November 6, 2008
Beating Up Joe the Plumber?When Samuel Wurzelbacher hit the news as “Joe the
Plumber,” his story played well. Presidential candidate Barack Obama had been
going door to door, with cameras, in an elaborate meet-and-greet binge. When he
got to Wurzelbacher’s door, he got an earful. And John McCain got one of his
few opportunities to really do some damage to the Obama juggernaut.
Now, the election is over, and new causes will be celebrated and reviled. But
Joe’s right to speak his mind remains a live issue, one that we should all
worry about.
Yes, there’s more to this story than you may have heard.
Here’s the rest of the story: Soon after his newfound notoriety, the real Joe,
Mr. Wurzelbacher, found himself under investigation by the local police.
It’s an old, ignoble tradition throughout much of the world: A person speaks
up, out come the billy clubs.
Fortunately, the investigation into his private records was nipped in the bud.
The records clerk who actually made the inquiry has found herself under
investigation. She’s even been charged with “gross misconduct" for allegedly
making an improper, politically-based inquiry.
We’ll see if the investigation goes further than just this one clerk. The
higher-up who approved the probe, Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio
Department of Job and Family Services, has defended her move. Will her maximum
contributions to Mr. Obama’s campaign be judged irrelevant?
We’ll see.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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