Take a look at today's editorial. First they set up the whole "Joe The Plumber" thing and then get to the distortion:
BUT (and there's always a big but when fact-checking the Trib's editorials) let's take a look at the actual reporting from The Columbus Dispatch....Big Media scrutinized "Joe's" background. And it appears that it might have had lots of help from Ohio's Democratic Party apparatus, now under investigation.
The Columbus Dispatch says officials want to know if state and law-enforcement computer systems were illegally accessed to mine personal information about Mr. Wurzelbacher.
Driver's license and SUV information thrice was pulled from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles database. Information also was accessed by computers assigned to the offices of Ohio Attorney General Nancy H. Rodgers, the Cuyahoga County Child Support Enforcement Agency and Toledo Police Department, The Dispatch reported.
If the allegations are true, it will confirm how Democrats in power abuse that power in pursuit of the destruction of those who dare oppose their policies.
Some questions to keep in mind: Do they report that Ohio's Democratic Party apparatus is now under investigation for peeking into Joe's files as is (at the very least) implied by the Trib's editorial? Do they report that the Ohio Democratic Party had anything to do with someone accessing the files? Do they report the same about the national Democratic Party?
Let's take a look. The Dispatch first reported the story on the 24th:
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."A few paragraphs down, however, they reported:
It has not been determined who checked on Wurzelbacher, or why.Then on the 25th they reported:
The Republican presidential candidate reacted today to a story in The Dispatch about the use of state computers to access personal information about "Joe" - suburban Toledo resident Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.And they added a few paragraphs later: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.
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.Nowhere in the reporting from the Columbus Dispatch is there any connection made between the local or national Democratic Party and whomever accessed Wurzelbacher's files. And yet the Trib's editorial board clearly implied that there is a connection using the Dispatch's reporting as evidence. I'd say that goes beyond distortion into dishonesty. But that's just me.
It's still possible someone in the Democratic Party over stepped the line in Ohion. But unless and until that's reported no responsible editorial should implicate anyone with such wrong doing.
And no responsible political party should either (as the Ohio Republicans have already done). But considering this is the McCain campaign - a campaign that pushed a hoax story before all the facts were in - it's not surprising that they'd dive headfirst into the mud.
21 comments:
John K: Ohio State computers were used to access this guy's records. Now think about that left wing kooks. Your argument seems to make the case that Republicans accessed the data. That statement is about as credible as saying acorn does not commit voter fraud. You Democrats will sink to any level to destroy anyone who dares challenge Hussein Obama. And if this is a window into what is coming then it looks like concentration camps for people like me are in the offing. You should be ashamed. But you ain't. You just want power.
John K: Isn't it interesting that we know more about Joe the Plumber in a shorter period of time than we know about Ayers or even Hussein Obama for that matter. Heck, we don't even have access to the writings of Hussein Obama when he was in law school. But we do know the private tax status of Joe the Plumber. That is the facts of the case. Democrats lie and that is also a fact.
Actually, Davoe is indicating that the original story from the Columbus Dispatch does not say who accessed the State computers. The newspaper had not heard, at the time the story was written, who had accessed the records, and certainly not what their party affiliation is. That's all Dave is saying. John K, you are saying quite a bit more, or rather (fairly or not), you are speculating.
In the case of Joe the Plubmer, what Democrat lied? And when has anyone from ACORN ever been convicted of voter fraud? Remember, you say it is a fact that Democrats lie, so you wouldn't want to be lying now, right?
Maybe the muckrakers are "Independents" like David.
Nope.
>Ohio's Head of Job and Family Services Approved a Child-Support Search on Joe Wurzelbacher Immediately After Third Debate;
Her Excuse? "Oh, We Always Do That"
And when has anyone from ACORN ever been convicted of voter fraud?
Voter Registration Fraud DOES Lead to Voter Fraud
“This is a bombshell. We now have undeniable proof that a significant number of fraudulent voters were cast in Democrat primary races for the New Mexico state legislature as a result of ACORN’s voter registration fraud,” said State Representative Justine Fox Young (R.-Albuquerque). “No longer can ACORN argue that their phony voter registration forms don’t translate into fraudulent votes. They do and today we can prove it.”
Here is your ACORN arrest Ed.
ACORN Voter Fraud Arrest in Philly
heir,
Voter registration fraud is not voter fraud.
Nice use of a blog as a source of "facts," btw. Why not just cite your own views from this blog, as "proof" of your positions.
John K: Ed Heath is a loon. A months ago I pointed out the arrest and conviction of acorn people committing voter fraud in Seattle, WA. He denied it then. Ed Heath tends to do this. It is an old liberal tactic which tries to throw the other party off track. Ride your bike in the rain Ed and take some soap with you. Save water eh. LOL LOL LMAO
Well, Heir, we all knew (or should have known) that there would be some arrests in connection with the ACORN registrations. We should have known that because ACORN themselves said they were flagging suspect registrations. They say they can not destroy registration forms after a person wanting to vote has signed them. Instead they flag them and turn them over to the board of elections, which has to investigate them. Before they do that ACORN makes up to three attempts to contact the would-be voter.
In the case of Jemar Barksdale, a real newspaper indicated he was fired by ACORN eight days after he was hired, because of the problematic registration forms he turned in. ACORN flagged the forms, and wondered why the DA’s office waited so long to charge him. “Barksdale's charges include theft by deception, forgery, and unsworn falsification to authorities”, not particularly voter registration fraud, but that is what it amounts to. Not vote fraud. The theft by deception charge, by the way, would be his collecting money from ACORN and not doing his job right; ACORN would be a victim here.
