Jeremy Alford

The Obama site that hasn't been hacked

by Jeremy Alford

President-elect Barack Obama has barely been on the job for three days, and his transition team has already launched www.Change.gov. That it went up so quickly, and includes such features as videos and blogging, shouldn't come as a surprise since the 24-year-old founder of Facebook is charged with directing Obama’s new media operations. If you want to compete against the nation’s brightest, the site offers a place to apply for jobs in Obama’s blossoming administration. You can also flip through the official transition directory created by the federal government for commanders-in-chief-to-be preparing for life in the Oval Office.

As for folks who may have not been paying attention over the past 24 months, there’s also more than two dozen issues the transition team has targeted as important. You can even send your own ideas to the coming administration through a section called “An American Moment.” Although it’s still 74 days away, there’s a bit of info on there about Obama’s planned inauguration, which will be held on Jan. 20. And by all indications, the site has not been hacked by foreign operatives, which is a fresh change of pace that most Americans are unaware of.

In fact, there seems to be a great deal from the recent presidential campaigns voters never heard about. That’s why Newsweek is publishing a seven-part series, "Secrets of the 2008 Campaign,” that delves into the stories that were stuck in notebooks and recorders - probably items that reporters promised to keep off the record until after election day.

The series kicks off with a shocking expose on how the campaign computer networks of both Obama and GOP nominee John McCain were attacked and detailed information stolen. The Secret Service and the FBI worked the cases, unbeknownst to the American public, and the likely culprits may have been carrying out the digital caper from overseas, according to Newsweek:

Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to gather information on the evolution of both camps' policy positions — information that might be useful in negotiations with a future administration. The Feds assured the Obama team that it had not been hacked by its political opponents. (Obama technical experts later speculated that the hackers were Russian or Chinese.) A security firm retained by the Obama campaign took steps to secure its computer system and end the intrusion. White House and FBI officials had no comment earlier this week.
There’s also more dirt on the shopping sprees of McCain’s beauty pageant running mate Sarah Palin. Does she have a compulsive spending problem? The Newsweek story offers up shocking details that point to the affirmative. And Republicans always tag Democrats as big spenders. Go figure