Free Joe the Plumber
Howie Carr, “Joe the Plumber, this Bud’s for you.”
NYT: Mr. Plumber has become a proxy for all the country’s working people.
LAT: Joe the Plumber, National Fixture.
Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO: “His invisible friend Joe the Plumber”
Barron’s: Joe Takes Centers Stage As We Go Down The Drain.
Katie Couric gets Joe. He doesn’t make $250,000 a year, he’s in Obama’s 95 percent, and still thinks he’s a socialist. Uh oh … he just compared Obama to a tap-dancing Sammy Davis Jr.
And that is where it’s going to start. UPDATED:
The name of Joe the Plumber was invoked 13 times in the first 10 minutes, 26 times in all. I’m guessing on the second, maybe the third mention, that’s when the hit was ordered on Joe the Plumber. If I know my Obamist press, there are baby-faced assassins being diverted to Toledo as we speak. And if Joe the Plumber is like much of the 95 percent he has just been designated to represent, there may well be aspects of his life that he, like any citizen, like any up-and-coming small businessman, doesn’t necessarily care to share with rest of the United States of America.
The amatuers are already on the job, and bungling it. Firedoglake:
Removed all identifying info like phone #s, of course. But this is all very, very public info. I’m certainly not going to check anyone’s countertops for granite, but I do check Google.
FINALLY: AH, NUTS. No go, this is the wrong info. Sorry, kids. Wrong company, the total is $510,000.
I go to the box and feel shame. Removed evidence of all but my screwup.
FDL feels shame … hey, maybe Joe the Plumber could be the start of something.
To my wretched, ink-stained colleagues … leave Joe the Plumber alone. He is just a guy. Give him the same consideration you’ve given Bill Ayers. Ignore him. If you need to rake muck, there’s always ACORN. I know ACORN’s Obama-affiliated, even if no one is much interested in highlighting that, but fair’s fair, after all the Palin-bashing.
McCain-Biden, you got your Joe the Plumber mileage. The Saturday Night Live skits are already written. Drop it. Let Joe go … he’s out there, in the hearts and minds of Americans, working for you already.
And Joe. Don’t talk to any more reporters. Just pretend like you’re a Norman Rockwell painting. Strong, silent, earnest type. A “go jump in the lake” or two will only further endear to the heartland. That “Sammy Davis Jr.” remark may just be the kind of innocent thing an ordinary American might say about a pol without meaning anything except, you know, that the pol’s tap-dancing. But before you know it, they’ll be making “Archie Bunker” remarks about you. And that’s just the ones who are being nice.
But maybe Joe the Plumber’s gonna be all right. Toledo Blade:
… after the debate, Mr. Wurzelbacher expressed some embarrassment that he was now known across America as Joe the Plumber.
“There’s a lot more important issues than me, and I’m starting to feel a little uncomfortable with it,” he said. “Everyone’s more worried about what Joe the Plumber has to say than what Obama or McCain has to say.”
Go with that, Joe. The Joe train is already rolling, and no one’s at the controls. But maybe this time the endless trainwreck that is the American media experience ends up on a happy little siding, alongside a pasture full of vaguely curious cows. Maybe Joe, at the end of the day, gets treated with some respect and just gets to be Joe.
A few more Joe links:
TalkLeft, breathlessly: radical right site reveals Joe the Plumber is scared of Obama’s socialism. No shit?
Gateway: Joe the Plumber won the debate.
Tigerhawk: JTP reax … thoughtful guy!
UPDATE via Protein Wisdom, we have a winner, and it’s our own TalkLeft! Joe the P, Racist …
ANOTHER UPDATE:
Hotair: Look on the bright side. The media is finally starting to vet acquaintances of Barack Obama.
Jawa: Joe the Plumber kicks ass, takes names in four minutes of undiluted blue-collar awesomeness.
Apparently Joe the Plumber can handle himself.
Malkin: McCain’s Joe the Plumber ad …
NYT’s Caucus: “Britney Spears having a headache” smacked by Obama-endorsing union slug.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:16 am on Thursday, October 16, 2008
2 Responses to “Free Joe the Plumber”
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October 16th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
[...] more here. Posted by Jeff G. @ 10:21 am | Trackback SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Why the Nitty Gritty Dirt [...]
October 16th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Joe did good. His question caused Obama to let the mask slip a little, let more people know what he’s really about. Joe’s gonna pay for that, though, you just know it.