This seems rather ironic, but during the election we all learned about Joe “the Plumber”, the McCain poster child/supporter who turned out to not even be a plumber. He never completed the state requirements to become a journeyman plumber in his allowed time frame as an apprentice. Now we fast forward a couple of months and here we are again, another person tied to the Republicans trying to become a tradesman under a cloud of suspicion.

I am talking about Levi Johnston, Sarah Palin’s grandbaby’s daddy. There has been a lot going around about his getting into an electrical apprenticeship program in the oil fields, without the mandated high school diploma or equivalency. Now the company he was working for has released a statement on it:

In a written statement, the company said its electrical apprenticeship program eligibility requirements include a high school diploma or equivalent, “but this is not a requirement mandated by the federal government.”

So was Levi to become an electrician only by ASRC Energy Services standards?  Every state I can think of requires a high school diploma or GED to enter apprenticeship programs for either plumbing or electrical. I doubt Alaska is any different. I don’t know of an actual “federal regulation”, as these licensing requirements are usually mandated by state law, so something doesn’t pass the smell test here.