Plumber Watch ’09 – Joe’s last ride

Well I’m sick of Joe the Plumber. I mean, I never enjoyed him in the way I enjoyed say Firefly (man that was a great show), but it Joe’s antics at least gave me some fodder to blog about. The man has gone from sad curiosity to pathetic media whipping boy. I feel a slight pang of sympathy for the man. He really got put threw the ringer, partly the fault of his own big mouth.

Well Joe’s book has premiered. Sam Wurzelbacher appeared at a D.C. area Border’s for a talk and signing. Washington Post covered the glum event. This, as far as this blog is concerned, is Joe’s Last Ride.

from Washington Post

Joe the Author, Plumbing New Lows in Interest

By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 26, 2009; C01

Joe the Plumber (no longer a plumber; first name actually Samuel) popped into our town yesterday evening to sell his new book and to remind people that he’s still a plain and simple guy. Mission accomplished, on at least one of his missions.

About 11 people wandered into the rows of seats set up hopefully in the basement of a downtown Border’s bookstore to hear Joe speak. Joe addressed them from behind a lectern and with a microphone, but that seemed unnecessarily formal.

If you’ve already forgotten “Joe” Wurzelbacher, 35, of Toledo, Ohio, it just goes to show you how ephemeral the life of a plain-speaking, Republican Everyman is these days. Joe was the square-jawed guy briefly drafted by John McCain’s campaign to be its Voice of Regular Folks. Joe got a couple of news cycles’ worth of attention starting on Oct. 12 — he remembers the date clearly — when he was videotaped confronting Barack Obama about his small-business tax plans. He later called Obama’s plans “socialism.”

Now, only a few months later, he’s kind of like a vestigial tail, a leftover artifact from a forgotten time. He’s Clara Peller, Willie Horton or Gennifer Flowers — names that are the questions in a “Jeopardy!” category called “Presidential Campaign Distractions.” To his credit, Wurzelbacher is hip to the audacity of hype: “I get e-mails all the time from people asking me when my 15 minutes is going to expire,” he grinned after his talk. “Sometimes they just write, ’15 . . . 14:59 . . . 14:58 . . .’ “

It’s fair to say Joe’s appearance at Borders at 18th and L streets wasn’t eagerly anticipated. People just kind of shuffled over when Joe strode in with Thomas N. Tabback, the co-author of “Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream.” Annie Hickman, a young woman whom Wurzelbacher called “sweetie” during a brief Q&A, was browsing when the PA announced that Joe was in the house. “I’m missing pottery class for this,” she said.

Lawyer Alana Hecht was curious. “I was upstairs reading ‘Dreams From My Father,’ ” Obama’s memoir. “It’s just fate. Who could leave when this is happening?” She and Hickman laughed. Washington, such a weird town.

Joe had something to say about hard work and having good values; it’s probably in his book, but he said it bluntly and plainly. He has presence; he’s solidly built, with a shiny bullet head, and large, workingman’s hands. “I’m just your average guy,” he said several times.

He wore a gray long-sleeve undershirt and baggy jeans, and looked as if he just walked in from a construction site. Joe says he plans to work in construction (hello, stimulus package!) once his gig doing commentary for a conservative Web site runs out at the end of March. Plumbing? Not happening. “I show up on a plumbing job and the first thing someone’s going to say is ‘Joe the Plumber didn’t do the job right,’ ” he said. “The next thing you know, it’s on the national news. It would be naive to go back to it.”

Wurzelbacher says he’s still no fan of Obama, but confessed that he never liked McCain all that much, either. Nor has he cared for the politicians he’s met on Capitol Hill. “Liars and thieves,” he called them.

The only heat generated by Joe’s appearance last night came when a young man named Jabari Zakiya recounted great moments in American racism (slavery, annihilation of Native Americans, segregation, etc.) and asked Wurzelbacher if the “hegemony” of the white man in America is “doomed” now that five states and the District of Columbia have majority minority populations.

Joe replied that he believes “our American heritage is being torn apart” by flag burners, critics of the military, and those who mock Christian values. He expressed his admiration for patriotic immigrants, and said he dislikes terms like African American and Asian American (“We’re all Americans,” he said). For some reason, he concluded by saying, “America has always been a kick-butt, take-names kind of country.”

Wurzelbacher was scheduled to speak and sign books for three hours, but the Joe Show was over in 55 minutes. Total copies of “Joe the Plumber” sold: five.

Opinions?

