Thursday, October 30, 2008
Some blogs just write themselves... watch in its entirety.
For the record, if a newspaper such as the Times gives a source its word, if they ever want to have people trust them again, they will keep the tape under wraps. It is understandable that the McCain campaign wants this as one last "gotcha" for the sake of slandering Obama.
But seriously, where does McCain find these people? This is his national spokesperson making a fool of himself.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Joe the Plumber deserved fate, but not fame
If Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. "Joe the Plumber" has his way, he may find himself in a higher tax bracket by Nov. 4, perhaps not benefiting under Barack Obama's tax plan, after all. While right-wing pundits decried the "liberal" media's treatment of Wurzelbacher as unfair, Wurzelbacher was busy taking advantage of his newfound fame, signing a publicist, seeking a book deal and planning a country music album.
So much for a simple everyman.
Joe Della Croce of The Press Office, who also represents Aaron Tippen, The Gatlin Brothers and, uh, the Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent, recently announced that his agency has picked up Joe the Plumber and the agency is determining how to market Wurzelbacher, musing that he may be a spokesperson for Home Depot or even record some of Tippen's songs. Tippen has accompanied John McCain on the campaign trail ever since he was name-dropped 15 times by McCain during the final debate between the two Presidential candidates.
Is it any wonder the "mainstream" media jumped all over Wurzelbacher? For one, the plumbing company the guy mentioned to Obama during their exchange does not make anywhere near $250,000. Not only that, but Wurzelbacher earned something to the tune of $40,000 last year, wasn't a licensed plumber and wasn't even named Joe. The guy was obviously not vetted very well.
Then, when the McCain campaign has the chutzpah to trot Wurzelbacher out to accompany Sarah Palin in Ohio, then field policy questions from attendees, only to reinforce racism and prejudice, one wonders if this erratic campaign, marred in the final week by talk of infighting between Sarah Palin's people and McCain's people, has finally fallen off its rails. When a member of the audience said, "A vote for Obama is a vote for the death to Israel," Wurzelbacher replied, "I would have to agree with you." Even Fox News hound Shepard Smith called him out on this, citing the rhetoric as a lie and calling the exchange "frightening."
Criticism of the mainstream media for prying into Wurzelbacher's life lacks merit. He obviously has not shied away from the spotlight, especially given his controversial remarks. Do we need to be reminded that Wurzelbacher initiated the exchange with Obama (during which he lied about his company's earnings, and his intentions)?
Perhaps after this election he will go down not just as a one-hit wonder and ill-advised campaign distraction, but as Joe the Opportunist.
Monday, October 20, 2008
On Joe the Plumber, Joe Six-pack, Bill the terrorist and Colin the endorser
The final stretch of each election cycle tends to bring up the murkiest of political discussions. In the past we've experienced swift boats, decades-old drunk driving convictions, Willie Horton and now William — or shall we say "Willie" — Ayers.
This ad, run by an acquaintance to the George H.W. Bush campaign in 1988, proved disastrous to the Michael Dukakis candidacy. In reality, "Willie" Horton never went by the name Willie, instead going by his birth name, William.
A recent commentary by conservative news (oxymoron?) host John Gibson about Barack Obama's alleged, "shady" connections. Like Gibson's commentary here, many pundits are associating Obama with terrorism, based on his loose ties to '60s Weather Underground member William Ayers.
Like Horton, William Ayers is being used by Republicans to scare middle America voters away from a candidate. It certainly does not help Sen. Barack Obama's cause that his middle name is "Hussein," his last name rhymes with "Osama" and large portions of America still believe that he is Muslim (okay, for the record, Obama is a Christian. Was this not addressed with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversy?).
Obama was 8 years old when William Ayers conducted his despicable acts of terrorism. Decades later, Obama found himself serving on a board with this guy. Due to guilt by association, many are associating Obama with terrorism. Mind you, he has never actually committed any acts of terrorism, nor does he employ any terrorists in his campaign, nor would he in his potential cabinet.
This is merely a distraction by the ultra-right wing Republicans, who continue to fall further and further off the deep end of reality. Even former Secretary of State Colin Powell, an esteemed, lifelong Republican, admits that the act has gone too far.
On NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, he told Tom Brokaw that many top Republicans have spreading false rumors of Obama's purported Muslim beliefs to scare away potential voters. Furthermore, he addressed why being Muslim would even be an issue. It shouldn't, as he noted, seeing as many Muslim-Americans have fought and died for our country. Many, if not most, were born and raised U.S. citizens, but are of the Islamic faith.
It speaks volumes when a top member of the party endorses the opposing party's candidate.
So back to Obama's alleged nefarious associations. In addition to having Colin Powell in his corner, Obama's financial adviser is Warren Buffett, whom many have cited as the Walter Cronkite of the economy, and his running mate is Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Bill Ayers was nowhere to be found. Sounds like a pretty credible bunch to me.
So the GOP loses one of its most respected figures to the Obama campaign. What are they to do now? Well, they have already lined up their distraction. I, for one, expected a red state gentleman named Joe with a case of Bud Lite to speak at the campaign's next rally, per Gov. Sarah Palin's namedrop in the Vice Presidential debate. Instead, another Joe has unwittingly consumed the spotlight: Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as "Joe the Plumber."
Joe the Plumber has been the recipient of countless mentions by the McPalin campaign since Wednesday's third Presidential debate. McCain purports to defend Joe the Plumber by criticizing Obama for wanting to raise his taxes.
