Rove vs. Evade

Over the next few days, quite a bit will be written about this.

In fact, Time has already given strong hints that Karl Rove was a source. I don't know anything more than I've read through MSM about this, but I do want to write a bit about laws and politics.

Almost every hack I have ever known has broken a law at some point or another. In fact, breaking laws and bylaws, and figuring out how to get away with it, has become a major part of any campaign. In the last campaign I managed, we lost over $5000 worth of property in one day! So I wasn't surprised when the opponent lost a similar amount the next day. I didn't instruct anyone to do it and to this day I have no idea who did it, but I didn't spend lots of time trying to figure out who it was either. These things are small change compared to what happens in big campaigns.

In the states, tires are slashed, voters are bribed with booze, fake registrations are sent, and entire ballot boxes are lost. Even here in Canada, there are ridings where no conservative dare send a scrutineer. I have heard of one instance when a Conservative scrutineer was greeted with a gun in his face when he showed up to observe the count. (the poll went 95% Liberal)

I say this to say that the culture of criminality in politics is abundant. So why are people surprised when the biggest hacks in the world are accused of committing such serious crimes? If they start by slashing signs when they are 14, should we really be shocked when they give away state secrets when they are 40?