Change you can give your personal information for
posted at 6:50 pm on November 6, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Share on Facebook | regular view
I decided to take a look at the website for the incoming Barack Obama administration, The Office of the President-Elect — and it looks an awful lot like a campaign site. It announces that “change has come to America”, even though Obama is still more than two months from taking the oath of office. It’s replete with campaign slogans on Iraq, the economy, and other issues. None of this is terribly new, and it all looks like it got transplanted from BarackObama.com.
However, this site has a .gov top-level domain (change.gov). That is reserved for “qualified government organizations and programs”. The incoming administration technically has no status as a government organization or program until January 20, 2009. The “Office of the President-Elect” doesn’t exist within the government. Furthermore, the use seen at the site is clearly promotional for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and should have been kept at their own campaign domain rather than set up as an official US government site.
And why are they using a .gov site to compile mailing lists?
Why does the government need to collect e-mails and addresses from citizens in order to share their stories with the President-Elect? What purpose does the OPE have for this information? Are they hoping to build a list to sell to political allies, or perhaps just to telemarketers to help pay off the deficit? Since this is hosted as a government site, I think they need to explain what official use they will make of this information.
If we’re going to have a perpetual campaign in the next administration, they could at least have the decency to use their private-sector domain name.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »
Hey that serves the community, right?
petunia on November 6, 2008 at 7:42 PM
And ANOTHER thing…I’m a college student, and a full time employee of the Department of Defense, and a 47 year old wife, mother, and grandmother – where the he!! am I going to find another 100 hours to perform “community service”?
This is wrong on so many levels –
Now, I’m really pissed.
uncivilized on November 6, 2008 at 7:42 PM
Hell yes.
darwin on November 6, 2008 at 7:42 PM
I wonder if, through all the stress of the office, the POSSOBBHO will smoke 3 packs of cigarettes per day?
carbon_footprint on November 6, 2008 at 7:41 PM
beththebaker on November 6, 2008 at 7:43 PM
Duh, of course it is constitutional. He was a constitutional lawyer after all. You wouldn’t think the POSSOBBHO would break laws or the constitution do you?
carbon_footprint on November 6, 2008 at 7:43 PM
JohnTant on November 6, 2008 at 7:42 PM
I have fired a few guns at some ranges. Few.
I keep thinking I would shoot myself in the foot. I used to be tough and nimble. But that’s not going to stop an intruder at my age.
I keep thinking….I must be insane not to have one around.
Especially now.
Scoreboard44 on November 6, 2008 at 7:44 PM
Yes, I think someone should do a study and see just how much sales on alcohol, tobacco and firearms have increased since Tuesday night.
carbon_footprint on November 6, 2008 at 7:44 PM
Free for me. Not so much so for you.
OberfeldwebelSchultz on November 6, 2008 at 7:44 PM
That’s what I would call a draft.
Enoxo on November 6, 2008 at 7:45 PM
If you refuse compulsory servitute, you will be sent down river.
Christien on November 6, 2008 at 7:46 PM
REQUIRE? REQUIRE?
Are we sure this is not a hoax?
AnthonyK on November 6, 2008 at 7:46 PM
Actually the rate of firearms sales in my county has tripled.I was at the gun shop last week with my MOM who wants one now. He said sales have been unreal.
beththebaker on November 6, 2008 at 7:46 PM
What was Michelle O’s statement about how when He becomes president we would have to leave our comfort zones or something? I can’t remember the exact quote. Hell of a few years we are in for.
carbon_footprint on November 6, 2008 at 7:46 PM
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday proposed $4.4 billion in new taxes and a similar amount in spending cuts to deal with California’s worsening fiscal crisis, saying, “We must stop the bleeding.”
Much of the new revenue would come from a 1.5-percentage-point increase in the sales tax [on top of the already highest in the nation 7.25 percent]; the Republican governor described the hike as temporary but did not say how long it would last.
