OH Computers Spied On Joe The Plumber
Somehow this story doesn’t seem to have made it out of the local Columbus Dispatch:
McCain slams Ohio snooping on ‘Joe’
Using state computers to get plumber’s personal information called an ‘attack’
Sunday, October 26, 2008 3:15 AM
By Randy LudlowAs John McCain prepared to return today to campaign in Ohio, he denounced what he considers an attack on his favorite everyman: “Joe the Plumber.”
The Republican presidential candidate reacted yesterday to a story in The Dispatch about the use of state computers to access personal information about “Joe” — suburban Toledo resident Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.
State and local officials are investigating why his driver’s-license and vehicle-registration information was accessed shortly after Wurzelbacher became a household name.
Republicans, including McCain, painted the news as a politically motivated invasion of privacy and an attempt to dig up dirt.
“By the way, did you see the way Joe the Plumber was attacked? Isn’t that remarkable? We saw this morning where they’ve accessed into his — into his background. Remarkable,” McCain said at a rally in Albuquerque, N.M.
“Does that mean Americans can’t ask tough questions? Americans have the right to ask whatever they want to ask of our politicians who seek their support.”
McCain frequently mentioned Wurzelbacher in his Oct. 15 debate with Democrat Barack Obama. After that, Wurzelbacher’s name was run three times on Bureau of Motor Vehicles computers, The Dispatch reported yesterday morning.
The information was accessed through accounts assigned to the office of Ohio’s attorney general, the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency in Cleveland and the Toledo Police Department.
Who accessed the information, and why, has not been determined. Access to BMV data is restricted to legitimate government purposes. Illegal access can be a crime.
Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers’ office said the information sought through its “test account” was accessed outside its office, perhaps by another agency with whom the account had been shared. Details were not provided.
The McCain campaign yesterday offered up former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery to comment on the story. Both Republicans called on Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles to investigate the situation and report findings before the Nov. 4 election…
Giuliani, while conceding that there is no evidence to tie the case to Obama’s campaign or his supporters, called the access to information about Wurzelbacher a “great concern.”
“All Joe the Plumber did was ask a question, and that should not open American citizens to having this happen — their private records probed because of some kind of political retribution,” he said.
Where is the outrage?
Indeed, where even is the reportage?
Well, if it were say Obama’s passport it would be news. But since it’s not Obama it’s not news.
Well to qoute that idiot timmy robbins “there’s a cold shrill wind blowing”. These people are absolutely dangerous. Honestly, I would not doubt that they troll here and Team Sarah for ip addresses so they can start “their work” on us. Free speech is gone, asking questions of candidates is gone. Josef Goegels would be proud.
Get use to it! With an Obama Presidency totalitarinsm will become a common place occurrence, along with loss of liberty when the Democratic Party rules the country; they will put union leaders in charge of banks, take over the oil companies, set compensation limits and not allow criticism of the Messiah. You know how Muslims won’t stand for criticism of Alah well Obama won’t stand for criticism of HIMSELF.
The Republican Party is going to be a thing of the past, the party that couldn’t fight its way out of a wet paper bag, that allows lies to be told with out clarification so they become truth, that are so elitist they are blind to what the right leaning country wants or how to describe it. It is time the Republican Party that could not set itself aside from the big spending liberal democratic party step aside, fold up tent and let another Independent Party take its place. The Republican Party has allowed itself to be tattooed & addicted to the drugs of big government spending and did nothing when in power to avert the financial disaster to be termed the 2009 Depression.
John McCain the candidate of the elite Washington establishment a social democrat like Bush is against earmarks but says nothing about the 150 billion tacked on to the bail out bill, oh we can’t call that out its just business as usual for Congress and he showed he goes along with it.
I say thank you Republican Party for Doing Nothing to defend conservative values, it is the Republican Party’s fault for the ushering in of Obama Socialism/Marxist doctrine into main stream America. I don’t have to worry about taking the idiot GOP’s out and shooting them Obama will do that for me, as he HATES CRITICISM OF THE MESSIAH AS HIS FOLLOWERS DO. This should keep the gutless Republicans in the closet for at least 8 years.
Please don’t let my name and email information out, Big Brother is watching!