Joe the Plumber Rips McCain and Palin

I feel kind of bad for Joe the Plumber. He was so earnest (ignorant and bigoted, but earnest) and didn't realize he was being used in a political game. Being a political novice myself, I'm beginning to believe it's all a big reality show. Obama could have all the good intentions in the world, but politics is a game of power, and the government is made of a bunch of egos jockeying for power. No one seems to be able to get to the governing part. An argument could be made that there is almost no point in voting anymore because it makes no difference which party is in power. Neither one can get anything done.

I hope Joe the Plumber has wisely invested any money that he has earned. But that is doubtful.

Joe the Plumber is not longer a fan of either Sarah Palin or John McCain, it seems.
Joe, also known as Sam Wurzelbacher, told an audience in Pennsylvania this week that McCain "is no public servant." Read more at The Hill

Obama: 2008 Election Fascinating Slice of Americana

Obama with China's vice premier

In a Dec. 2008 interview, Obama called the election novel worthy. I'm sure somone's working on that.
Here are some excerpts from a juicy story in WaPo offering a behind the scenes look in the "The Battle for America 2008," a new book that's out:

"I don't think I was the most interesting character in the election," he said, noting "a whole cast of characters at the beginning who are fascinating in their own right, in some ways compelling just from a human perspective: John Edwards, Huckabee. And then comes the general election [and] you get Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber. You've got Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers. It's a pretty fascinating slice of Americana."

e was asked how the writer in him would spin the tale of what ultimately happened in 2008. "The way I would tell the story would really have to do with what this campaign said about America and where we've traveled," Obama said. "The fact that just a little over 40 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, that I can run. That just a few decades after women were admitted to professions like law or medicine in any meaningful numbers, that Hillary could run in a credible way. The generational changes between John McCain's era and our own, and sort of the vestiges of Vietnam, the shift that's taken place in the salience of some of the culture wars that emerged in the '60s that really were the dominant force in our politics, starting with Ronald Reagan, and how that had less power. Which, by the way, includes why the issue of Reverend Wright or Bill Ayers never caught as powerfully as it might have 15 or 20 years ago. The way the Internet served our campaign in unprecedented ways."

Axelrod on Hillary Clinton:

The second half of the Axelrod memo was more personal and pointed. "We should not get into a White Paper war with the Clintons, or get twisted into knots by the elites," he wrote. He argued that the issue of experience was overrated but said strength was not, and he conceded that Clinton, because of all she had weathered, was seen by voters as a candidate of strength. "But," he added, "the campaign itself also is a proving ground for strength."

Clinton, he wrote, "will try to command the race early. . . . Her goal will be two: to suggest that she has the beef, while we offer only sizzle; and that she is not about the past but the future. But for all her advantages, she is not a healing figure. As much as she tacks to the right, she will have a hard time escaping the well-formulated perceptions of her among swing voters as a left-wing ideologue."

Axelrod is a wise man. Axelrod advising on Obama's past drug use:

Axelrod also warned that Obama's confessions of youthful drug use, described in his memoir, "Dreams From My Father," would be used against him. "This is more than an unpleasant inconvenience," he wrote. "It goes to your willingness and ability to put up with something you have never experienced on a sustained basis: criticism.

Read the whole story. It's pretty good.

Joe the Plumber's Book a Big Failure

This guy oozes with ugliness. He thinks he still has a year in the spotlight. I hope he's made some money for himself because once they're done with him, which will probably be much sooner than a year, he'll get a swift boot. I hear Miss California is his replacement.

Joe the Plumber Won't Let His Kids Near Gay People

Conservative mouthpiece Joe the Plumber says gay people are "queer" and that's not a slur, he says, and he doesn't let any gay person near his children. He calls himself a Christian but is just another loser tainting Christianity.

He's crossed the line of stupidity into otherworldly ignoramus-ville. 
What a slime bag. I can't believe conservatives propped up such a worthless piece of you know what. Thanks Sarah. 

But you know he's just saying what all good conservative Christians think. That's one of the reasons why I shy away from religion. Mostly, people abuse it and twist it for their own self-righteous purpose. 