- W.C. Varones (Polipundit)
MB4 on November 6, 2008 at 7:47 PM
Good luck finding one – the local news said last week that there had been a run on guns and ammunition; perfectly normal in an election in which the frontrunner is pro-gun control.
uncivilized on November 6, 2008 at 7:47 PM
I believe it.
carbon_footprint on November 6, 2008 at 7:47 PM
Just get the all-american .45 and not a Euro-pellet 9mm. :)
JohnTant on November 6, 2008 at 7:47 PM
Good! We need millions and millions of people to react exactly as you have.
This is all about LIBERTY and the Republicans (and Libertarians) need to destroy Obama over this issue.
Buy Danish on November 6, 2008 at 7:48 PM
And so it begins. If you thought the government was big now, wait until Obama and “universal citizen service” Rahm Emanuel get going.
The 2012 candidate will also be able to run on “change”…
WisCon on November 6, 2008 at 7:48 PM
I have my answer to the community service requirement right here, using just one finger.
I haven’t bought and alcohol, tobacco, or firearms since the election (yet), but I am running out of antacids. At this rate, I’ll have a full-grown ulcer by Jan. 20th.
Anna on November 6, 2008 at 7:49 PM
Before any of you greenhorns run out and stick some iron in your pants you need to first go to the NRA and join.
Get on THE LIST that matters.
$35 gets you 40,000,000 friends.
Limerick on November 6, 2008 at 7:49 PM
Picked up an RPK and a AK-47 (wanted a AK-47, but they were out).
A better investment than Gold, if you have bought a Full Auto in 1985 for $2000, it’d be worth about $45K thanks to one of the few times Reagan sold out and banned automatic weapons.
Tim Burton on November 6, 2008 at 7:49 PM
Wow, he is going to piss off all those people on welfare who voted him in if he actually makes them get out of the house and work. This could have some good points to it.
carbon_footprint on November 6, 2008 at 7:50 PM
Life member.
uncivilized on November 6, 2008 at 7:50 PM
Exactly. Rahm Emanuel is the change agent.
Buy Danish on November 6, 2008 at 7:50 PM
ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME?
Change-dot-effing-GOV? From the “Office of the Present-Elect?”
Foreign Policy: “Opposed Bush-Cheney Saber Rattling”
Medvedev saber rattling? No prob, bro!
Thanks, pointy-headed intellectual elite, for bringing us change we can believe in!
saint kansas on November 6, 2008 at 7:51 PM
They are to center/moderate to join. The 2nd Amendment isn’t for hunting or self-protection against criminals. It is protection from Tyranny. Until the NRA acknowledges that, we have a disagreement.
Tim Burton on November 6, 2008 at 7:51 PM
I think it’s probably “legal” in Barry’s mind. He believes he has ascended to a level where nothing he does is questionable.
Worry more about the staff you can’t see since they will believe they will be able to get away with anything they want, with BHO’s tacit approval. Whistle blowers will simply disappear.
Yoop on November 6, 2008 at 7:51 PM
A friend of ours has a FFL, and runs a gun shop out of his home – he said all of his distributors have backordered AR-15’s, and the prices have gone way up. Told my husband he should have bought one last year.
uncivilized on November 6, 2008 at 7:52 PM
uncivilized on November 6, 2008 at 7:50 PM
Yes sir. Really.
Like I said, I wasn’t brought up on them, I have boxed a little, done some Martial arts, but that ain’t enough.
I agree. Really.
This latest website just has scared even more Hell outta me.
Scoreboard44 on November 6, 2008 at 7:53 PM
Example of the NRA being Pro-Gun Control
Tim Burton on November 6, 2008 at 7:53 PM
But, but, but Peggy said I didn’t have to work to put gas in my car, or to pay my house off! WHAT IS THIS ABOUT GOING OUT AND WORKING!!
