Why did Ohio public officials start pulling various records for "Joe the Plumber" after the 3rd presidential debate?
ABC NEWS has this story:
The Columbus Dispatch reports that "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,'" the nickname of Joe Wurzelbacher.
"Public records requested by The Dispatch disclose that information on 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." . . .
"In light of all of the allegations that are going on all over the country of voter fraud," Giuliani said, "to have this revelation also it seems to me to be something that is of really great concern to all of us."
"All Joe the Plumber did is ask a question," Giuliani said, giggling. "That should not open American citizens to having -- if this happened -- their private records probed because of some sort of political retribution. And if this is the way an Obama administration is going to conduct itself, the American people should know this before the fact."
posted by John Lott at 4:45 AM
4 Comments:
Considering they pulled his license, they probably wanted to know where he lived, the car he drives, and any other information that would be in that file. Was it just a case of curiosity by state employees, or was the information gathered for other reasons? We don't know yet. What do you think?
I'm sure conspiracy theorists will have a heyday with all of this stuff that has come up lately re: voter fraud, registration fraud, truth squads, the smoke and mirrors about Obama's past (possibly from his own chain smoking?), and now the "vetting" of Joe the Plumber. More than a planned, coordinated series of events, I think this shows the extreme ideological bent of many people on the left...similar to the extreme ideological bent they accused the far right of having. But when have liberal not said, "do as I say not as I do"?
Anyway, conspiracy...my point is that it seems like it's more ideology pushing independent people to do similar things to push liberal agenda at any cost, come hell or high water, damn the torpedoes, etc. Ideologues are much more dangerous than conspirators...
here's hoping those with malicious intent are exposed and prosecuted.
Well, either that or a public horsewhipping...
Aside from Giuliani's lame and predictable insinuations (and by extension, Lott's for linking to this and editing it the way he did), is there ANY evidence that this was perpetrated or coordinated by ANYONE connected to a political campaign?
Giuliani's fatuous remarks suggesting that it's outrageous to ask him for evidence of a political connection to substantiate his smears show that there is no depth to which he will not sink.
Regardless, whether it was politically motivated or just some BMV clerk who got nosey, it needs to be investigated and dealt with appropriately. I'm not familiar with the particular systems in question, but if the audit trail shows how many times a particular record was accessed, it probably shows who accessed it.
Of course, unless the parties involved are mercilessly pilloried, Giuliani will continue to cry cover-up and use the lack of evidence as "proof" of an Obama connection.
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