Anyone who's a glutton for punishment—like me—and has a strange fascination with right-wing rants, should make a point of stopping by the Powerline website on a regular basis.
In one of his latest posts, Powerline editor John Hinderaker gets his undies in a real bunch over the Minnesota Senate race between Democrat Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney, and Republican Congressman Mark Kennedy. Hinderaker seems awfully focused on a brewing mini-scandal involving Klobuchar's campaign staff:
Klobuchar is sensitive to crime issues, as violent crime is skyrocketing on her watch in Hennepin County. So she may have been chagrined to learn that a left-wing blogger apparently had hacked into Mark Kennedy's secure server and viewed a prospective Kennedy commercial; that the blogger had passed the login information on to Klobuchar's campaign spokeswoman, Tara McGuinness, last Saturday; that McGuinness watched the illegally-obtained commercial, and then recruited other Klobuchar staffers to view it.
The Associated Press story on the scandal assures us that, while Klobuchar's most trusted staffers may have committed federal crimes, the candidate herself is innocent. But how do we know that? There are a number of obvious questions that have yet to be answered:
Oh, are there!
Was the conduct of Klobuchar's staff a federal crime, or was it only unethical?
Why did Amy Klobuchar—who now holds herself out as an exemplar of effective law enforcement—wait for four days to report to the FBI the possible commission of a federal crime by persons associated with her campaign?
Did Klobuchar deliberately withhold evidence of a crime committed by her staffers until after the Star Tribune completed its polling?
Has Klobuchar been briefed on the contents of the ad? Was the hacked ad used to prepare Klobuchar for her debate with Kennedy? At what point did Klobuchar find out that her campaign was using information obtained, apparently, in violation of federal law?
Did Klobuchar herself violate any federal criminal statute? Is she subject to criminal prosecution? Did she or someone on her staff put the unidentified blogger up to the task of hacking into her opponent's server?
Could I insinuate anything imaginable, and smear a candidate into defeat with all of my possibilities?
Ok, I wrote that last part. Hinderaker thought this story was such a big deal, he titled the post "Klobuchar Campaign Imploding?". However, I have a hunch about what's really getting him so incensed:
U.S. Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar continues to hold a dominant lead over GOP rival Mark Kennedy, 56 to 32 percent, in the latest Minnesota Poll.
Ouch. Imploding, huh?
Is John Hinderaker in denial? Why did John leave Klobuchar's enormous polling lead out of a post titled "Klobuchar Campaign Imploding?"? Does he think no one else has heard of the Internet?
Is writing everything in question format annoying? Is it addictive? Is that why John is so compulsive with the questions? Is that why I can't stop either? Is this contagious, or something? Can I please stop now, long after my "joke" is dead and buried?