Enoxo on November 6, 2008 at 7:53 PM
Arnold is not really republican… California is such a mess you’d think republicans could use it as a role model: how liberals to run gov’t ..that might win us a few votes
beththebaker on November 6, 2008 at 7:54 PM
Road to Serfdom, Parliament of Whores, Anarchy State and Utopia by Robert Nozick and anything by Thomas Sowell. Tom Wolfe points out the folly of the lefties and their romanticism, even if he doesn’t make a case for conservatism in Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers is a good read. The Federalist, Democracy in America, The Wealth of Nations, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and Edmund Burke if you want to get into some of the nice vintage bottles.
shazbat on November 6, 2008 at 7:54 PM
Ah! A chink in their armor has been found in their contradictional philosophy in the context of freedom of choice. Hmm. Now to exploit it on two fronts.
midlander on November 6, 2008 at 7:56 PM
More nuggets:
Class.
Bush is still the friggin’ president, asshole.
saint kansas on November 6, 2008 at 7:57 PM
Let’s play nice and congratulate them, right?
Just the way they did ChimpyMcBushitler and Darth Cheney.
Who doesn’t want a crypto-Marxist parasitic tumor infiltrating the nation?
profitsbeard on November 6, 2008 at 7:59 PM
An M4 runs between 1000 and 1300.
Plenty in my state.
Yesterday walked into Cabelas, walked out with 9mm handgun and .17cal plinkster an hour later. One quick call to ATF and you are good to go.
Looking for a home defense gun? MOSSBERG model 88 shotgun.
$150 at Academy Sports (and others). It ain’t pretty but it works every single time. Made in Texas too.
Limerick on November 6, 2008 at 8:00 PM
A question: from now on, are we going to have any idea what is really going on in our government? Considering the way the MSM has demonstrated that they will cover up anything detrimental to Obama and that there will be no congressional oversight, are we ever going to have a clue what’s going on?
neuquenguy on November 6, 2008 at 8:01 PM
I remember that, I think she also said that Barry would expect us to work really hard for him. Ugh.
4shoes on November 6, 2008 at 8:01 PM
Alinsky 2008. Exactly. It’s astroturfing. Very scary stuff.
aquaviva on November 6, 2008 at 8:01 PM
well i made my false Identififcation and submitted how many of you did? I had to make a false Email account and go through c-tunnel. I don’t trust this guy but I want to know what this guy is going to do and want some of his early messages.
theguardianii on November 6, 2008 at 8:03 PM
Please, I beg you, my friends, to talk me off the ledge. I’m losin’ it here, and tomorrow I’ve got to go to work 18 floors up.
What? Terrorist attacks? But… THERE IS NO TERRORIST THREAT! (All caps courtesy of Michael Moore.) Barry’s gonna talk to Iran! The world loves us again! Barry, you said you’d protect us!
saint kansas on November 6, 2008 at 8:03 PM
I wouldn’t count on it.
beththebaker on November 6, 2008 at 8:03 PM
Interesting site. I guess it took more than 48 hours to put together!
Looks like gun banning, rationing and regulation are part of the ‘urban policy’.
“Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners”
Britcop on November 6, 2008 at 8:05 PM
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand should get you there on a lot of the basics…It’s a bit thick though. You might want to start with Sean Hannity’s book, “Let Freedom Ring.”
dglenn on November 6, 2008 at 8:05 PM
Welcome Comrades, have a seat. Care for a drink? Our Great Infallible Leader will be out directly to give you your orders. Oh, by the way, please don’t mind the young lady with the hypodermic needle circulating amongst you, she’s just here to give you your “Change shot.” Won’t hurt a bit.Promise. (Smiles)
Chewy the Lab on November 6, 2008 at 8:05 PM
http://change.gov/agenda/urbanpolicy
Britcop on November 6, 2008 at 8:05 PM
Some of this is probably all about selling seats to the inauguration ball.
Also, with some Clintonoids in place, the selling of favors can’t start too early.
droofus on November 6, 2008 at 8:06 PM
Note that Barry is using a creative version of the Presidential Seal. This is what the genuine article looks like.