Christians such as JTP abuse their religion much in the way that terrorists abuse Islam. They have so much in common and don't even know it.  
What I'd like to know, is what can we do with all the really stupid people like Joe the Plumber, who muck the world up with their ignorance. How can we make sure that JTP's children don't grow up to be like him.
Here's his interview in Christianity Today.

What's Joe the Plumber Up To?

Not much. But he's still bringing down the house in conservative-ville

Conservative Strategy: Take Down the Media

The conservative realm of the republican party doesn't seem to be interested in looking inward. Instead, it wants to lay blame squarely on the media. 
Just look at the recent examples: Sarah Palin attacks the media in a new documentary and Joe the Plumber becomes a war correspondent in Israel and blames the media for everything.
It's an immature strategy. The media isn't perfect but it's not to blame for republican loss. Palin should look for ways to become more adult-like. 

I'm just thankful Obama won. Can you imagine what it would be like if Palin was our vice president? If Joe the Plumber was validated? Ugh. 

Joe The Plumber Makes Complete Arse of Himself

OMG, what an idiot. Really. JtP-type conservatives really need to go into hiding and reconsider themselves. How embarrassing.  Video. 

Joe the Plumber Lashes Out at McCain

Doesn't he know his 15 minutes are up? Doesn't he realize he was merely a pawn?

Politico: Joe Wurzelbacher lashed out at former GOP presidential nominee John McCain Tuesday, the man who made Wurzelbacher famous as “Joe the Plumber.”

Wurzelbacher told conservative radio host Glenn Beck that he felt “dirty” after “being on the campaign trail and seeing some of the things that take place.”

Recalling a conversation he had with McCain about the $700 billion financial industry bailout in September, Wurzelbacher said: “When I was on the bus with him, I asked him a lot of questions about the bailout because most Americans did not want that to happen.”

“I asked him some pretty direct questions,” he continued. “Some of the answers you guys are gonna receive — they appalled me, absolutely. I was angry. In fact I wanted to get off the bus after I talked to him.”

Joe the Plumber is Broke Wants You to Buy His Book

Instead of plumbing, Joe the Plumber was soaking up the limelight. Now he's broke and has a quick fix book coming out that he hopes people will buy.
I guess you can't blame a guy for trying to pay off his back taxes.
More on his "book" that comes out in December, when he'll be long, long forgotten.
He's got one publisher and is looking for others. This is what Joe says (This is why he didn't actually write the book):

"I am not going to a conglomerate that way we actually can get the economy jump started. Like there is five publishing companies in Michigan. There's a couple down in Texas. They are small ones that can handle like 10 or 15,000 copies. I can go to a big one that could handle a million or two. But they don't need the help. They are already rich. So that's spreading the wealth to me."

Thank you, thank you, thank you my fellow Americans for rejecting this sort of idiocy.

What if McCain Wins?

With only four days left, I ponder this. I dread this. And I try to find a way to feel okay with it.

The worst part of a McCain win would be the ugly people, the ones who've been shouting racial epithets and other horrible things at the McCain Palin rallies, would feel validated. They shouldn't be validated. They should be shamed.

McCain doesn't deserve to win after his nasty, low road campaign.

The other worst part is Palin. In reality, she's not fit to govern and is unworthy of even running. The other worst part -- there are many -- is McCain is erratic on economics.

He also seems to lack organizational skills and doesn't seem to know how to attract talent. He's got Joe the Plumber, Palin and TV host Elisabeth Hasselbeck vouching for him. That says everything. Joe the Plumber said Obama would mean death to Israel. If McCain had any honor whatsoever, that would've been the end of Joe the Plumber.

I've lived through 8 years of Bush, so I know I could hunker down for four more years of McCain. Maybe McCain, the McCain of old that everyone talks about so glowingly, would rear his head and actually do something good.

But if Obama can't win after all this momentum, after all this hope, perhaps politics isn't a means to changing anything.

Here's to hope and phone banking this weekend.

Joe The Plumber Goes AWOL

That's what happens when you're campaign relies on amateurs. I can't believe they're touting this guy who actually agreed that Obama would mean death to Israel.

CNN: — Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, has become an integral part of John McCain's presidential bid, but it appears the Arizona senator's campaign and the now-famous Toledo plumber need to work on their communication skills.

