What's in a passport file? Just distraction from a campaign meltdown or something more?

[Karmadillo]

Keeps Keith & others at GEMSNBCOBAMATV from having to talk much about Kerry's statement or the "typical white person" thing, but I'm betting there's not much there here.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/3/20/20559/3085

As MSNBC continues to hyperventilate over the breach of Barack Obama's "passport file", I'm wondering, what's in a passport file? I thought it's just a file for your applications. When I get visas to travel to other countries, I apply to their consulate, not the U.S.

Bill Clinton's passport files were breached in 1992 when some pages were found missing and the FBI launched an investigation. So what's in a passport file?

Typically such files, which are maintained for all people who receive passports, include materials like passport applications and supporting identity documents.

The following possible forms as being in your passport file:

Passport -- DS-0010 Birth Affidavit < 205 Kb>
-- DS-0011 Application for U.S. Passport or Registrations (Fillable) < 1001 Kb>
-- DS-0011 Application for U.S. Passport or Registrations (Non-Fillable) < 743 Kb>
-- DS-0060 Affidavit Regarding Change of Name < 222 Kb>
-- DS-0064 Statement Regarding Lost or Stolen Passport < 231 Kb>
-- DS-0071 Affidavit of Identifying Witness < 215 Kb>
-- DS-0082 Application for U.S. Passport by Mail (Fillable) < 717 Kb>
-- DS-0082 Application for U.S. Passport by Mail (Non-Fillable) < 787 Kb>
-- DS-0086 Statement of Nonreceipt of Passport < 236 Kb>
-- DS-1173 Passport File Request Form < 224 Kb>
-- DS-3053 Statement of Consent: Issuance of a Passport to a Minor under Age 16 (Fillable) < 157 Kb>
-- DS-3053 Statement of Consent: Issuance of a Passport to a Minor under Age 16 (Non-Fillable) < 143 Kb>
-- DS-3077 Request for Entry into Children's Passport Issuance Alert Program < 207 Kb>
-- DS-4085 Application for Additional Visa Pages (Fillable) < 729 Kb>
-- DS-4085 Application for Additional Visa Pages (Non-Fillable) < 614 Kb>
-- DS-5504 U.S. Passport Re-Application (Fillable) < 955 Kb>
-- DS-5504 U.S. Passport Re-Application (Non-Fillable) < 881 [br />The Obama campaign is calling for an investigation, blasting the Bush Administration. The State Department says three low-level employees got curious and looked at them.

Anything to distract from Michigan and Florida and disenfranchising over 2 million Democrats.

[high density]

1. Oh yes, fuck the people who expect privacy from their government

:eyes:

[Mezzo]

34. and fuck the people who want their votes to count nt

[Nitrogenica]

2. Ignore, bye-bye.

Sorry.

[Karmadillo]

29. So here's the PDF of the treasure map I promised you. First, you go---Oh. Nevermind.

nt

[LSparkle]

3. Where you've traveled, for one thing

That was why they wanted to look at Clinton's file -- to see if he'd gone to U.S.S.R. If Obama happened
to go to ANY country the Repugs consider to harbor "terraists" they could use it against him.

[B2G]

6. Or where you haven't traveled.

To undermine your claims on foreign policy experience.

[LSparkle]

14. He's not the one claiming to have visited 80 countries ...

His foreign policy credentials are rooted in his judgment, his ability to
surround himself with good people and his outlook on the world which has
been shaped by his upbringing (including living overseas).

[BeatleBoot]

26. I've heard that one before from somewhere....

"He'll be fine. He'll surround himself with good people..."

Where did I hear that before?





Oh yeah!

[rainbow4321]

35. Exactly...HRC thinks 80 tea parties with other countries' first ladies

qualifies her to be in the WH..she said it right here at a Dallas rally...ok, so she left out the part about tea parties..that was just what image came to my mind when I read the comment. That or shopping trips with Chelsea in tow.

