Roberts Hearing Has Paris Hilton Moment

AP ^ | 9/15 | LAURIE KELLMAN

[SmithL]

WASHINGTON -- Paris Hilton's name made John Roberts' Supreme Court nomination a bit sexier Thursday.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., interrupted the Judiciary Committee's somber discussion of constitutional matters with the suggestion that a recent case involving the hotel heiress should serve as a precedent for protecting the Senate panel's stolen records.

Last year, Republican staffers were caught snooping through Democratic computer files, some of which outlined strategy for blocking Bush's judicial nominees.

A world away, Hilton — whose sex video with an ex-boyfriend became a cyberspace novelty — was the victim of a teenage hacker who broke into T-Mobile's computer system, obtained her list of celebrity phone numbers and posted them online. The teenager, a minor, was sentenced this week to 11 months in a juvenile facility.

The two cases should be connected, Durbin reported writing in a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.

"I asked the attorney general to please ask our special counsel in this case to take a look at the precedent of the Paris Hilton case and see if he can perhaps protect our records as much as we want to protect that poor young lady's telephone records," Durbin said at the hearing.

Vanity Fair magazine, whose cover features a virtually topless Hilton this month, says she earned about $7 million last year and is expected to inherit $30 million.

[SmithL]

Durbin is as relevant as Paris Hilton.

[ncountylee]

Nice to know Durban's a fan, how about Sandy Dick head?

[Virginia Queen]

What a moron!!!!!!!!!!!

[Vaquero]

Durbin is as big of a c**t as Paris Hilton. (what does coot) have to do with anything)

[andyk]

Last year, Republican staffers were caught snooping through Democratic computer files, some of which outlined strategy for blocking Bush's judicial nominees.

How does one "snoop" on a completely unprotected network? It's fascinating that she chooses to characterize the actions of Manuel Miranda, but the democrat's strategy is just so innocuous.

[zarf]

I believe Durbin is a "runt" except with a "c".

[L98Fiero]

"Last year, Republican staffers were caught snooping through Democratic computer files, some of which outlined strategy for blocking Bush's judicial nominees."

I don't remember this. Is he referring to the accidentially shared folder that everyone had access to?

[OldFriend]

Poor young lady?

[lugsoul]

That's hot.

[SoothingDave]

Is he referring to the accidentially shared folder that everyone had access to?

No, he's referring to the incompetently shared folder that everyone had access to.

SD

[sgtbono2002]

Yeah that reference to Paris Hilton as a poor young lady hit me too. She is far from poor , she is young, but her actions in a porn film disqualify her from being called a lady IMHO.

[thegreatbeast]

Thank you. I never heard of anybody hacking the Democrat computers. Rather, it appeared as though their intellectual slovenliness manifested itself on their computers.

[andyk]

That's hot.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah! LMAO!

[Bush 100 Percent]

What about the "Freedom of Information Act"?

Seems to me that that ought to apply to Durbin's records. Seriously.

They're elected officials, aka part of "the government". I've never understood why the FOIA doesn't extend to them. Now that they're trying to afford themselves the protection of private citizens ...... Shouldn't FOIA flags be going off?

[andyk]

t appeared as though their intellectual slovenliness manifested itself on their computers.

Such a shame, too, considering that the MSM's spin that Republicans were spying on the Democrats completely overshadowed the racist, pandering content of the memos themselves.

[ExcursionGuy84]

Poor young lady?

And Lib's think President Bush has a low IQ....Turban Durbin must reside under a moutain range somewhere.

[kas2591]

There are two relevant issues:

1. The Senate computer network is government rather than private property, therefore they should have no right to privacy on a workplace communications system.

2. Is there a confidentiality provision in their work product. If someone were to make an GOIA request, they would find out fairly quickly.

[Chode]

notice that useless POS made no mention of what was IN those damning memmos...

[1stAmendmentRocks]

I think Durbin must be thinking about a dreamy vacation in Paris at taxpayer's expense. However he's not obviously thought out all the baggage that he'll have dogging him if he makes the plunge.

[Utilizer]

? "r-u-n-C?"