When Spying Is Tolerated
We often hear the left accuse the government of having nothing better to do than pry into the privacy of their conversations. But it would appear it’s okay when they use the power of the government to go after citizens they deem a threat.
State and local officials are investigating if state and law-enforcement computer systems were illegally accessed when they were tapped for personal information about “Joe the Plumber”.
Public records requested by The Dispatch disclose that information on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher’s driver’s license or his sport-utility vehicle was pulled from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles database three times shortly after the debate.
Information on Wurzelbacher was accessed by accounts assigned to the office of Ohio Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers, the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency and the Toledo Police Department.
It has not been determined who checked on Wurzelbacher, or why. Direct access to driver’s license and vehicle registration information from BMV computers is restricted to legitimate law enforcement and government business.
It didn’t take long for the media to push Joe back by making public his personal and financial information purely because he chose to question a preferred presidential candidate. The message has been sent.
When we find out who accessed Joe’s records, I’m sure it will all be a simple misunderstanding and no malfeasance was intended. We’ll be told this is some “non sequitur” and we should all just move on just like we were 900-plus FBI files ago.
October 25th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Cuyahoga County…where BIG corruption investigation is going on of highly placed Dems.
October 25th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Hasn’t this been the case for the last few elections at least? Didn’t Clinton keep the files of his political enemies in a closet at the White House?
For that matter, didn’t we get a promise that the Patriot Act wouldn’t be used against American citizens? Now that all projections point to Obama winning, do we honestly want to have that piece of legislation in play?
October 25th, 2008 at 11:17 am
I am sick of all the skulduggery and manipulation by the liberal left. Anybody have any “Impeach Obama” bumper stickers on hand?
October 25th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Patriot Act has nothing to do with asshats in Ohio accessing personal records like this. It is a crime, plain and simple.
October 25th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Invasion of a plumber’s privacy…
Some interesting questions have come up about how the left went about getting the dirt on Joe the Plumber. The suspicion is that state and local government systems were exploited in order to attack him (Hat tip: Hot Air):…
October 26th, 2008 at 4:00 am
Sorry Machine, I meant the statement about the Patriot Act was for the future under an Obama Presidency (or anyone else’s for that matter). I based it on the fact that the Eliot Spitzer case was an example of using the Patriot Act against citizens (at least this is from Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party Presidential candidate for 2008). To check out what he said and what others still in the race are saying go to http://www.ProCon.org.
October 26th, 2008 at 4:02 am
lpswampy: I could get some made up if you would like. I’m currently trying to figure out how to make a statement like “I do not consent” as a bumper sticker will keep me from being pulled over.
October 26th, 2008 at 6:59 am
We could just get all the old Liberal “Not my President” stickers.