Comments on: Operator Error

By: Callimachus

Callimachus — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 05:02:30 +0000

If the implication is incompetence, it’s fair game. If the implication is bias based on ethnicity, you’d better bring more to the table than the fact that this all involves people whose names end in vowels. Otherwise you’ll be slammed — and rightly. Some of the fiercest and boldest prosecutors of the Mob have been Italian-Americans. But it’s not clear to me that the memo meant to imply bias. I’m failing to see what this has to do with “victim culture.” Or is it a good thing to presume ethnic stereotypes to be true oin every case unless proven otherwise?

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 03:21:17 +0000

In light of the fact that the Right made a big deal about Ronnie Earle losing the Hutchison case as a symbol of his incompetence, I think it’s ridiculous to read an anti-Italian slur into the talking points. Mathews was just wrong. Alito lost a very high profile case in which 20 mobsters got off clean. The Government was embarrassed. And his reaction was “You win some, you lose some.” I’m not saying this disqualifies him for the court, but how is it not fair game? If an Italian prosecutor brings mob figures to trial, is no one supposed to talk about it because they might appear biased? The Right loves to talk about the “victim culture.” What hypocrisy.

By: Callimachus

Callimachus — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 00:12:43 +0000

Ah, very likely!

By: Hunter McDaniel

Hunter McDaniel — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 00:02:44 +0000

In this case it is probably true that the memo came from Chris Prendergast at the DNC,, who was ignorant of the metadata embedded by Word. But, human nature being what it is, it can’t be long before we get a scandal like this where the metadata has been faked in order to plant a dirty deed on someone else. Count on it.