Improper Snooping

Heard about the "truth squad?" I guess Helen Jones-Kelley decided to form her own "truth squad" against 'Joe the Plumber' to try to intimidate and squash free speech.

"Ken Blackwell, a McCain supporter and former secretary of state in the Buckeye State, says the snooping into Joe the Plumber's personal information can be summed up in one word -- shameful.

"If you don't want to use 'shameful,' say 'scary' because I think it's typical of a government gone crazy," says the conservative Republican. "Here we are talking about an individual [Wurzelbacher] who is giving voice to his position in the public square -- and we now see that the heavy arm of government has become intrusive in the public square in an effort to suppress that voice or to discredit [the speaker] 'Joe the Plumber.'"

Blackwell says it is no surprise to him that supporters of Barack Obama, a leading advocate of a bigger government, would be using the instruments of government to "harass a person for speaking his mind." He argues that those in the government should not use their influence or power to discourage people from exercising their right to free speech." excerpts from: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=305222

and a follow-up story:

"Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell says he's "delighted" with the conclusion of Ohio's government watchdog that an agency director improperly used government computers to find personal information on the man who became known as "Joe the Plumber" during the presidential campaign.

Barack Obama donor Helen Jones-Kelley, the head of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services, looked up Samuel Wurzelbacher's records without any legitimate business purposes. Charles looked into 18 background checks on the Toledo-area man and found that eight of them had no legitimate business purpose. ... Jones-Kelley used the powers of government to try to "intimidate and squash free speech."

"I think it's important that now there's this follow-up," says the state's former secretary of state. "You can't turn a blind eye to this improper behavior or you can't try to paper over it, or you can't let it go without consequence -- because if you reward bad behavior or you turn a blind eye to bad behavior, all you're going to get is more bad behavior"." excerpts from: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=328978