Ever since Joe Wurzelbacher had his interchange with Barack Obama, “progressive” websites and left-leaning media have been working to discredit Joe and harm him. Indeed, much of the media has shown more interest in investigating Joe than they ever showed in investigating Senator Obama or asking him tough questions. The Anchoress has a summary and round-up of links; see also Hot Air and the thoughtful post at Bookworm Room.
The message is pretty clear: If you dare to challenge a candidate beloved by the “progressive” movement, they will do everything they can to destroy you. You’d better be careful that all aspects of your life are squeaky clean and that your family can stand abuse: otherwise, just keep your mouth shut and don’t challenge those who know better than you. Mess with Obama, and you’ll never plumb in this town again.
John McCain:
Last weekend, Senator Obama showed up in Joe’s driveway to ask for his vote, and Joe asked Senator Obama a tough question. I’m glad he did; I think Senator Obama could use a few more tough questions.
The response from Senator Obama and his campaign yesterday was to attack Joe. People are digging through his personal life and he has TV crews camped out in front of his house. He didn’t ask for Senator Obama to come to his house. He wasn’t recruited or prompted by our campaign. He just asked a question. And Americans ought to be able to ask Senator Obama tough questions without being smeared and targeted with political attacks.
Neptunus Lex quotes the old Japanese saying: “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.” Today’s “progressives” want very much to hammer down nails in America.
Here’s what I think is going on: Over the last 20 years, too many of America’s universities have become places in which conformity is at a premium and genuinely independent thought is discouraged–“islands of repression in a sea of freedom,” as someone put it. It was inevitable that the spririt of repression inculculated in the universities would begin to poison the larger society, and that is now happening.
Here’s an item which I think is related: It’s been reported that at a (rare, small) McCain rally in NYC, somebody grabbed a McCain sign and beat up the woman carrying it. Beat her up physically, not metaphorically.
We seem to have a substantial population of “progressives” who simply cannot abide the idea that anyone would disagree with their policies and/or principles, and these people are, increasingly, a primary constituency–maybe the primary constituency–of the Democratic party. What would happen to free speech in a country with a Democratic administration and a Democratic-controlled Congress and (after a lapse of time) a court system dominated by Democratic appointees? I don’t want to be alarmist, but I think there’s something to be concerned about here.
More on Joe the Plumber from Neo, who has video and sees a rather “sneering and condescending” attitude on Obama’s part. “Sneering” might be a little too strong, but “snide and condescending” would IMNSHO be appropriate.
Snideness and smears should not be a recipe for electoral success in this country.
(some of the above links via Instapundit)
Update: See If the jackboot fits from Iowahawk; also Villagers with Torches.
The lefty anti-American Anti democratic party is out for tyranny, and will physcially destroy anyone in their way. It is a ghetto violent revolution.
See the YouTube video below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsdKUQ1nKA
for one person’s perspective on how you can make a decision to support Obama AND vote for John McCain. Demonizing Obama will get us a few votes (and also lose us at least a few votes) but I hope that a rational, positive thought process will persuade a few people who are still on the fence.
Regards,
Dan
Joe the Plumber
Another target in the Left’s war on productive citizens.
I remember the fate of the Kulaks
Forget the character attacks, however deserved or not. Let’s deal with the actual issue that was raised. Here’s a relevant excerpt from the conservative Wall Street Journal’s article of OCTOBER 17, 2008, ‘As Joe the Plumber Grows Famous, the Politics Get Murkier’:
“To reach a level that would be affected by Sen. Obama’s proposed tax increase, Mr. Smither said, a mom-and-pop plumbing company like Newell would have to clear $5 million in annual sales. [Joe’s company actually reports only $100,000 in sales.]
Even if Mr. Wurzelbacher reaped taxable income from his business of $280,000 a
year, he’d pay only about $900 more a year in taxes under Sen. Obama’s plan, which
would raise the tax rate on the income between $250,000 and $280,000 to 36%
from 33%.
[…]
If Mr. Wurzelbacher earns the wages of a typical Ohio plumber, $40,600, and holds a $90,000 mortgage, he would see a TAX CUT (emphasis added) under Sen. Obama’s plan of more than $1,000, compared with no tax reduction under Sen. McCain’s.
If he succeeds in buying the plumbing business where he works, he could see even more tax benefits, including Sen. Obama’s proposed elimination of capital-gains taxes for small-business investment, a 50% tax credit to purchase health insurance for employees and a $3,000 tax credit for every new hire over the next two years.”
Other issues and ‘things we wish were true’ aside, better to acknowledge facts and deal with them objectively.
If you really want us to “forget the character attacks,” why not forget them rather than say, “however deserved or not”? They aren’t deserved, and they aren’t relevant except as indicators of bad character on the part of the people making the attacks.
You’re accepting the Obama campaign’s talking points as the baseline for evaluating how one individual might fare under an Obama administration. But no one knows the details of Obama’s plan: does $250k apply to revenues or income? gross or net? married filing jointly or single? what about the impact of increased payroll and cap-gains taxes? Do you know? Does Obama know?
