Atrocious to Smear a Private Citizen
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Atrocious to Smear a Private Citizen
| Thu, 10-16-2008 - 4:22pm |
I think it is atrocious for the press to try to smear a private citizen who merely used his first amendment rights to question a candidate! He didn't ask for all this attention, and he has not stated who he will be voting for, but since John McCain received some points in the debate last night about an exchange "Joe the Plumber" had with Barack Obama the press is out to destroy this man. Good Grief! The man is a plumber! An average citizen. Now the left wing is trying to vilify him like he's George Bush! How HORRIBLE! And the extremists on the left seem to be following in lock step. No compassion for an ordinary man UNLESS he shares their socialist viewpoint. This is about as dirty as it gets!

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Not sure if anyone had posted this yet or not - thought the Keating connection was interesting!
The "Joe the Plumber" Story Hits an Amazing New Low
Just when you didn't think things could get worse for John McCain -- they go in the toilet.
Literally.
So, you remember Joe the Plumber, who John McCain kept relentlessly bringing up. And up. The apparently undecided plumber who had complained to Barack Obama that he couldn't buy his own plumbing company because he'd have to pay 3% more in taxes. The plumber who John McCain lauded as an Everyman while oddly proclaiming "Congratulations! You're rich!" in the midst of a disastrous recession. The fellow who said that Barack Obama "tap dances better than Sammy Davis Jr."
That guy.
Well, it turns out he's the one gliding around the dance floor so much, you should expect to see him soon on "Dancing with the Stars."
You see, Joe Wurzelbacher is apparently related to Robert Wurzelbacher. Who is the son-in-law of (are you ready...?) Charles Keating!
Yes, that Charles Keating. The Charles Keating of the Keating 5 Scandal. For which John McCain was reprimanded by the United States Senate, for his involvement in attempting to illegally influence government regulators. The Charles Keating who John McCain has been trying to avoid have mentioned. So, he basically mentioned it 24 times.
(By the way, lost in all the attention paid to John McCain not getting the same career-ending censure by the Senate, as did the other four defendants - the reason for that is because he'd been in the House of Representatives at the time of his transgression. The Senate decided that they didn't have jurisdiction over him to give the same penalty. So, his career was saved.)
Anyway, back to Robert Wurzelbacher, Joe the Plumber's father. You see, Robert Wurzelbacher was an executive of American Continental Corporation, the parent company of Charles Keating's Lincoln Savings. That's the bank which caused citizens to lose their life savings and cost U.S. taxpayers $3.4 billion. As part of that scandal, Robert Wurzelbacher pleaded guilty to three counts of misapplying $14 million and served 40 months in prison.
And now, Lincoln Savings, Robert Wurzelbacher and Joe the Plumber are back with John McCain.
"Congratulations! You're rich!," indeed.
Never mind that Joe the Plumber has state tax liens files against him. As the court representative says, Joe the Plumber might not even be aware of the lien.
Never mind that Joe the Plumber says he wasn't convinced by Sen. Obama's argument. Given his background, why should he be?
Never mind that Joe the Plumber is concerned about a tax increase if his business makes over $250,000. After all, since any business has an estimated value of five times its annual profit - that means Joe's hoped-for business is valued at $1.25 million. So, either he has that in the bank or can get a loan for its value. (Assuming he can get a loan today, of course...). Though, now you see why John McCain gave Joe the Plumber a shout out, "Congratulations! You're rich!"
But then, maybe John McCain gave Joe the Plumber a shout-out because he wanted to give a boost to a friend's relative. Nice touch.
So, apparently these are the people who John McCain seems to keep palling around with.
Mind you, I thought it odd when John McCain first brought up Joe Wurzelbacher's but then never referred to his last name again. I thought perhaps he'd forgotten it. Or it was too hard to pronounce. Apparently though there was a better reason for him to quit saying the name "Wurzelbacher" 24 times. If only Sen. McCain (R-AZ) had remembered the pesky Tivo, where you can rewind.
Now, in fairness, John McCain might not have known than Joe Wurzelbacher was from that same Wurzelbacher family. He might have thought it was just some regular Wurzelbacher. And who knows, maybe they're not even related?
But never mind all of that. This is an election, and what matters is the votes. And in the end, if John McCain wants the vote of Joe the Plumber, then he'll likely get it. That was his point all night, after all. Of course, he might not getting the votes of many other plumbers.
The United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters has endorsed Barack Obama.
"Obama will help us keep existing jobs and work to develop new, higher paying jobs here in America, reform our health care system, fix our ailing schools and make sure that the pensions of our retirees are safe," the UAPP said.
By the way, as long as we're on the matter of John McCain forgetting the name of Joe Wurzelbacher and who he's related to. There's one other name he forgot at the debate.
Barack Obama.
At the end of the evening, Mr. Obama began his final statement by thanking Sen. McCain and "Bob for moderating." When it was John McCain's time, he too thanked Bob Schieffer by name, then turned to Sen. Obama, looked at him, hesitated briefly, and then sayd, "And you."
At least he didn't say "Joe Wurzelbacher."
For the 25th time.
Edited 10/17/2008 10:41 am ET by rtmom08
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I've seen broadcasts of a number of rallies and town hall meetings on both sides of this election where folks have stood up and asked questions or expressed their opinions and concerns. So I don't think your assessment of what the media did any differently than usual is accurate. As far as the media broadcasting "0bama's socialist answer"....it was supporters of McCain and Obama's detractors who jumped on that statement and ran with it....and this is par for the course in any election.
Spin it any way you like, but this is what happened.
That is ridiculous. McCain wasn't using this guy for political gain. He used the anectode as a real life example of what Obama's policies would do to someone like Joe the Plumber. Why is McCain being blamed for the NEW YORK TIMES writing a story about how Joe isn't technically a licensed plumber and how Joe apparently has a tax lien? That's ridiculous! Joe the Plumber is not part of John McCain's campaign.
Are you saying that, if someone had looked up who the soldier was on the bracelet that Obama was wearing, it would have been fair game to print negative stories about the soldier? I mean, after all, it would be Obama's fault for using the soldier for political gain.
I agree that the Obama supporters are just nervous so much attention is being paid to this exchange. They are nervous that Obama slipped up and clearly stated that he is planning to redistribute wealth, and they are afraid that now, everyone will figure out what his plans are.
I hope that people will be smart enough to look beyond the smears. It doesn't matter who Joe is. What matters is that, when pressed, Obama admitted his plan to redistribute wealth, which is an extreme, radical position in America.
it just gets better and better!
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Well obviously there is, since we both have different impressions of the situation (and there are also others here that have different impressions than both you and I).
Can I ask you if *I* have made efforts to discredit this guy? I ask because I would be considered by you to be "part of the left".
How would you feel if you turned on the TV and saw Obama mention YOUR name about 20 times without giving you a "heads up" first?
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