Bugging device found in Philadelphia mayor's office

[MGKrebs]

(CNN) -- An electronic bugging device was found Tuesday morning in the office of Philadelphia Mayor John Street, a spokeswoman for the mayor said.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/07/mayor.bugged/index.html

[jenk]

1. is he a dem or repug?

.

[jiacinto]

2. Democrat

He is in a tough re-election race against 1999 GOP nominee Sam Katz.

[liberalmuse]

3. It figures.

I mean, we all knew that he was a Dem. when we read the headline, didn't we?

[jiacinto]

7. Yeah

But this has been a tough race for Street.

[Delarage]

8. I think

that the FBI put it there. I saw the Philadelphia news and they were interviewing a lady from the FBI and she said they knew immediately that it had "nothing to do" with Street's campaign fight against Repuke Sam Katz. A reporter asked how they knew that and they basically said "no comment." The lady was then asked if the FBI put it there and she said "I can neither confirm nor deny that."

Earlier in the race, John Street's opponent's office was ALLEGEDLY the target of a Molatov cocktail although I never actually heard confirmation from the police and John Street's son was accused of harassing Katz workers. I don't know what came of that but I wouldn't put it past the Repukes concocting the whole thing, then having the FBI spy on Street to, ostensibly, find out if he was involved. Any info picked up along the way that could benefit Katz's campaign could just happen to fall in his lap.

A Repuke winning in Philadelphia? That's as absurd a notion as a Repuke winning the governorship in California. If it happens, I will suspect foul play.

[jiacinto]

10. Well Street eked out a win in 1999 by less than 10K votes

The other fact is that Street has a lot of high negatives. Race has also been an ugly part of this campaign. So a Katz victory is indeed plausible.

[Dogmudgeon]

12. GOP Strategery

The Democrats in Philly are very easily demoralized and dissuaded from voting. I would not put it past the FBI to have planted the bug, but if there is any kind of political scandal, the Philly Dems will stay home en masse.

I had always though that Sam Katz was an OK guy, but most of the mud seems to be coming from his camp this time. This is not to say that John Street is a warm and cuddly guy, but I am rather surprised by it. I thought Katz would take the "high road" and let Street bloody himself.

I'm a little amused, though, at the large number of RINOs who are carrying the torch for the GOP. I speak of people like Sam Katz (who has yet to win), Arnold Schwartzenegger, and the like. These victories are the ultimate in thin-ice wins for the neo-Conservative movement. Democrats will work against them, and the Rectal Right purist base hates them.

If the Bush administration falls in a scandal, I would expect every one of these Republicans to be single-term lame ducks, abandoned by a party in disgrace, attacked by angry partisans, and besieged by Democrats and other progressives.

--bkl

[izzie]

11. I told you the country is going mad.

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[MGKrebs]

13. You appear to be correct. Here's the link:

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/6959205.htm

SOURCE: BUG PART OF ONGOING FEDERAL PROBE

..."And that set off a flurry of speculation when FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi declined to say whether her agency had planted the devices.

Vizi did say the bugging was not related to the upcoming election. Asked how the FBI could know that, Vizi declined to explain"

[Forkboy]

4. I'm shocked I tell you

who would ever suspect a repub of doing something like this?

[Field Of Dreams]

5. Hmm ... does Karl Rove involve himself in elections

at the city level? :tinfoilhat:

[Delarage]

9. I'm sure

He would love to have a Repuke mayor welcoming Bush to Philly, with a paid crowd of supporters and a high number of minority faces in the background. Pennsylvania is a battleground state, you know.

[Bozita]

6. Sounds like plumbers left some stuff behind.

hhhhm. I feel like I've read this story a long time ago.