Any tax plan that is sold as one that cuts taxes for 95% of taxpayers, probably half of whom currently don’t pay federal income taxes, is obviously heavily redistributive. This is why Joe the Plumber’s question to Obama touched a nerve among the voting public. In the real world Obama can’t possible raise revenues without raising taxes on people who make less than $250k, and people know it.
The real issue, which is obscured by the focus on Joe, is that Obama let his guard down and admitted that he would raise taxes on people with modest incomes. Why else did he respond to Joe’s query by saying that we have to spread the wealth around? If people like Joe, who make less than $250k, aren’t going to see tax increases, why didn’t Obama say so?
And, of course, Obama’s tax increases would reduce everyone’s incentives to invest and create jobs. Who benefits from that?
Dan…interesting video.
And to think that I have had major rows with snooty Brits, gleefully explaining to them that the reason they dislike America is that there anyone can get anywhere if they have talent and work hard and nobody considers that the world should be run by people with cut-glass accents. The accent may not be cut-glass but the sentiments seem to have made their way across the Pond.
I honestly do not see what the details of Joe’s tax liabilities now, in the future, or potentially have to do with this. The issues are Obama’s response, which, there being no teleprompter, gave away his plans for higher taxation on growing businesses in order to redistribute; and the smear campaign against an ordinary guy who dared to challenge the presidential candidate or, in other words, exercised his democratic rights. Is that the sort of society you want to live in, UnaffiliatedIndie?
I suspect that Palin’s Alaskan accent has contributed to the criticism – she’s not “one of us.” Of course, our strength has always been the diversity of backgrounds that lead to diverse approaches to problems. We’d be a much weaker country today if Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin had all sounded alike and thought alike. And if Lincoln hadn’t been open to the arguments of Frederick Douglass and Grant hadn’t respected Lee. But, then, that respect comes from a security in their own beliefs – and a sense of who they were. I think what a lot of us yearn for most is someone comfortable in his own skin. We don’t care all that much if it covers a different gender or is of a different color or cheers for a different football team (we care because all of us will feel some allegiance with “our own” – but we know some like us are jerks and some “others” are heroic and just). Revolutionaries in throwing over institutions sometimes devalue integrity. Not valuing that diminishes all of us.
Oh, I like the fact that a simple question catches a candidate off guard and we see through the elaborate spin that eloquence can weave to the man we always assumed was behind the curtain. I like – well in moderation – cheerful, physical, confrontational guys like Joe.
But the point isn’t Joe; the point is only with something as non-scripted as that does the veil drop. and it says much about some people that they complained McCain hadn’t vetted this guy, standing in his front yard, when Obama walks down his street. The fact he wanted to engage him (even if it was critically) says something about the value the “average Joe” puts in dialogue – and the infamous if a bit silly walk through Manhatten shows something about the value the average liberal in Manhatten does. I know which is healthier for a democracy, but I also suspect which leads to a healthier psyche.
I can’t tell you how sickening it is, to see Joe the Plumber being chased by the media and an electronic lynch mob for the crime of having the temerity to ask a tough question of a political candidate – who is then startled into answering it honestly.
What the hell, people – really, what the hell??! Go after some private citizen who takes advantage of an opportunity – give them the full Palin treatment, hunt down and interview every family connection and friend. Nice job winning friends and influencing them into taking your side. Better hope this is not a foretaste of people in private life – and in public too, who offend against The One.
And conservative bloggers were the ones being called digital brownshirts…
It’s a weak debate when the opposition has to resort to character assassination over facts to prove their case. In this regard, we have Tinkerbelle liberals who want so hard to believe that everything Obama is saying is true, even when evidence shows that it is not. Over and over liberals have creating this noxious atmosphere where you cannot disagree with them without risking personal attacks. It’s not just “Joe”, it’s “Bristol” and countless others related to this campaign who are NOT RUNNING who have had their privacy violated by people who think the end justifies the means, just as long as the end include anointing Barak Obama into the White House. It is so bad in some areas that to have a McCain sticker on your car is an invitation to vandalism. Is this really want the liberals want, a sort of blanket threat of intimidation if you DARE to oppose their highminded, high-handed views? I thought they were all about free speech, but I guess that only counts if you agree with them. I just hope that the American public shakes off this idea that this election is just another pop reality show that will leave everyone smiling at the end, because unlike reality shows, there are real consequences down the road if we make the wrong choice.
I’ve quoted you and linked to you here: http://consul-at-arms.blogspot.com/2008/10/re-obamian-acolytes-vs-joe-plumber.html
The campaign against Joe the Plumber reminds me of campus politics writ large. So, you know, bullying, basically.
I like Palin’s Alaska accent, but, then, I grew up in Iowa. I used to tease my Bostonian friends that no one on the East coast should *ever* make fun of regional accents, or regionalisms :). As someone raised in Iowa, I have the neutral Midwestern broadcaster accent. You all sound funny to me!
