Obama's Plumbers

Forget Joe the Plumber, for this is far more chilling. The moment that the Joe the Plumber video exposed Sen. Barack Obama to the world for his socialist views and redistributive change, his supporters began digging for the dirt.

Ohio's Helen Jones-Kelley, Director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, confirmed that she approved a database search on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher following the Oct. 15 presidential debate.

Kelley said there were no political reasons for the check on the sudden presidential campaign fixture though the Support Enforcement Tracking System.

There was absolutely no reason to check on Wurzelbacher other than the fact that he asked Sen. Obama questions that resulted in highly uncomfortable answers. Ohio's Inspector General is now investigating this and several other unauthorized database searches into Wurzelbacher's Ohio records.

Should it surprise anyone that Kelley is a maximum Obama donor, having given $2,300?

This is what happens when people use their positions of power to chill dissent. Kelley abused her position of power to run a search hoping to dig up uncomfortable facts that might undermine the credibility of someone who simply asked a question of Sen. Obama as he was campaigning in the neighborhood going door to door. I hope that the book gets thrown at Kelley and others who abused their power to investigate Wurzelbacher.

Computer databases at other state agencies were also accessed, including apparently by a contractor for the Ohio Department of Insurance. Investigators are also looking at why driver's license and vehicle registration information on "Joe" was pulled from Bureau of Motor Vehicles computers. That information was pulled from accounts assigned to the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency and the Toledo Police Department.

The Obama campaign, of course, claims ignorance and says that they support an investigation. Why get your hands dirty when you have locals who are more than willing to do that dirty work for them.

UPDATE:
Hot Air is also covering the Ohio mess, and how the state officials are busy covering for each other, even as they admit that there was repeated unauthorized access of databases to find information on Wurzelbacher.

Don't expect the champions of privacy, the ACLU to come to Joe's aid. Michelle Malkin has more on that aspect (and more here).