Plumber Watch ’09 – Joe’s last ride

Well I’m sick of Joe the Plumber. I mean, I never enjoyed him in the way I enjoyed say Firefly (man that was a great show), but it Joe’s antics at least gave me some fodder to blog about. The man has gone from sad curiosity to pathetic media whipping boy. I feel a slight pang of sympathy for the man. He really got put threw the ringer, partly the fault of his own big mouth.

Well Joe’s book has premiered. Sam Wurzelbacher appeared at a D.C. area Border’s for a talk and signing. Washington Post covered the glum event. This, as far as this blog is concerned, is Joe’s Last Ride.

from Washington Post

Joe the Author, Plumbing New Lows in Interest

By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 26, 2009; C01

Joe the Plumber (no longer a plumber; first name actually Samuel) popped into our town yesterday evening to sell his new book and to remind people that he’s still a plain and simple guy. Mission accomplished, on at least one of his missions.

About 11 people wandered into the rows of seats set up hopefully in the basement of a downtown Border’s bookstore to hear Joe speak. Joe addressed them from behind a lectern and with a microphone, but that seemed unnecessarily formal.

If you’ve already forgotten “Joe” Wurzelbacher, 35, of Toledo, Ohio, it just goes to show you how ephemeral the life of a plain-speaking, Republican Everyman is these days. Joe was the square-jawed guy briefly drafted by John McCain’s campaign to be its Voice of Regular Folks. Joe got a couple of news cycles’ worth of attention starting on Oct. 12 — he remembers the date clearly — when he was videotaped confronting Barack Obama about his small-business tax plans. He later called Obama’s plans “socialism.”

Now, only a few months later, he’s kind of like a vestigial tail, a leftover artifact from a forgotten time. He’s Clara Peller, Willie Horton or Gennifer Flowers — names that are the questions in a “Jeopardy!” category called “Presidential Campaign Distractions.” To his credit, Wurzelbacher is hip to the audacity of hype: “I get e-mails all the time from people asking me when my 15 minutes is going to expire,” he grinned after his talk. “Sometimes they just write, ’15 . . . 14:59 . . . 14:58 . . .’ “

It’s fair to say Joe’s appearance at Borders at 18th and L streets wasn’t eagerly anticipated. People just kind of shuffled over when Joe strode in with Thomas N. Tabback, the co-author of “Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream.” Annie Hickman, a young woman whom Wurzelbacher called “sweetie” during a brief Q&A, was browsing when the PA announced that Joe was in the house. “I’m missing pottery class for this,” she said.

Lawyer Alana Hecht was curious. “I was upstairs reading ‘Dreams From My Father,’ ” Obama’s memoir. “It’s just fate. Who could leave when this is happening?” She and Hickman laughed. Washington, such a weird town.

Joe had something to say about hard work and having good values; it’s probably in his book, but he said it bluntly and plainly. He has presence; he’s solidly built, with a shiny bullet head, and large, workingman’s hands. “I’m just your average guy,” he said several times.

He wore a gray long-sleeve undershirt and baggy jeans, and looked as if he just walked in from a construction site. Joe says he plans to work in construction (hello, stimulus package!) once his gig doing commentary for a conservative Web site runs out at the end of March. Plumbing? Not happening. “I show up on a plumbing job and the first thing someone’s going to say is ‘Joe the Plumber didn’t do the job right,’ ” he said. “The next thing you know, it’s on the national news. It would be naive to go back to it.”

Wurzelbacher says he’s still no fan of Obama, but confessed that he never liked McCain all that much, either. Nor has he cared for the politicians he’s met on Capitol Hill. “Liars and thieves,” he called them.

The only heat generated by Joe’s appearance last night came when a young man named Jabari Zakiya recounted great moments in American racism (slavery, annihilation of Native Americans, segregation, etc.) and asked Wurzelbacher if the “hegemony” of the white man in America is “doomed” now that five states and the District of Columbia have majority minority populations.

Joe replied that he believes “our American heritage is being torn apart” by flag burners, critics of the military, and those who mock Christian values. He expressed his admiration for patriotic immigrants, and said he dislikes terms like African American and Asian American (“We’re all Americans,” he said). For some reason, he concluded by saying, “America has always been a kick-butt, take-names kind of country.”

Wurzelbacher was scheduled to speak and sign books for three hours, but the Joe Show was over in 55 minutes. Total copies of “Joe the Plumber” sold: five.

Opinions?