In reality, of course, Joe the Plumber's modest $40,000 salary will not see an increase under Obama's plan. His plan will roll tax cuts for those making over $250,000 back to what they were before the Bush administration, a whopping 3 perecent more. Mind you, the economy was experiencing the largest growth in our nation's history, jobs were at a 70-year high, and that extra 3 percent wasn't really hurting those who were already in power. McCain, however, ignores the facts and continues to lambast Obama for wanting to raise the taxes of small business owners (how many small business owners do you know who make a PERSONAL — not business — income of $250,000 or more?) and private citizens. What he doesn't realize is the question is wrong. We should be asking McCain why he refuses to help the middle class, why he refuses to even acknowledge the existence of a middle class in his speeches (he instead refers to the middle class as "middle income Americans").
However, with a (nick)name, a face and a pity story, the GOP seem to be on to something. Some GOP supporters have rallied around Joe the Plumber, but for what cause? If they really wanted to help Joe the Plumber, Obama's plan is a much more economically viable alternative for the blue-collar worker. Even if he buys the plumbing business, he will come out ahead under Obama's plan. Under McCain's plan, he will watch wealthier individuals and chain ownerships get our nation's wealth distributed amongst themselves.
One final note, McCain says he is opposed to raising taxes on anybody. How else does he plan to pay for his program? An ABC News report found that both Obama and McCain's plans will be costly. Obama's will be to the tune of 3.5 trillion dollars and McCain's at a whopping 5.1 trillion dollars. At least Obama has indicated that he wishes to go through the Federal Budget line-by-line, eliminating costly and useless programs, as well as ending the pricey war in Iraq. McCain simply seems to be emphasizing, as the report states, "Vote now, pay later."
This ad, run by an acquaintance to the George H.W. Bush campaign in 1988, proved disastrous to the Michael Dukakis candidacy. In reality, "Willie" Horton never went by the name Willie, instead going by his birth name, William.
A recent commentary by conservative news (oxymoron?) host John Gibson about Barack Obama's alleged, "shady" connections. Like Gibson's commentary here, many pundits are associating Obama with terrorism, based on his loose ties to '60s Weather Underground member William Ayers.
Like Horton, William Ayers is being used by Republicans to scare middle America voters away from a candidate. It certainly does not help Sen. Barack Obama's cause that his middle name is "Hussein," his last name rhymes with "Osama" and large portions of America still believe that he is Muslim (okay, for the record, Obama is a Christian. Was this not addressed with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversy?).
Obama was 8 years old when William Ayers conducted his despicable acts of terrorism. Decades later, Obama found himself serving on a board with this guy. Due to guilt by association, many are associating Obama with terrorism. Mind you, he has never actually committed any acts of terrorism, nor does he employ any terrorists in his campaign, nor would he in his potential cabinet.
This is merely a distraction by the ultra-right wing Republicans, who continue to fall further and further off the deep end of reality. Even former Secretary of State Colin Powell, an esteemed, lifelong Republican, admits that the act has gone too far.
On NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, he told Tom Brokaw that many top Republicans have spreading false rumors of Obama's purported Muslim beliefs to scare away potential voters. Furthermore, he addressed why being Muslim would even be an issue. It shouldn't, as he noted, seeing as many Muslim-Americans have fought and died for our country. Many, if not most, were born and raised U.S. citizens, but are of the Islamic faith.
It speaks volumes when a top member of the party endorses the opposing party's candidate.
So back to Obama's alleged nefarious associations. In addition to having Colin Powell in his corner, Obama's financial adviser is Warren Buffett, whom many have cited as the Walter Cronkite of the economy, and his running mate is Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Bill Ayers was nowhere to be found. Sounds like a pretty credible bunch to me.
So the GOP loses one of its most respected figures to the Obama campaign. What are they to do now? Well, they have already lined up their distraction. I, for one, expected a red state gentleman named Joe with a case of Bud Lite to speak at the campaign's next rally, per Gov. Sarah Palin's namedrop in the Vice Presidential debate. Instead, another Joe has unwittingly consumed the spotlight: Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as "Joe the Plumber."
Joe the Plumber has been the recipient of countless mentions by the McPalin campaign since Wednesday's third Presidential debate. McCain purports to defend Joe the Plumber by criticizing Obama for wanting to raise his taxes.
In reality, of course, Joe the Plumber's modest $40,000 salary will not see an increase under Obama's plan. His plan will roll tax cuts for those making over $250,000 back to what they were before the Bush administration, a whopping 3 perecent more. Mind you, the economy was experiencing the largest growth in our nation's history, jobs were at a 70-year high, and that extra 3 percent wasn't really hurting those who were already in power. McCain, however, ignores the facts and continues to lambast Obama for wanting to raise the taxes of small business owners (how many small business owners do you know who make a PERSONAL — not business — income of $250,000 or more?) and private citizens. What he doesn't realize is the question is wrong. We should be asking McCain why he refuses to help the middle class, why he refuses to even acknowledge the existence of a middle class in his speeches (he instead refers to the middle class as "middle income Americans").
However, with a (nick)name, a face and a pity story, the GOP seem to be on to something. Some GOP supporters have rallied around Joe the Plumber, but for what cause? If they really wanted to help Joe the Plumber, Obama's plan is a much more economically viable alternative for the blue-collar worker. Even if he buys the plumbing business, he will come out ahead under Obama's plan. Under McCain's plan, he will watch wealthier individuals and chain ownerships get our nation's wealth distributed amongst themselves.
One final note, McCain says he is opposed to raising taxes on anybody. How else does he plan to pay for his program? An ABC News report found that both Obama and McCain's plans will be costly. Obama's will be to the tune of 3.5 trillion dollars and McCain's at a whopping 5.1 trillion dollars. At least Obama has indicated that he wishes to go through the Federal Budget line-by-line, eliminating costly and useless programs, as well as ending the pricey war in Iraq. McCain simply seems to be emphasizing, as the report states, "Vote now, pay later."
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