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Former police association contractor charged with snooping on 'Joe the Plumber' Wednesday, October 14, 2009 11:42 AM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch A former contractor for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police has been charged with rummaging through state computers to retrieve confidential information about "Joe the Plumber." Brett A. Gerke, 52, of 2329 Woodcreek Place on the Far North Side, is charged with attempted unauthorized use of property. Gerke entered a diversion program on Oct. 2, which typically results in the dismissal of a criminal charge. He has not entered a plea. The charge is a first-degree...

e've seen the mainstream media afflicted with Palin Derangement Syndrome. We've experienced the media in the throes of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Over at CNN, which modestly styles itself as the most trusted name in news, there's now an outbreak of Joe the Plumber Derangement Syndrome. Last week CNN Newsroom anchor Kyra Phillips went after Joe. Today, it was CNN Newsroom anchor Rick Sanchez's turn at bat. Mustering as much blow-dried earnestness as possible, he relieved himself of an editorial on what's nominally a news program: Meanwhile, something else to take note of today. I want to share with you the...

A story in the Dispatch this morning that should be read in full (HT Michelle Malkin) about Ms. Niekamp's testimony before the Ohio House's Government and Elections Committee reveals just how imperiled she was. While carrying out a personal order from a superior who was trying to cover his tracks, she was reminded that she was an "unclassified" employee. In plain English, she was threatened with her job if she didn't do what she was told (bolds are mine):

State worker says she was forced to cover up 'Joe the Plumber' records check Thursday, December 4, 2008 10:24 PM By Catherine Candisky THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The state worker who unwittingly ran an improper child-support check on the man known as Joe the Plumber told lawmakers today that a deputy director later "dictated" how she was supposed to cover it up. Vanessa Niekamp, an administrator for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' Office of Child Support and a 15-year state employee, said that when Deputy Director Doug Thompson came into her office, "He appeared very upset, his neck...

Ayn Rand recognized a common pattern in the growth of political power: The enemies of liberty blame the free market for economic problems caused by government interference, then use those problems as a pretext for yet more political controls. Much of Rand’s prescient novel “Atlas Shrugged” revolves around that cycle. Now Rand’s critics sound exactly like the villains of Atlas. They wouldn’t attack her if they didn’t recognize her as a barrier to their grand central plans. Recently Alan Greenspan fueled the Rand hunt. In an Oct. 23 statement to a Congressional committee, Greenspan said he had “found a flaw”...

Sheesh! Talking about rolling around in the dirt! CNN's Rick Sanchez was arguing taxes with Joe the Plumber (Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher) yesterday and somehow couldn't figure out the concept of "principles." Ironically, Sanchez then showed just how unprincipled he is by rolling around in the mud and digging up recycled "dirt" on Joe. Here is the transcript of the video so you can see for yourself just how low Sanchez went in an attempt to smear Joe the Plumber (emphasis mine): RICK SANCHEZ: Probably nobody in this campaign has been referred to more by his acronym or slash name than...

Obama’s Venomous Artist-Fundraiser by Stig O’Hara and Dirk McQuickly Barack Obama has accepted an estimated two to four million dollars[1] through the help of Shepard Fairey, a "graffiti artist" who paints works glorifying Stalin, Lenin and Mao, while depicting Uncle Sam as a bloodthirsty killer -- and Obama has even written Fairey that he admires "the political messages involved in your work."[2] The political messages in Fairey's art are: 1) Communist dictators are god-like supermen 2) The United States is a police state at home and an imperialist oppressor abroad 3) Capitalism is an evil system based on greed and...

Sarah Palin invoked Joe the Plumber and Joe the Quarterback last night in a combination political-pep rally in a packed football stadium in Beaver County -- an overwhelmingly Democratic blue-collar region being energetically sought by the Republican ticket in the waning days of the presidential campaign. Ms. Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee, invoked native son Joe Namath's upset win with the New York Jets in the 1969 Super Bowl and attacked Democratic nominee Barack Obama's economic proposals as socialism. "He's hiding his agenda of redistributing your hard-earned money," Ms. Palin, the Alaska governor, told a raucous crowd at the...

It’s been quite a week for “Joe the Plumber,” aka Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio. His comments elicited a telling moment of candor from Barack Obama, who insisted that “when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” The redistributionist tone of Obama’s remarks received plenty of attention, not least from John McCain; they were a rare – and disturbing – insight into the mindset of an unusually disciplined candidate who has been remarkably under-covered by the press. Not surprisingly, things soon took an ugly turn for Joe. In an effort to discredit him, the media camped out on his...

PARK RIDGE, Ill., Oct 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- A new survey by management consulting firm George S. May International shows 62 percent of small business owners said they would cross party lines this year to vote for the U.S. presidential candidate that they feel will do the most to help their business. A poll of 850 small business owners across the United States found that nearly half said they feel their business is in jeopardy with 56 percent saying the current credit crunch has adversely impacted their business: -- 23 percent cited late-paying customers and vendors -- 14 percent...

As soon as I heard the name "Joe the Plumber" invoked at last night's debate, I just KNEW the DUmmies and KOmmies would be sure to slam him by attempting to dig up dirt. I was not disappointed when I checked those sites this morning. First we see the slams in DUmmieland at this THREAD tenderly titled, "Hey, Joe 'The Dumbass' Plumber. Listen up!" Yeah, Joe, you need to be hectored by a bunch of socialist DUmmies to tell you how the world works from deep within their mommy's basement. The KOmmie THREAD has the completely (as we shall...