Obama Shock Horror Probe

So Barak Obama's passport application file has been accessed by one or two people who work for the passport service. And Hilary Clinton's. And John McCain's. Shock horror, conspiracy, sculduggery. Slap me with a wet lettuce.

If I was doing something as mind-numbingly boring as processing passport applications, I think I'd try looking up the file of someone famous now and again, just to break the monotony. I bet if they checked, they'd find that Jennifer Aniston's and Tiger Woods' and Pamela Anderson's and a few thousand others have been accessed too.

I've looked up the US passport application form. It contains your name, date of birth, social security number, address and a contact number; your parents' names and birth dates; your partner's name; and details of your height, hair colour, occupation and employer. That's it.

I should have thought that the kind of information you need to know to decide whether to issue a passport is about the minimum a nation has a right to know before it decides whether to elect someone president. So what exactly is Obama afraid of? Is he afraid of identity theft, perhaps? Has he lied on his personal details? Or is this just an attempt to smear the opposition?

If I were a voter, those are the sort of questions I'd be asking, not 'Who dunnit?'