As for regionalisms, I mean, fluffernutter? At least we in Iowa had Maid-Rite (OT: My favorite PBS series of all time is ‘Sandwiches That You May Like’. Seriously. All about regional sandwiches in the US like Maine lobster-rolls, Chicago Hot dogs, Iowa Maid-Rites, Philly cheese steaks, what have you. Excellent use of public money, much better than Annenberg Challenges and the like).
* His name is not Joe”¦.it’s Samuel.
* He is not a plumber”¦
* He does NOT like paying taxes. In fact he dislikes it so much”¦he doesn’t.
* He’s a planted darling of local right-wing radio
* The business he lied about buying is worth less rthan half of what he claimed (according to the current owner)
* He is not undecided, as evidenced by multiple interviews in which he happily regurgitates McCain talking points like a Republican papa bird feeding the gaping yaws of its conservative young.
* He makes less than $250,000 a year and would therefore benefit from an Obama tax plan. Although he said that when he asked Obama about taxes, he tapdanced around the issue “almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr.” *cringe*
What do the unions have to say about the faux plumber?
* Tim Burga of the AFL-CIO says, “You can quote me as saying, ‘Joe is not a plumber he’s a businessman. If we don’t elect Barack Obama, the plumbing business and working families dreams will go down the drain.’” And yes, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters has already endorsed Barack Obama.
And what about the other Joe? You know, “Joe the next VP”.
“John [McCain] continues to cling to the notion of this guy Joe the Plumber,” Mr. Biden said on NBC’s Today show. “I don’t have any Joe the plumbers in my neighbourhood that make $250,000 a year. The Joe the plumbers in my neighbourhood, the Joe the cops in my neighbourhood, the Joe the grocery store owners in my neighborhood, they make, like 98 per cent of the small businesses, less than $250,000 a year.”
And the final coup de grace, as if we needed one, is that Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher’s name is misspelled on his voter registration. So, I’m assuming that this horrible case of potential voter fraud means that the Republicans will see to it that he’ll be challenged at the polls on election day, right?
Riiiight.
He’s not a plumber? What is he, then? A plumber’s apprentice? A plumber’s helper? An employee of a plumbing company? Oh, he’s a right wing plant. What is that exactly, a money tree? How often do those have to be watered anyway?
I love these hilarous attempts to rebut (or, pretend it didn’t happen?) the ‘spread the wealth’ comment by the good Senator Obama, who was just trying to be helpful to Sam the non-plumber by answering his question so thoughtfully, after all. How very lucky the world is to have a Chicago politician in Washington. The corruption will clean itself right up!
*I wonder if the US will ever have brain drains in the future? You know, you can do business online, you move to the coast of Mexico where it is cheaper and follow your small business person bliss? Careful, there, redistributors. Don’t you lot watch Home and Garden television? Capital moves and it sometimes moves to a nice villa in an inexpensive country.
And the final coup de grace, as if we needed one, is that Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher’s name is misspelled on his voter registration. So, I’m assuming that this horrible case of potential voter fraud means that the Republicans will see to it that he’ll be challenged at the polls on election day, right?
I blame ACORN. His should have spelled, M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E.
So, a guy’s throwing a football to his son in his front yard, Obama walks by, he thinks, hell, I’ll ask him a question, and we get this crap from Plan B. It doesn’t hurt who the hell Joe is, the response from Obama is the deal.
But I wouldn’t spend that much time dissing Joe, if I were you. I saw him tonight on Hannity and he is one of those guys that says what he thinks (and says it well); he knows what he doesn’t know; he knows who he is. I didn’t figure he’d be all that much like that, but he is.
You may live in a world where everyone is a plant, but the rest of us don’t. You may live in a world where the local union defines who is and isn’t a plumber; we don’t. You may live in a world where Joe Biden speaks for the “working man,” we don’t. I love the division between “businessman” and “plumber” – that must be union speak. Again, it isn’t the world of people I know.
> He’s not a plumber? What is he, then?
WTF Difference does it make?
The whole point of all this is to throw people off the scent of Obama’s “I-Am-One-Major-Grade-A-Socialist-Asshole” response:
“(My Plan Is To) spread the wealth around”
So make sure you harp on this point EVERY time you discuss Joe. Not just your outrage at how Joe has been treated, but not letting it distract ANYONE from the REAL MESSAGE — Obama’s socialism.
The point of Joe’s question was that Obama was going to screw Joe (i.e, you and me) — not just “the super-rich bastards”. Yeah, it should not make a difference, but you’ll find a lot more people who wake up and get the point when you make it VERY CLEAR that this “share the wealth” crap includes THEM, too.
So remember — there are TWO messages here, not just ONE.
.
A bit desperate, isn’t it to go on about Joe’s name being Samuel? It is, as I understand it, Samuel Joseph and he prefers to use his middle name for everyday purposes. Quite a lot of people do and it is not usually considered to be a sinister right-wing (or left-wing plot). We get this sort of rubbish here as well. About as idiotic as you can get.
Have you noticed how when the left can’t find a plausible counter to any incident that disses their guy, they start to tear down the bearer of the information? How long are we going to let them get away with it without a retort?