Contrast and compare to the Eagle that appears at the top of his Change.gov website. For example, the shield is squared off at the bottom in Barry’s version.
Buy Danish on November 6, 2008 at 8:08 PM
Has the media proclaimed this site as another brilliant BRILLIANT move by Teh Messiah?
Who cares…I’m mean really.
Let’s roll.
ex-Democrat on November 6, 2008 at 8:09 PM
Hi, I’m new here so if I goof up something, I’m sorry. It seems to me they want a large data base so that if someone, somewhere, speaks out against Obama, they have names and e-mails for people in that area that they can contact immediately to as we say, raise cane about it. Say someone says something on the radio, or on a TV news show. Out goes the Obama blast and a million people call the paper or station about the unfairness of saying something about the king. It’s just a thought, but seems reasonable if anything does any more.
Amazing Grace on November 6, 2008 at 8:09 PM
He had his version of the seal during the campaign… this is scary, scary stuff…..
beththebaker on November 6, 2008 at 8:10 PM
Everyone forget about the ‘Ammo Tax’?
Been brought up in several states…CA, MI, MD, others. Always shelved at the last minute because of opposition.
Pleosi supports the measure on a federal level. At the rate of $500 per box of ammo. Others are more ‘modest’ at 10 cents a round………that would only add $50 to a 500 count box of .22 cal ammo.
Then come the hammer taxes. Gun oil taxes. Removal of lead from the environment taxes.
That’s how they plan on taking them. They won’t say you can’t have them, they’ll just require you life earnings to get one.
Limerick on November 6, 2008 at 8:10 PM
That ledge is even scarier than what you are feeling now. Gravity will give you the sensation of being pulled over against your will and the leap will not kill you, but the landing will. Your worth is immeasurable, now STFU about that crap!
midlander on November 6, 2008 at 8:11 PM
For those of you who are not familiar with Rahm Emanuel’s plans for American, here’s a blueprint.
Buy Danish on November 6, 2008 at 8:12 PM
BTW…the Ammo Tax is promoted to provide a gun victims compensation fund. How noble.
Limerick on November 6, 2008 at 8:14 PM
Its the commencement of building the evil empire.
*Plays the Imperial March (Darth Vader Theme)*
mindhacker on November 6, 2008 at 8:16 PM
Not a book about the principles of conservatism, but a wonderful primer about the left: Liberal Fascism. Just got done with it for a second time, and it’s scary. Also like the Atlas Shrugged recommendation, long, creepy, but worth it in the end.
I’ll be honest, though – I skipped 80% of Galt’s radio speech, though. He beat that dead horse into quarks, IMO.
Anna on November 6, 2008 at 8:17 PM
He should just use the Blue Eagle and be done with it.
Anna on November 6, 2008 at 8:19 PM
“If you don’t offer proof of your hours of community service to the State we are required to take your 401k away.
Oh sorry. Did that already! My bad.”
illustr8r on November 6, 2008 at 8:21 PM
Can we do that? Can we put aside the differences and unite against this?
I am in tears again. I will not have my children serve at his behest. The Constitution clearly says in the 13th Amendment that we can’t be forced into servitude unless we are convicted of a crime.
They can send me up the river, take me to jail, take away my driver’s license, but I will not do this.
I already put in more than 100 hours a year what with the PTA and other such things I putter around with, but I do it for them. I will not do it for him.
angelat0763 on November 6, 2008 at 8:22 PM
Yeah, I’m getting that sensation a lot lately.
I swore I would try to be positive, that I’d take the next four years to be introspective and perhaps more spiritual…
But #&$*! Remember when ex-presidents lived quietly, outside of the spotlight? When they didn’t criticize the sitting president? GWB is still in office for 75 days, and this asshat is trashing him on his gay-ass .gov website the day after the election? Oh. My. God.
