State Dem Officials Spy on Joe the Plumber

Everyone understands that politics is a dirty game. But Ohio Democrat officials who have used government access to Joe the Plumber's personal information apparently have never seen the movie The Lives of Others. Based on a true story, The Lives of Others shows how the East German state eavesdropped on its citizens, encouraged neighbors to turn in neighbors and showed the big difference between democratic and communist states. (Btw, a fantastic movie for anyone looking for a weekend rental.) Or so we thought.

The Democrat Party actions of digging up personal information on ordinary citizens shows that maybe we shouldn't make that distinction anymore. When the press is more concerned with highlighting some trivial information on a citizen than it is on reporting government violations of his privacy - or shedding the truth on the likely Presidential nominee, we know we have a serious problem in this country.