Tel-Chai Nation

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):

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.”

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher became part of the national political lexicon Oct. 15 when Republican presidential candidate John McCain mentioned him frequently during his final debate with Democrat Barack Obama. …

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.

Whoever was responsible for this invaded a decent man's privacy, out of dislike for a conservative expressing an opinion they don't agree with. And that's just simply atrocious. Whoever did that owes Joe an apology, but sadly, it's unlikely they'll ever give him one.

More on this from Ace of Spades HQ, Wizbang, Black & Right, Wake Up America, Dad29, Stop the ACLU, Stuck on Stupid, The Canadian Sentinel.

Labels: Ohio, political corruption, United States