Why was “Joe the Plumber” investigated by an array of Bob the Bureaucrats?
If you ask Ohio Republicans, it’s because Joe — whose real name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher — had the audacity to ask Democratic candidate Barack Obama about his tax policy. If you ask Ohio Democrats, including Gov. Ted Strickland, it’s merely a routine practice to check up on the suddenly famous to see if they owe child support. And people are curious. Ohio’s inspector general, the State Highway Patrol and others have launched investigations trying to pin down why state and law-enforcement databases were accessed by people seeking information on the now internationally known Wurzelbacher. State Department of Motor Vehicles information about Wurzelbacher — the suburban Toledo man thrust into the presidential race in mid-October after his questioning of Obama’s tax policy became a theme for Republican John McCain — was accessed seven times, according to Lindsey Komlanc, a Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.