[MaryCeleste]

28. Would that information even be in the Passport File?

I have all my old passports, there is no way the State Dept knows where all I have been

[rainbow4321]

42. According to a news report tonight there can be much more in the files

when an American is **living overseas**. Let's remember here, he was NOT just a tourist in another for a week, he LIVED overseas.

The news report said that info in the passport files can be things like what schools are attended, any child custody issues going on, any issues a kid had at school, and much more everyday life/legal things are recorded in those files, renouncing US citizenship, etc... Something about information is gathered and kept for the US embassy (paraphrasing, maybe someone else heard more specifics).

So bottom line is this involves MUCH more snooping than "what countries has he visited". If the file contains stuff like the report listed, they were digging for something way more.

[K Gardner]

4. You're smarter than that. So this OP is ridiculous.

[Fresh_Start]

5. are you saying it doesn't include information

about which countries you've visited and when?

I wondered when passports got more electronic if they're tracking exit/entrance information as well

[Tellurian]

7. Yes, Kerry the boondoggler, promoting the advantage of Obama converting Islam

in desi's profound words: "What a dunce"

[democrattotheend]

30. So Kerry can be a little gaffe-prone...is that really even news?

[democrattotheend]

31. So Kerry can be a little gaffe-prone...is that really even news?

And what he said is true, btw. Electing Obama would send a signal to the world. A lot of the third world views us as European colonial oppressors, and electing a black man who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia would do a lot for our image abroad. Why do you think he won the Democrats Abroad primary overwhelmingly?

[rodeodance]

8. oh my--now you gave them an opportunity to have a tizzy--

[damndude]

9. i believe it shows

the fear on the part of the establishment on the prospect of true change in the favor of the american people. what this could point to is the attempts to find any attempt to assassinate the candidate without firing a weapon. they are digging for everything they can. they are throwing everything they can at him. he's been knocked off his stride but he hasn't been on the ropes. currently this is the candidate of the people and there is real fear in that for many people. as i stated elsewhere, this is dangerous. the wheels of republican government are organizing the swipe another one.

[npincus]

10. call it sniffing around for dirt- Obama's had a passport for his whole life

and it's a very long record. No campaign meldown; that's only wishful thinking on behalf of HRC supporters such as yourself and the RW punditry.

[Serial Mom]

11. well, if you fully informed yourself

you would have heard that comments & statements are added from people in other countries about what you were doing there. This could come from anybody you came in contact with in that country and without your knowledge that they were commenting to state dept about you!

I think this is a little more than just another distraction since it did happen in 1991 to Clinton and geo h w was investigated.

[joshcryer]

12. This passport controversy doesn't have wings. It won't fly.

It's 3 distinct workers plugging in his information and getting his data.

Hell, statistically speaking they're probably freaking Obama supporters (technically minded younger individuals who would be doing data entry and the such).

[Barack_America]

16. Er, it managed to make it to the front page of FoxNews.

MSNBC and CNN. So...

I find it odd and disturbing that you are less interested in the GOP possibly snooping in a Democratic candidate's files than you are with a "scandal" that FoxNews is salivating over AGAINST a Democratic candidate.

[Barack_America]

13. Alright then, let's see it. Where have you traveled? Why did you travel there?

Who have you associated with? Who are you related to?

Air it out for all of us to see.

What? No? This stuff is private?

Ahhhhhh...

[Lint Head]

15. The fucking Nazis asked for your papers.

You cannot transverse the fatherland unless we see your papers. Where have you been? Who have you associated with?
Have you been meeting with Al Qaeda in another country? All passports are stamped. :dem:

[Forkboy]

17. Sad yet totally predictable.

[americanstranger]

18. My God, people are fucking dense.

If you can't get past your hate of Obama to see how serious this is, you should take a hammer and bash your own skull in.

- as

[stillcool]

19. Violation of Privacy and a Major Security Breech...

for political purposes. No big deal to you, but rules and laws still matter to some of us.