As for the New Mexico case, a real newspaper indicates that the charges are problematic. Presumably some real authority, state or federal, will investigate this at some point. It is not clear to me how 96 votes, complete with who cast them, fell into GOP hands. That may also be investigated.
John K: The left went into those Ohio govt computers to gather private info on Joe the Plumber. They have done this before. Olbermouth and this blog published the contents of Limbaugh's private luggage when he went thru customs. And then of course we have the Democrat who hacked into the private e-mails of Palin. Don't forget Schumer stealing M. Steeles' SSN and using that to obtain his tax returns and publishing them. So this is normal procedure for left wingers. Gather private info thru any means and publish it. Shades of things to come if Hussein Obama gets elected.
John K: Dec 21st 2007,in St Louis, 8 acorn members were arrested and indicted on voter fraud charges. And the list just gets longer and longer except for Ed Heath who has no brains.
As I believe I cited at the time, this article disputes the idea there was any voter fraud. I invite your citation from a real newspaper.
An old liberal tactic. Citing reputable sources.
I find it "ironic," that charges of voter fraud are coming from the New Mexico GOP.
Didn't one of the 5 US Attorneys who lost their jobs so scandalously, lose his because he didn't find evidence of voter fraud in a hotly contested Congressional District in New Mexico?
An old liberal tactic. Citing reputable sources.
Such as Olbermann, Huffington Post, Daily Kos and Think Progress?
As for your real newspaper how about this editorial?
White people shouldn't be allowed to vote!
BTW, Remember when the "Real newspapers" were telling us that the Duke Lacrosse players were guilty.
As for Acorn's vetting.
ACORN Defends Itself
Yesterday, ACORN held a press conference to respond to charges that they enable voter fraud. I was in attendance and have a piece up on the homepage today about it. Here's how ACORN responded to questions from the press:
* Out of the 13,000 workers responsible for collecting voter registrations how many have you fired for fraudulent activity? “It’s a good question, I don’t have the number but I can try to find out,” Whelan said.
* Out of the 1.3 million voters registered by ACORN, is there any guess at how many are “Mickey Mouse” or duplicate registrations? “It probably won’t be after the election that we can tell you.”
* Because state law requires you to submit every registration you collect, what percentage of the total voter registrations submitted does ACORN actually flag as being problematic before you send them in? “I want to not give a number that I can’t back up.”
Confidence inspiring, no? That's a heck of a quality control system they have there, yesiree.
Um, John K. a real newspaper, as opposed to the source you quoted: thin air.
Oh, quick correction, I couldn’t have referenced that particular Seattle Post Intelligencer story months ago, it is a couple of weeks old.
I am willing to agree many Democrats do slimy things. Are you willing to say the same about many Republicans? What do you have to say about what Republicans said about John McCain's adopted child in 2000? What do you have to say about what Republicans said about Max Cleland? I know you won't answer, so why should I bother with your scatter shot charges?
Oh, and as for Olbermann (and Rachel Madow), I will write to MSNBC (I think it is) and ask that they be removed from the air .. right after you write Limbaugh's and O'Reilly's networks and ask the they be removed from the air. I have no use for any of them. Will you join me in asking that the air waves be free of extremists?
I didn't think so.
Heir, the Philadelphia Inquirer clearly indicates the opinion piece is from a blogger. So it is not only just opinion, it is the opinion of someone who does not work (as far as I am aware) for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
As for the National Review piece, I would agree ACORN should have been better prepared, but apparently they threw their press conference together when the McCain campaign kept them out of the Campaign press conference. So Kevin Whelan decided not to guess about figures.
ButI will point out again that, because these problems happened to ACORN in the past, they have careful registration checking procedures. Any voter registration that is questionable they flag before turning over to boards of election. They create the situations where voter registrations are questioned, which leads you guys to accuse them of voter fraud.
heir,
Did you actually read the op-ed piece "White People Shouldn't Be Allowed to Vote?"
I'm guessing that you didn't.
If you did, then did you also think that Jonathan Swift really was advocating eating Irish babies, in his "Modest Proposal?"
John K: My source is thin air? LOL LOL LOL LMAO Of course it is, it has fact behind it. You left wing kooks questioned Bush over this Fisa stuff? Heck, I was always more worried about a lefty that has access to Govt databases. Look what you lefties did to an average person who asked a question? Broke into his private info and distributed it. LMAO Not to mention Palin and her e-mails. You lefties have a history of doing this. And it is disgusting.
John K: No wonder Hussein Obama has not given a press conference in over a month. He won't hold a town hall meeting either. And no wonder Biden refuses to go on some TV news shows. You lefties can't handle the tough questions from the crowd. It has to be a staged crowd like at Mellon Arena. Clinton used to use the same tactics way back in 1993. Ask the wrong question from the crowd, get his minions to access govt data to ruin the person. I am Joe the Plumber, you are simply toades doing whatever Hussein Obama tells you to do. LMAO my source is weak. LOL LOL LOL
John K: Finally to Ed Heath, I don't care who is on the air. I don't watch Olbermouth that much anymore, boring. Let the market determine that Heath. Or is censorship more to your liking? LOL LOL I think it is. Rottenacorn.com lists more examples of acorn being indicted. LOL LOL LMAO
how many press conferences has caribou barbie done?????
huh, johnny?
As I predicted, no response to my direct questions, John K (McCain in 2000, Cieland in his bid for re-election). I see no hint of links to anything in terms of sources, even the kind of partisan … uh, stuff that Heir links to. You say you don't care who is on the air, but you have complained about Olbermann. By the way, my reaction to letting the Market decide: I don't watch or listen to any of the extremists.
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