Dirty Trix Dept. Tidbit of the Day

Just a chatty sidebar before I get back to bigger, more depressing matters.

This, excerpted from an AP report that then-head of what Democrats think might be termed the White House GOP Campaign Dirty Tricks Department (Ken Mehlman, pictured) denied today that he had any knowledge of, or anything at all to do with, a telephone-line-jamming scheme that placed thousands of hang-up calls to a Democratic get-out-the-vote call center during the fiercely contested New Hampshire elections.

Democrats want an answer, since phone records belonging to the sterling fellow & GOP operative on the ground in N.H. indicate he made many calls to the White House during that time, and, er, it just looks bad:

"On Nov. 5, 2002, repeated hang-up calls jammed telephone lines at a Democratic get-out-the-vote center during a New Hampshire Senate race in which Republican John Sununu defeated Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, 51 percent to 46 percent.

"Phone records introduced in court show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 — as the phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly shut down. At the time, Tobin was New England chairman of Bush's re-election campaign and a top regional official of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

"The Justice Department has secured three convictions in the case but hasn't accused any White House or national Republican officials of wrongdoing, nor made any allegations suggesting party officials outside of New Hampshire were involved. The phone records of calls to the White House were exhibits in Tobin's trial but prosecutors did not make them part of their case."

My only question is NOT whether the guy, Ken Mehlman (photo), formerly in the aforementioned White House position, now with the Republican National Committee (guess he got promoted) is guilty.

I do, however, have a question for him, since he presumably had oversight of Tobin: is there NOTHING too petty, slimy & dirty to which to stoop in your view? Are you so lacking in confidence in the GOP agenda that you'd rather win by virtue of the lowest of low dirty tricks than permit a fair vote that stands as a referendum on GOP platforms? Guess you'll never let us answer that question.