Oppose Obama, Get Investigated

I noticed the trend when the Lufkin Daily News reported October 6, 2008, on the mysterious case of Jessica Hughes.

A Lufkin woman received a surprise visit from the Secret Service last week because of a "death threat" comment she reportedly made about Sen. Barack Obama to a campaign volunteer asking for her support of the presidential candidate.

Two federal agents arrived at Jessica Hughes' home Thursday to ask her if she said, "I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."

Hughes said her words were deliberately twisted by a volunteer who was apparently unhappy Hughes was rude during a phone conversation the two had. The Lufkin mother, a Republican, said she received a call on her cell phone Wednesday from a woman with the Obama Volunteers of Texarkana.

"She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, 'No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.' (And then) I hung up."

Hughes said she was surprised to see two Secret Service agents at her door, and upset to learn that the conversation she had with the volunteer apparently had not been recorded.

"I find it hard to believe that (campaign volunteers) don't tape these calls. They call people unsolicited and they aren't monitoring the calls or recording them? I think that is absolutely ridiculous," she said.

"I mean, how often must this happen — that someone is rude to a volunteer that they don't want to talk to?"

Hughes said she wants to file a countercomplaint against the volunteer.

"She has made a charge that will follow me the rest of my life," she said.

Joe the Plumber is another case in point. A better one, in fact.

To refresh your memory, here's the video of the full exchange (over 5 minutes) between Barack Obama and Joe the Plumber. It isn't the tidy little soundbites you might have heard on the radio, so I offer my warning that the Snooze Factor is about a 4 on a 1 - 5 scale when Obama starts talking details of how his tax plan would have helped Joe in the past.

Keep in mind that Obama ventured into Joe's neighborhood and talked to him, hoping to get Joe's vote. Joe wasn't some sort of "GOP plant" at an Obama event. So what's the reaction on the part of the Obama-promoting media?

They're trashing Joe's private life. The Toledo Blade reported yesterday that Joe Wurzelbacher is not really a plumber and has other dastardly personal issues that make him unqualified to talk to The One, let alone criticize him.

A check of state and local licensing agencies in Ohio and Michigan shows no plumbing licenses under Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher’s name, or even misspellings of his name.

Mr. Wurzelbacher told reporters Thursday morning that he worked for Newell Plumbing & Heating Co., a small local firm whose business addresses flow back to several residential homes, including one on Talmadge Road in Ottawa Hills.

According to Lucas County Building Inspection records, A. W. Newell Corp. does maintain a state plumbing license, and one with the City of Toledo, but would not be allowed to work in Lucas County outside of Toledo without a county license.

Mr. Wurzelbacher said he works under Al Newell’s license, but according to Ohio building regulations, he must maintain his own license to do plumbing work.

He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio, which means he’s not a plumber.

I love how certain the Blade is that Joe is definitely not a plumber. Which, by implication, invalidates the whole "spread the wealth" conversation with Obama.

Mr. Wurzelbacher said he was hired by Mr. Newell six years ago and that the possibility of him eventually buying the company was discussed during his job interview.

He said it’s his understanding he can work under Mr. Newell’s license as long as the licensed contractor works on the same site.

Mr. Wurzelbacher said he is working on taking the Ohio plumbing contractors’ license test.

It's not enough, of course, for the left to attack Joe for his lack of plumbing credentials. They had to go and get personal. They checked his voter registration, they discovered a lien on his house, and they even looked at his divorce records to learn how much he made at the time of the divorce. All because Obama decided to walk down Joe's street with a camera crew.

I'm telling you, as Sarah Palin learned when John McCain picked her for the VP slot, you don't oppose Obama in public (or even on the phone, right Jessica?) unless you're willing to have your dirty laundry aired nationwide. Make that worldwide.

Here's John McCain's response today to the investigation of Joe the Plumber.

Hope. Change. That's what Obama's all about...