Please, my liberal intellectual superiors, tell me how brilliant this is! Change… dot gov! Now that’s concrete policy! Let’s get messiah.gov and utopia.gov and peoplesparadise.gov and michelle.gov registered too.
saint kansas on November 6, 2008 at 8:22 PM
I am very glad President-Elect Obama has used his excellent website theme for the new .gov site. I and many other volunteers suggested the design be transported to change.gov and whitehouse.gov. I am so thankful for the responsive tech team Obama has. This was long overdue!
username on November 6, 2008 at 8:28 PM
You should also pick up a copy of Radical Son, by David Horowitz to get an inside view of the Left from a neo-conservative who was raised as a Red Diaper baby.
It is an absolute outrage. Get good and angry and pass the word to your friends.
Here’s another link, about a group called Service Nation, that you (and others) should check out.
Buy Danish on November 6, 2008 at 8:28 PM
Book Suggestions – both by Judge Andrew Napolitano,
A Nation Of Sheep and The Constitution In Exile, and if you can stomach stone-cold Libertarianism, The Revolution: A Manifesto by Congressman Ron Paul is a quick read.
angelat0763 on November 6, 2008 at 8:29 PM
Here is where homeschooling comes in handy, until The One outlaws it….when that happens I am out of here. I will not give my children to the government. School counselors already have more rights regarding the children than parents do.
neuquenguy on November 6, 2008 at 8:31 PM
I volunteer to give weapons training at the local high and middle schools.
davidk on November 6, 2008 at 8:33 PM
You are right. I am just not smart enough or organized enough. I always thought I would homeschool until I had kids. And just between you and me, I could and would homeschool my second son. But my oldest son needs more help than can give him.
We’re in a rural school though, pretty far removed from that blue ribbon no child left behind crap Bush gave us. It’s ok. They have an after school gun club for the middle schoolers. :)
angelat0763 on November 6, 2008 at 8:34 PM
Golly, folks. I say we all go to the website and sign up with fake names, addresses in Iran, and temporary email accounts. Flooding…remember that technique??
LEBA on November 6, 2008 at 8:35 PM
We are all John Galt. We just have different zip codes.
Buy Danish on November 6, 2008 at 8:38 PM
The important thing is that you are obviously very involved. I wish more parents took responsibility for more than buying the school books and dropping the kids off.
By the way, I don’t know if it is possible to do a worse job than the government schools do teaching our kids.
neuquenguy on November 6, 2008 at 8:38 PM
Obama’s new guy Rahm Emanuel wants: “1. A new social contract — universal citizen service, universal college access, universal retirement savings, and universal children’s health care — that makes clear what you can do for your country and what your country can do for you.”
“We need a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us by establishing for the first time an ethic of universal citizen service. All Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 should be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic civil defense training and community service. This is not a draft, nor is it military. Young people will be trained not as soldiers, but simply as citizens who understand their responsibilities in the event of a natural disaster, an epidemic or a terrorist attack. Universal citizen service will bring Americans of every background together to make America safer and more united in common purpose.”
sharrukin on November 6, 2008 at 8:38 PM
Ever since I heard Barack Obama speak on TV at the 2004 Democratic Convention I knew he scared me, somehow I knew he was not who he said he was. Well as we know, he went on to win a US senate seat from the state of Illinois and 5 months later turned that into a successful run for the WH on Nov. 4, 2008. I was convinced he was the beginning of the Antichrist (I know, it sounds nutty.). I also thought I could possibly be imagining things. Well the day after this week’s election (Nov 5th) the Illinois Lottery winning Pick 3 Numbers are:
6-6-6
Be afraid, very afraid.
http://www.illinoislottery.com/numbers.asp
Sweetness0726 on November 6, 2008 at 8:39 PM
This came from the Civil Rights Link on this Obamanation Website:
What exactly does this mean? I’m rather at a loss….
tru2tx on November 6, 2008 at 8:40 PM
We should save all our Nigerian spammers’ email addresses and offer them up to The One. Two birds, one stone.
hoosiermama on November 6, 2008 at 8:41 PM
LMAO. I knew it! (And that’s why I voted for him). \m/
:D
username on November 6, 2008 at 8:43 PM
I hope you are not that out of touch…sentencing disparities are a huge problem in criminal justice. The war on (some) drugs is a joke.
username on November 6, 2008 at 8:44 PM
hoosiermama on November 6, 2008 at 8:45 PM
Real Question! Does Obama have to answer questions about the content of this website?
