Morning Bell: First They Came for Joe
Posted October 27th, 2008 at 9.20am in Enterprise and Free Markets.
On Sunday, Oct. 12, Joe Wurzelbacher was playing football in his front yard with his son Joey when Barack Obama made an unscheduled stop to ask voters for their support in his neighborhood. Wurzelbacher took the opportunity to be a good citizen, and questioned the candidate about his tax policies. Three nights later during a presidential debate, John McCain echoed Joe’s concern about Obama’s “spread the wealth” comment and mentioned Wurzelbacher (dubbed “Joe the Plumber”) by name. The blow back was swift and furious. MSNBC, Washington Post and New York Times quickly had detailed stories about Joe’s personal life, including a current tax problem, issues with his occupational licensing, and his divorce.
How did these news organizations get such detailed news about one man in Ohio so quickly? The Columbus Dispatch reports: “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.” Despite the fact Wurzelbacher had no child-support cases pending with Cuyahoga County, the county’s Child Support Enforcement Agency accessed information on him from the state’s database. And although there are no known police investigations of Wurzelbacher, the Toledo Police Department also pulled information on him. These requests, which would be illegal if they were not part of official state business, came within 48 hours of the presidential debate.
Some have accused the Obama campaign of orchestrating the invasion of Joe’s records. The Obama campaign is way too smart to try something like that — especially since a compliant media and sympathetic public-sector unions can be counted on to do the snooping and character assassination. Media bias in favor of Obama is well established. Former Democrat Sen. Bob Kerrey told Portfolio: “There’s a liberal bias. There’s a preference for Obama.” The American people know it as well. According to Rasmussen Reports, by a nearly 5-to-1 margin voters believe the media are trying to help Obama win.
But the press is just one conspirator in this story. Public-sector employees must also be willing to violate the law to help their preferred candidate. Most Americans are just waking up to this very scary fact: much of their personal data are now entrusted to state and local employees who are increasingly unionized with a liberal worldview. Public-sector unions have become the heart and soul of the labor movement. While overall union membership in America has fallen from 21.4% to 12.5%, public-sector union membership has exploded to 34%.
And guess what? These unions not only give heavily to Democrats, but they also actively campaign for them. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is made up of 3,500 local unions representing 1.4 million members. In 2008 its members gave 99% of all union political money to Democrats. And here is what AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said when his union endorsed Obama: “AFSCME will mobilize more members and invest more resources than ever before to help Senator Obama win the White House. We will turn out an army of 40,000 AFSCME activists to knock on doors, make phone calls and talk with their co-workers and neighbors to produce an unprecedented turnout in the 2008 election.”
How many of those phone calls go to sympathetic members of the press after illegal snooping into a citizen’s files?
Quick Hits:
- A survey of nearly 4,300 Military Times readers shows John McCain beating Barack Obama 68% to 23%.
- The financial meltdown has already “spread the wealth” by draining the rich.
- Anticipating an Obama presidency unfriendly to the Second Amendment, purchases of firearms and ammunition have risen 10% this year.
- One of the “sweeteners” needed to pass the Wall Street rescue package was $192 million for rum-makers.
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Saturday to imprison his main political rival, Manuel Rosales.
- Author: Conn Carroll
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October 27, 2008 Michael J O'Brien --New York writes:
Let’s make no mistake or have any mis understandings about the pro communist / socialist agenda of Unions and the leftist democrats. Unions and the leftist media will go to any length to ensure we live in a Marxist world where the name Adam Smith and God are faded memories. Freedom of thought and speech [political correctness at universities], and religion [look at ACLU activities] will be purged under the left. Just look at what Pelosi’s designs are on the Fairness doctrine that Reagan abolished in the ‘80s, it will be overturned. Under the Democrats and Union control we will have abortions on demand as a tax payer health benefit even though many oppose it.
Look at the name calling by Obama’s friends, Rev Wright, Bill Ayers, all democrats and socialist who have no boundaries in achieving political goals. The press and unions are two of the biggest tools the socialist have in achieving their cause. Look at the endless attacks by the media on Governor Palin, examine the antics of NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
The socialist unions are part a broad democratic socialist effort to destroy reputations of those who disagree, or offer a more reasoned viewpoint.. Look at John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Senator who called his own constituents racist and red neck because they do not agree with Obama’s views. People in American, wake up, Karl is coming. This election is about preserving our way of life and leaving a great heritage of freedom to the next generation. Never before have I seen the media, unions, illegal immigrants, students and socialist so galvanized and close to achieving their goals of a Marxist America.