McCain aides told CNN's Dana Bash Wurzelbacher would appear with the Republican presidential candidate at his first campaign event in Defiance, Ohio. But in what was a slightly awkward moment for McCain, Wurzelbacher was nowhere to be seen when the Arizona senator called out for him.

A campaign aide later said Wurzelbacher had "decided not to come" and may join McCain later in the day.

Joe the Plumber's Toilet Clogged

Can this election end and put me out of my misery. What a creep:

Raw Story: The all-out effort from John McCain's presidential campaign to scare voters into backing the Republican candidate continued apace on Tuesday as McCain surrogate Joe the Plumber agreed that a Barack Obama presidency would mean the "death of Israel" and end democracy in America.

The Ohio plumber, who has no license and is actually named Samuel Wurzelbacher, spoke at a McCain campaign event in Columbus Monday. A McCain supporter asked if "a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel." JTP hardly batted an eye.

A McCain Palin win would be a sad day for America, indeed.
McCain's got amateurs running his campaign. Joe the Plumber. Sarah Palin. Give us break, already.

Later Tuesday afternoon, Shepard Smith pressed Wurzelbacher on his comments, reminding the woefully misinformed McCain backer that Obama has consistently voiced support for Israel. Pressed several times to explain how he could agree with the conclusion that Obama would lead to the death of the Jewish state, Wurzelbacher was unable to come up with any good reasons aside from Obama's position in favor of negotiating with rogue regimes such as Iran.

"You don't want my opinion on foreign policy," Wurzelbacher said. "I know just enough to kind of be dangerous."

The Fox news reporter actually defends Obama from this low life. His 15 minutes are so over. Can't wait til these amateurs disappear.

Obama Isn't Taking Wealth From the Rich

He plans to let the middle class keep more of their wealth.
Why should wealthy corporations get all the tax breaks? Why should people who make their money through investments get all the tax breaks?
It's called fairness. The greed monsters are coming out of the closet led by Palin the Incompetent One. She has no business calling Obama by his first name.

CNN: Taking “Joe the plumber” wordplay to an unprecedented new level, Sarah Palin on Monday dubbed Barack Obama “Barack the Wealth Spender” for his plan to offer tax credits to lower and middle-income wage earners.

Palin revealed the new moniker at an outdoor rally in Grand Junction, Colorado, where she also introduced a new working-class hero into the ever-expanding pantheon of “Joe the plumber”-types who oppose to Obama’s tax plan.

McCain Camp's New Tactic: Blame Themselves

The McCain camp sure is engaging in a lot of self-deprecating humor lately. Wonder what "pro America" areas of the country she's talking about.

CNN: “But yeah, sometimes you do get depressed watching what it is that they’re reporting and the spin and some of the distortion of what our message is and what we stand for, sometimes that, that gets draining,” she added. “But it’s at events like these and our rallies that we are so energized and inspired and we know that we are not alone. We feel your strength and we feel the power of prayer, so many of you tell us that you are praying for us and praying for our country, and that’s why we so appreciate you being here.”

The view isn’t all glum from the trail. “We even saw today, thank the Lord, we saw some movement,” looking upwards and making a fist. Another bright note for her, she said later, was visiting “pro-America” areas of the country.

After 24 hours dominated by the campaign’s latest unwitting celebrity, the Alaska governor conceded she was getting a little tired of talking about Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbach. “And I, I begged our speech writers, ‘Don’t make me say Joe the Plumber, please, in any speeches.’ And I was asked ‘Just one time, just at this fund raiser.’”

The McCain camp has encountered some playlist difficulties this year: Heart, John Mellencamp, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Jackson Browne, and the Foo Fighters have all asked that the campaign stop using their songs on the trail. On Thursday, Palin expressed satisfaction with the latest musical selection.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had intro music by AC/DC before. That was kinda cool,” she said. “In fact, we were on the bus today, we were making a list of who are some celebrity singers who could come out and help us and gosh, for the life of us, the pickings were slim there. Who’s quasi-conservative out there in the celebrity land?”

McCain Couldn't Denounce Fast Enough

McCain said at the debate last night that he denounces racist and hateful comments by supporters. 