Plumber Watch ’09 – "The Karl Rove of the Commode"

Should I laugh or cry? I may do both. Donklephant has more words from that unintentional comedian Joe the Plumber. You can’t miss this one. Let me give you a taste.

['Joe The Plumber'] Wurzelbacher opposes the stimulus and said he questioned why the government can’t just cut its bills like other people do. He also advised staffers to take a harder line on the legislation: “Republicans on the Hill are afraid of saying too much,” he noted.Further recommendations from the Karl Rove of the Commode included having “someone go in there and kick some ass.”

Donklephant – Joe the Political Consultant, Redux

Plumber Watch ’09 – We’re not worthy

I really wish I was making this up. All of this would make one Hell of a hilarious novel. Joe the Anti-Socialist Crusader had a few remarks on the stimulus and his political career after his meeting with the Conservative Working Group yesterday.

from NY Daily News:

You’d think Joe the Plumber’s 15 minutes would be up by now. But , no, after a stint as a correspondent in Israel, he took his act to Capitol Hill today.

The first order of business: giving political advice to conservative Republican staffers at breakfast, which, Wurzelbacher told us, “Went really well.”

His advice, essentially, was to take no prisoners in standing up for their beliefs.

“It’s not politically incorrect to say you’re Republican or conservative,” Joe said. “They need to dig their heels in and fight for what needs to be done.”

And no reason to be subtle, he said, as long as folks inform themselves. “I don’t believe there’s two sides to every story. It’s black and white,” Wurzelbacher explained. “There’s right and wrong.”

One thing that needs to be done, he said, is killing this stimulus package, because it’s just another example of “American government” — Republicans and Democrats — “kicking our butts left and right.” He also called it welfare.

As for his own political career, America will just have to wait six years until his son grows up.

“I don’t know if the American public deserve me,” he said, “but my son definitely deserves my time now.”

So look for Joe for Something in 2015. Why not? He’s kept his 15 minutes going this long.

Subtly is clearly wasted on this man. Life must be easy when every single thing is one way or another. Life is not a children’s story. There is not a white knight and an evil dragon to slay everywhere. There are nuances to almost every situation. Lord knows that are about a hundred million elements to the current economic crisis and stimulus package. To dismiss it just because you think it may be welfare is idiotic. I don’t agree certain spending in the bill, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

The “deserve me” quote? I should hope we don’t deserve this guy. That would reflect extremely poorly on our country. I do applaud Joe for saying his son deserves his time right now. Despite all of his flaws I am glad he is trying to be a good father. I wont make a dig at Joe out of that.

Plumber Watch ’09 – Mr. Wurzelbacher goes to Washington

I’m starting to feel bad for the GOP. They lost a hard fought Presidential election. The Dems have an almost filibuster proof majority in the senate. They are working hard to find a relevant identity in the 21st century. Will they drift further toward the Palins or closer toward the sensible center?

Amid all this there is that linger PR disaster Joe The Plumber. Plumber Watch ’09 has received reports that Joe is on the move. Mr. Wurzelbacher, fresh of his Gaza war correspondent gig, is heading to DC. There he will meet with the GOP strategy group The Conservative Working Group Tuesday morning. The focus of the meeting is the economic stimulus plan. Mr. Wurzelbacher is aparently not too happy with this plan. Who could have guessed? More here, here, and here.

Are His Fifteen Minutes Up Yet? Joe The Plumber Now War Correspondent

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, that slice of Americana commonly referred to as Joe the Plumber, who thought Obama was the reddest Marxist since Ivan Drago laced up his gloves, is back in the limelight. Not satisfied with a book deal and a possible country music album, Joe has set his sights on becoming a war correspondent. The Associated Press reported today that conservative blog collective PajamasTV.com has hired Joe to report on the recent Isreali-Palestinian war.

Personally, I love that citizen journalists can now have a widespread voice. Those of us without journalism degrees can still present our views to a large audience and, for the most part, be taken seriously. The number of opinions I read each day were not even remotely available to my father when he was my age. That pleases me to no end. Quantity does not mean quality. There is a difference between someone speaking knowledgably on a subject and the slightly disheveled man shouting on a street corner about “that damn government”.

PajamasTV can no longer be taken seriously. I understand and support wanting to get the “average man’s” opinion on world events. However, Joe is a man who has said, “A vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel”. That is certainly not the opinion of the man on the street. Can a man who told Fox News anchor Shepard Smith “You don’t want my opinion on foreign policy. I know just enough to kind of be dangerous.” be trusted to objectively cover a foreign war. In a word NO.