that should be president! it's sad that even at this advance a time in our countries history, we are still this ass backwards. Maybe the rest of the world is correct when they say "you stupid Americans" for I feel the stupidity at times...like when I read some of the post here in this blog!
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rwrnae
Jan. 28, 2008, 4:36 p.m.Much ado about nothing. I must have received a dozen copies of this email, followed by a dozen more pointing out that it had been proven false. They are guilty of wasting taxpayers time sending personal emails but that's about it.
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