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As noted yesterday, Joe the Plumber is an unlicensed plumber - not approved by the government or The Union:
Mr. Wurzelbacher’s notoriety has raised the ire of Tom Joseph, business manager for Local 50 of the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters, and Service Mechanics, who claimed that Mr. Wurzelbacher didn’t undergo any apprenticeship training.Actually, he's been working for six years - so in Joe's case experience isn't an issue."When you have guys going out there with no training whatsoever, it’s a little disreputable to start with," Mr. Joseph said. "We’re the real Joe the Plumber."
Not so in other cases. Meet Joe Shanks, "a licensed master plumber and owner of Joe's Plumbing Service"
Shanks, an independent voter, said he's supporting Republican Sen. John McCain, citing the official's career experience in office as the deciding factor for him. . . . Shanks likened the decision to a homeowner in need of a plumber - would you hire the guy who just got his trade license, he asked, or a seasoned professional?"Could it be possible that plumbers aren't a monolithic voting block - or that some would defy the Union?
...the way the pro-Obama media and bloggers, and Obama himself, have responded to Joe has got me nearly shaking with rage. They are attempting to destroy a man — a private citizen — who had the audacity to ask The One a question. Mind you, Joe was on his front lawn playing football with his son when Obama strolled up to give him his hopenchange spiel. Obama approached Joe, not the other way around. And Joe asked Obama an honest question. And Obama gave him an honest — and very, very revealing — answer. Again, mind you, the embarassment was on Obama's end, not Joe's. It wasn't a gotcha question.So once again prompting me to ask: Down the memory hole? Gosh, who could have seen that coming? (But then, I'm an experienced blogger...)And yet, for that Joe is being pilloried, every aspect of his private and professional life being sorted through and exposed. To prove ... what? What does that have to do with Obama's answer? What does Joe's situation have to do with Obama's philosophical answer — that he wants to "spread the wealth"? Obama's answer goes down the memory hole while the nation concentrates its fire on obliterating Joe the Plumber.
But now that I think about it, this issue: "And yet, for that Joe is being pilloried, every aspect of his private and professional life being sorted through and exposed. To prove ... what?" ...is probably equally important, and equally revealing.
Of course, pointing that out is an "attack", right?
Update: Senator Obama ridicules: "How many plumbers do you know makin' a quarter million dollars a year?"
Actually, that's not what Joe said - and the Senator knows it:
I was impressed by the honesty (not the sentiment) of the Senator's unscripted answer to Joe (Obama: "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody"). But I suspect it's not polling well."I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year," Wurzelbacher said. "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?"And for the record, Obama gave a long, thoughtful answer that indicated he understood that Joe was talking about business revenue - not personal income ("if your revenue is above 250 – then from 250 down, your taxes are going to stay the same")