Fact is, he doesn't. If he did, he couldn't do it fast enough to keep up with all the hate rolling out of his campaign and the GOP.
I hope Obama wins BIG, leaving McCain with a lot to think about, mostly his integrity. 

I think Joe the Plumber was intended to be McCain's last attempt at distracting the media and the public. But obviously, the McCain camp didn't vet the plumber. No surprise there.
Here's just some of the hate rolling out: There's this and Clarion and I didn't hear any denouncing of this or this or this or this. This just in -- a wave of calls suggesting Obama is a terrorist. 

Then there's Palin, his own vice presidential candidate, accusing Obama of palling around with terrorists.
What a rockin' team that McCain camp is. Pretty pathetic.
Here's more on Joe the Unlicensed back-tax owing Plumber who's real name is Sam.

McCain Uses the Unlicensed Tax Owing Plumber in Ad

Do you think McCain just hasn't read the latest on Joe the Plumber?

Joe the Plumber Has No Sway

Update from the Toledo Blade: Poor Joe the Plumber has no license and apparently, he needs one. The downside of being in the limelight.
Joe the Plumber slams Obama the next President for his "socialist" view on morning TV. When someone says "socialist" that usually means they vehemently oppose Obama.
The McCain camp is eating it up, trying to make the most of it. Who's Joe voting for? Duh. Does it matter? Nope. He doesn't seem to have had any sway, except for the people who already oppose Obama profusely.
Here's another thing, we all have to pay taxes so why is it that some republicans believe that the people at the tippy top should get the most tax breaks? That doesn't make any sense. They're the ones who know all the loopholes.
They have money invested so that it grows without anyone lifting a finger. They're the ones with 7 houses and 11 cars. Why shouldn't the people at the middle get more of the break so that we can stabilize the divide between the very rich and the rest of us. Maybe the tax structure needs to change every now and then. 


More on Joe from Joe:

CNN: “You notice John [McCain] continues to cling to the notion of this guy Joe the plumber,” Biden said on NBC’s Today show. “I don't have any Joe the plumbers in my neighborhood that make $250,000 a year that are worried.”

“The Joe the plumbers in my neighborhood, the Joe the cops in my neighborhood, the Joe the grocery store owners in my neighborhood — they make, like 98 percent of the small businesses, less than $250,000 a year,” said the Democratic VP nominee. “And they’re going to do very well under us, and they’re going to be in real tough shape under John McCain.”

Joe is in line to get a tax cut under Obama but he doesn't care. By saying the word "socialist" he's saying I'm with McCain.

McCain's Dirty Secret: Joe the Plumber Bashes Obama

McCain has been keeping a secret -- Joe the plumber. Joe is now dogging Obama on Katie's webcast. What a sneaky ploy. 

McCain must've known who Joe the Plumber was voting for (after all, the video of Joe and Obama hashing it out is on youtube) and built his talking points around Joe. 
After the debate, Joe the Plumber said Obama taps dances almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr. 

Expect to see Morning Joe -- he says he has three news trucks outside his house. 

Tim Pawlenty said on Katie's webcast that Joe the Plumber means people prefer John McCain. Everyone will be talking about Joe and Joe will be saying Obama is a smooth talker. 

Here's the video of Joe the Plumber on Katie's webcast.

Watch CBS Videos Online
Conclusion from MSNBC that Joe didn't matter much and post debate analysis

Obama Wins Hofstra Debate

I'm so biased but Obama seemed to be on top of all the issues. McCain seemed to answer every question: I'm republican. No new ideas.

Obama has answers because he has a plan.

Bob Schieffer asked great questions.

Obama alas answered to 50 million people, who were willing to listen, the partial birth abortion question. That has really gnawed at me, that people would think Obama would want to kill live babies. I mean really.

Here is the video of Obama explaining his tax cut plat to Joe the plumber, who must be feeling very important right about now.

McCain's best moment, if I had to name one, is when he said he wasn't president Bush. But he is.

Vote for the winner.

Why do undecided voters get so much attention? They aren't undecided. How could anyone be undecided. If there are undecided voters, they number in the hundreds.