During the election, I didn’t pay much mind to Joe the Unlicensed Fraud Plumber. I viewed him as something of an unfortunate self-aggrandizing sideshow — milking the limelight in the great American tradition.

Boy, was I wrong to ignore this guy. He is actually a dangerous nutjob who the media has anointed as being worthy of “serious” commentary. He recently gave a rambling interview in which he basically said that journalists should be banned from reporting on wars:

I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think journalists should be anywhere allowed war. I mean, you guys report where our troops are at. You report what’s happening day to day. You make a big deal out of it. I think it’s asinine. You know, I liked back in World War I and World War II when you’d go to the theater and you’d see your troops on, you know, the screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for’em. Now everyone’s got an opinion and wants to downer–and down soldiers. You know, American soldiers or Israeli soldiers.

I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting. You know, war is hell. And if you’re gonna sit there and say, “Well look at this atrocity,” well you don’t know the whole story behind it half the time, so I think the media should have no business in it.

This is scary stuff and not to be taken lightly. Although he is just one man, he represents a worldview to which millions of reactionary, fear-driven fellow travelers adhere.

Update: Here’s the video. Watch if you dare:


  1. SE says:

    Joe The Plumber….. $40K max a year income, probably pays little to no federal income tax, and then probably $10K in alcohol, $10K a year on cigarettes, $5K a year on the trailer, and the rest on pot pies, Xbox and porn (and who knows what kind).

    Here are a couple quotes from the Wiki this guy
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_the_Plumber

    McCain said, “[Obama] wants government to take Joe’s money and give it to somebody else
    I am sure that Joe says this often as well

    IMO: Most all of those that worry about someone taking their money, tend to not have any to begin with. I have never heard Gates and Buffet suggest this, even though they would be right (like like when Lincoln suggested the progressive income tax)

    Joe to Obama: “I’m getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year. Your new tax plan’s going to tax me more, isn’t it?”
    ….buy?…with what?…sure you are Joe….meanwhile, keep dreaming that you’ll ever make over $50K a year and start to pay federal income tax.

    Joe is delusional, he is “bubba-rich” and that is key to the game being played on them by forces like Americans For Prosperity (i.e. the Koch brothers).

    Regarding his statement to Barack Obama about intending to buy the plumbing firm that employed him, Wurzelbacher later said that the idea of buying the company was discussed during his job interview six years prior.
    …yeah Joe, I tend to do that during interviews as well

    According to MSNBC and Fox News, court records show that Wurzelbacher made $40,000 in 2006.[16] Dun & Bradstreet’s report estimated that A. W. Newell Corporation, the full corporate name, had $510,000 in annual sales and eight employees.

    I always loved this part…

    As part of the background on McCain’s use of “Joe the Plumber,” several media outlets researched his professional plumbing credentials. OneToledo Blade article stated, “Mr. Wurzelbacher said he works under Al Newell’s license, but according to Ohio building regulations, he must maintain his own license to do plumbing work. He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio, which means he’s not a plumber.” “Mr. Joseph [business manager of the local union] said Mr. Wurzelbacher could only legally work in the townships, but not in any municipality in Lucas County or elsewhere in the country.”[44] Wurzelbacher has since stated that he is no longer employed at Newell.

    Obama: If your revenue is above 250, then from 250 down, your taxes are going to stay the same. It is true that, say for 250 up — from 250 to 300 or so, so for that additional amount, you’d go from 36 to 39 percent, which is what it was under Bill Clinton.”[9]

    Biden: Obama’s running mate Joe Biden argued that 98% of small businesses take in less than $250,000 a year in income and thus wouldn’t be subject to higher taxes under Obama’s plan. McCain stated that Wurzelbacher would see higher taxes under Obama’s plan.[17]

    These facts (with supporting evidence) should be blasted in the media constantly; this is the only way that this type of ignorance will be squashed

    I have always been led to believe that the average small business (which includes Betty Joe’s Quilts) in the US makes $50K a year – perhaps I am wrong.

    You’ll get to see more of this guy in 2012 -- give me 30 seconds in a debate with this brain stem. Would someone in the media ask a few questions? A 4-yr-old could make this guy go away.

    Laura Ingraham asked Wurzelbacher, on October 24, 2008, if he would run against Kaptur. Wurzelbacher responded that he had considered the run and would be “up for it”.[40] However, in a 2009 interview with WorldNetDaily, Wurzelbacher indicated that he was no longer considering running for political office, and he added that he “talked to God about that and He was like, ‘No’”.[41]

    On October 7, 2011, Wurzelbacher filed paperwork with the Ohio Secretary of State’s office to challenge Kaptur in 2012.[42]

    This will be amusing; the gene pool is so defective at this point that it is almost comical. We really need to get to back to the age of farming accidents, that at one point culled the herd appropriately.

  2. SE says:

    How about a new show on FNN or GBTV? ….Craig T Nelson and Joe The Plumber

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