And again. Are we sure this is not a Hoax?
AnthonyK on November 6, 2008 at 8:45 PM
Who is funding this website?
jman on November 6, 2008 at 8:46 PM
I still can’t shake the feeling that when he stood on that stage in Chicago and stared out into the adoring followers, he said to himself “Phase One Completed”.
This man is on a mission to change America. I used to think he was just arrogant, now I lean towards diabolical.
Kim Jong Il has nothing on this guy.
sherry on November 6, 2008 at 8:47 PM
This whole thing gets creepier every day, GOD SAVE OUR NATION
KBird on November 6, 2008 at 8:47 PM
The sentencing for crack users is greater than that of powdered cocaine users. More blacks are sentenced for longer periods for crack possession than the usually non black powdered cocaine users. Does anyone think that they are planning to raise the sentencing guidelines for powder cocaine instead of lowering the crack guidelines?
rw on November 6, 2008 at 8:48 PM
Not sure if anybody has posted this here yet. Chris Matthews from today. Unbelievable this guy has the stones to just come out and say this. http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=214673
kriscoleman on November 6, 2008 at 8:49 PM
Yeah – I am out of touch regarding drugs. I DON’T USE THEM.
So, please give me your point of view of WHY the war on “some” drugs is a joke, hmmmmm?
tru2tx on November 6, 2008 at 8:51 PM
So I have a question – I put myself through school and worked 25-30 hours a week to do it. How the hell would I put in 100 hours of community service?
The dude has never had to deal with real life a day in his life.
gophergirl on November 6, 2008 at 8:51 PM
Good idea. Alexander solzhenitsyn in Gulag Archipiélago told how he divised a plan that got the guards of their backs.
Bureaucracies thrive on paperwork, so they flooded the warden with complainst about everything. It took the Gulag’s staff so much time to process the paperwork that the guards didn’t have time to harass the “prisoners.”
davidk on November 6, 2008 at 8:52 PM
If it scatters shot downrange, it doesn’t have to be pretty. Every family should have one on hand. Not a big Mossberg fan, but I’m all for affordable.
uncivilized on November 6, 2008 at 8:53 PM
This is a great big clue – from an earlier comment:
Buy Danish on November 6, 2008 at 8:56 PM
Sweet.
Kind of like forwarding all of your junk mail to your ex-husband’s address.
uncivilized on November 6, 2008 at 8:56 PM
Why has “Blue State Digital” been given the authority to use .gov domains?
Seems highly inappropriate.
Wonder if the fairness doctrine will allow for a counterchange.gov?
amazingmets on November 6, 2008 at 8:57 PM
Precisely. President “Phone it In” or “Write a Letter” Obamawow.
Give speeches and fly around in his purty stinky plane.
This is really getting me angry, and that’s just what I need to get involved – but not involved in his inane programs.
tru2tx on November 6, 2008 at 8:57 PM
This is just creepy!
greekinfidel on November 6, 2008 at 8:59 PM
Also you can apply to government positions!
I’m thinking of which cabinet post I want!
amazingmets on November 6, 2008 at 8:59 PM
It’s not the higest sales tax in the nation. That honor belongs to Chicago. 10.25 percent.
rockmom on November 6, 2008 at 9:02 PM
This could produce hours of pranking fun!
rockmom on November 6, 2008 at 9:03 PM
I have no idea how you find IP addresses and all that jazz. Can one of you experts check out the details on this one? ActBlue.
It’s the PAC which funneled money to Barry’s campaign where the Address Verification System was turned off. I just betcha it’s connected to Blue State Digital.
Buy Danish on November 6, 2008 at 9:03 PM
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »