The Tennessean today sums up Bredesen's Watergate as a "creepy abuse of power" and chastises the governor for blowing alleged illegal and unauthorized activity:
Gail Kerr continues:Nosy? NOSY?
That's it? That's the governor's dismissive characterization of the actions of a highway patrolman who ran up to 182 unauthorized investigations of private citizens?
Nosy is wanting to find out what your co-worker paid for a new hybrid. Or what was really said in the closed-door meeting. This is way past nosy.
It is a creepy abuse of power. Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. Ronnie Shirley spent hours looking up the criminal background, driver's license records and more of unsuspecting people.
Which is why this bothers me so deeply. It is not just being nosy when a sworn law enforcement officer pulls someone's private files for no reason. It is intimidation by a man who packs heat. Sure, if Shirley used the information he found for some scurrilous purpose, it's even worse. But just browsing the files should be a firing offense.
Especially since this is the same officer who got spanked, but not canned, for fixing a ticket for one of the governor's top aides.
THP and the governor vow this won't be shoved under a rug: "I want to stress, in no uncertain terms, that this investigation is being taken very seriously," said THP Col. Mike Walker. "The THP has zero tolerance for inappropriate and/or criminal behavior."
Really? Then why, pray tell, does the governor sound like Shirley was just being a bad boy with time on his hands? And that an officer snooping for fun is no big deal?
and she summarizes:
This is the governor who threw a hissy fit at the notion that his home computer files could be considered open records if used for state business. Who fought to keep his daily schedule under wraps when it was requested by The Tennessean. The very man who let fly when Oak Hill neighbors were rude to his wife.
Governor, this is not garden variety nosiness.
It's a big deal. A big, smarmy deal.
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