Your humble pundit finds this story quite intriguing. It is beyond what I am able to fathom why someone of such prominence and why someone of such privilege would feel the need to succumb to ’shoplifting,’ at Target(?!?).

Mr. Claude Allen’s transgression deserve a full investigation, and, if guilty, he should be punished for his crime. But, all in all, we are discussing shoplifting. Irregardless, you will, no doubt, see this story bantered about as though President Bush committed the crime himself. It will be further proof of the culture of corruption.

From Human Events Online,

In a story that made the front pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post today, the 45-year-old Allen — who resigned last month as President Bush’s top adviser on domestic issues — has been arrested and charged in a scheme in which he received more than $5,000 in refunds for items he never bought at various stories. Allen’s lawyers are denying the charges.

For conservatives, the news about Allen is heartbreaking, to say the least.  For more than 20 years, the Philadelphia-born, Washington D.C.-raised Allen has been considered one of the brightest and most promising of black conservatives: as press secretary to former Sen. Jesse Helms (R.-N.C.), law clerk to a federal judge, head of the Virginia Human Resources department under Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore, and later deputy Health and Human Services secretary and then President Bush’s top assistant for domestic issues.

Hat Tip - Michelle Malkin
Stuck on Stupid shares the sentiment,

Something more for the Democrats to bash President Bush over.   I can hear it now from the Dems  lead by Harry Reid:  “Bush encouraged Allen to steal”

Flopping Aces weighs in with “The Next Big Story“