[stop the bleeding]

20. Fucking Dumbest POST of the NIGHT and that says A LOT for GDP

:wtf:

Passport info is inclusive of ALL you personal information - a passport file is the holy grail of personal info.

again :wtf::wtf:

I expect no response

[Karmadillo]

21. Woof!

nt

[stop the bleeding]

22. Is that all you got? Dawg?

:beer:

[Karmadillo]

25. How much should one have at this point in the story?

I said I'm guessing there's not much to this story, but Obama partisans, like Keith, will try to use it to turn the narrative away from Obama's bad, bad week. If I'm wrong, I'll be more than glad to own up to it.

[Patsy Stone]

36. It's still early.

I wouldn't award that honor just yet. But, it's definitely a strong contender.

:toast:

[kwenu]

23. It is an extreme violation of privacy and federal law as well as a Secret Service security breach.

Sorry, you're disappointed with the interruption of your pettiness.

[DerekJ]

24. HEY!!

[Karmadillo]

27. And you're very intelligent and an asset to every thread you grace.

nt

[Karmadillo]

32. Apparent answer: just a distraction.

nt

[SharonAnn]

40. Distraction from this: Oil Deal for Alaska Wildlife Refuge on Fast Track

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3236636

Source: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Website)

OIL DEAL FOR ALASKA WILDLIFE REFUGE ON FAST TRACK — Yukon Flats Land Exchange Tied to Oil Development but No Time for Appraisals

Washington, DC — A massive land-for-oil swap in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge aims to open much of eastern Alaska up to petroleum development, according to comments filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The land exchange is moving quickly despite the absence of any land appraisals for the more than half-million acres involved. One preliminary estimate puts potential undiscovered Yukon oil resources at one-third the size of Alaska’s largest North Slope field.

...

“Interior is trying to accomplish on the Yukon what Congress denied them on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” stated Grady Hocutt, a former long-time refuge manager who directs the PEER refuge program. “The net result will sweep a vital wildlife refuge into an oil rush, crisscrossed with pipelines and roads.”

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the exchange outlines a panoply of potential detrimental impacts, including higher air pollution, discharge of greenhouse gases, “excessive draw down of surface waters,” loss of wetlands from drainage to build oil platforms, as well as threats to water quality and the risk of oil spills. The deadline for public comments on the land exchange is March 25th.

... “There is a rush to complete this exchange before anyone realizes what has been given away.”

Read more: http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1012

[Mezzo]

33. It was on the FRONT BANNER at HuffPo, while Hillary's is off to the side today...

the msm is giving him a ride right now because they know McCain can beat him.

[Straight Shooter]

37. Some chuckleheads look at O's passport file, but bush is probably tapping his phone.

Claire McCaskill, a major O endorser, thinks telecoms should have immunity for having spied on us. Where's the anger about that?

If Clinton's were the only passport file that had been breached, the O camp would probably say her own people set it up, as a Rovian device.

[McCamy Taylor]

38. Maybe they told McCain his got snooped and he insisted they tell Obama

because he didn't want to get implicated later in any cover up and that was why they finally told Obama about the three attempts to look at his file.

That is the best explanation I can think of for why they finally came out and told Obama now after all the cover up. If a GOPer had never been spied upon, maybe they would never have told.


Would McCain's Vietnam service years be in that record? Or his trips back for MIA stuff? Some of the military contractors might try to blackmail him and use that whole Manchurian candidate thing to get him.

I am betting that it was MIC guys trying to get secrets on the three possible presidents to use for blackmail. The WH would just use AT&T.

[Straight Shooter]

39. Anything's possible at this point, as long as bush is still around. n/t

[Honeycombe8]

41. Sorry, you're all wet on this one. This is serious. First, it's a criminal offense...

to disseminate the information in the file. Second, it's an administrative offense to view it, if you're not authorized. Third, it contains the Social Sec. number, addresses, phone numbers, indications of travel plans in the past which may indicate future plans, and all sorts of private things.

It is very important. The candidates didn't "create" this offense. It was committed AGAINST them.

You're blaming hte wrong people. If you don't care if someone goes into a computer, unauthorized, and views your social security number and other personal information about you and your family, that's your business. But most people would care very much.