{"id":3543,"date":"2008-10-27T05:18:44","date_gmt":"2008-10-27T10:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=3543"},"modified":"2008-10-27T05:18:44","modified_gmt":"2008-10-27T10:18:44","slug":"chilling-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=3543","title":{"rendered":"Chilling Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"

It appears that government computers were used<\/a> to find information about Sam “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher:<\/p>\n

Public records requested by The Dispatch<\/span> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Paul Lindsay, Ohio spokesman for the McCain campaign, attempted to portray the inquiries as politically motivated. “It’s outrageous to see how quickly Barack Obama’s allies would abuse government power in an attempt to smear a private citizen who dared to ask a legitimate question,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Obama campaign’s response?<\/p>\n

Isaac Baker, Obama’s Ohio spokesman, denounced Lindsay’s statement as charges of desperation from a campaign running out of time. “Invasions of privacy should not be tolerated.\u00a0 If these records were accessed inappropriately, it had nothing to do with our campaign and should be investigated fully,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hm.\u00a0 I don’t know that anyone said “the campaign” did it – but while we’re on the subject, how is <\/em>it that reams of personal, embarassing, government-access info about someone who dares<\/em> ask a question of The One finds itself in the public domain almost immediately?<\/p>\n

To paraphrase Nick Coleman, let’s connect the dots:<\/p>\n