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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Innocent bystanders

Innocent bystanders

by DougJ|  February 21, 20092:42 pm| 40 Comments

This post is in: Media, Clown Shoes

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No one could have anticipated that becoming the main spokesman for the McCain campaign would bring Joe the Plumber a lot of media attention.  And it’s fair to compare him to people who ask questions during town hall meetings.

As the latest victim, Hughes joined a growing collateral damage club that includes Anita Esterday, the Iowa waitress tossed into the presidential campaign meat grinder after Hillary Clinton allegedly failed to tip her; Trina Bachtel, an Ohio woman whose death was campaign fodder for weeks after Clinton referred to her plight; Barack Obama’s aunt, Zeituni Onyango, outed for living in Boston after her worker’s visa expired the weekend before Election Day; and Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber.”

Wurzelbacher, some would argue, had it coming. He was only too glad to embrace the spotlight after a brief campaign trail encounter with Obama where he asked the future president a loaded question on taxes.

He was working an angle, to be sure, but Wurzelbacher couldn’t have anticipated the firestorm he would soon get caught up in.

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40Comments

  1. 1.

    valdivia

    February 21, 2009 at 2:51 pm

    Imagine, Politico, making an idiotic comparison between categories that do not go together! I especially like that they managed to put the Aunt story in there which was manufactured by the right wing noise machine. I refuse to even click on their links anymore.

  2. 2.

    javafascist

    February 21, 2009 at 2:55 pm

    The problem is not the article but the editing process. The original sentence was clearly:
    He was working an angle, to be sure, but Wurzelbacher couldn’t have anticipated the firestorm he would soon get caught up in because he’s dumber than a bag of rocks.

  3. 3.

    Zach

    February 21, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    Giving Joe the benefit of the doubt for not being a plant in the first place, he wouldn’t have even been in the media spotlight were it not for coordinating with the McCain campaign within a day of his conversation with Obama.

    It was first Obama supporters, not McCain supporters, who were passing around the video. The irony of the Joe the Plumber saga (if you have to pick just one) is that Obama held his own during the actual incident and Joe was nodding along with him in seeming agreement by the end of it.

    McCain’s campaign was utterly fucked, but I don’t think it’s giving them too much credit to assume that they first contacted Joe and were assured of his complete cooperation before they had their candidate mention Joe in every campaign stop and debate answer from that point until the end of the campaign. It was McCain’s camp that pushed the video into the media and arranged for Joe to go on TV.

    Remember how absurd it was that Joe the Plumber was booked as a debate analyst a week after anyone knew he existed? Seems like small potatoes now that he’s a bonafide foreign affairs correspondent.

  4. 4.

    Stefan

    February 21, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    What about Julio the Burger-Flipper? He’s one hoi polloi I’d like to see more of.

  5. 5.

    TenguPhule

    February 21, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    The election is over, why is JNTP still in the news regarding the election?

    MAKE IT STOP!!!

  6. 6.

    DougJ

    February 21, 2009 at 3:00 pm

    Giving Joe the benefit of the doubt for not being a plant in the first place, he wouldn’t have even been in the media spotlight were it not for coordinating with the McCain campaign within a day of his conversation with Obama.

    Exactly. McCain mentioned him the debate five times!

  7. 7.

    Zach

    February 21, 2009 at 3:00 pm

    @valdivia: that sentence reminds me of the scene in The Wire where a reporter is excoriated for saying people were evacuated during a fire. In what sense was she "outed for living in Boston" ? Outed as a what? Was she outed because she lived in Boston? Was she outed as someone who lives in Boston because she lives in Boston? Did her visa expire on the weekend before election day or did this outing occur on the weekend before election day or both? There’s more that separates The Politico from the old hands than an obsession with who won the day in DC.

  8. 8.

    valdivia

    February 21, 2009 at 3:02 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    but but, he is an expert! And the voice of the people!

    I am with you. Make it stop please. Teh stupid, it hurts.

  9. 9.

    valdivia

    February 21, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    @Zach:

    There’s more that separates The Politico from the old hands than an obsession with who won the day in DC.

    Exactly.

    Love The Wire, of course.

  10. 10.

    Tonal Crow

    February 21, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    NJNTP (yeah, he’s neither a "Joe" nor a licensed plumber) beautifully crystallizes the GOP’s deep envy of, and hatred for, intellectuals and intellectual pursuits, and especially their envy of and hatred for scientists and science.

    BTW, isn’t envy a "deadly sin"?

  11. 11.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    February 21, 2009 at 3:12 pm

    He was working an angle, to be sure, but Wurzelbacher couldn’t have anticipated the firestorm he would soon get caught up in.

    If we take this as fact, the only question here is whether Andy Barr or Joe The Plunger Jockey is the dumbest motherfucker on the planet.

  12. 12.

    Ed Marshall

    February 21, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    This is totally off-topic and stupid, but I took some Nyquil and Aleve this morning because I’ve got worst cold I ever had. I was going to go pour a lager and I saw the warning on the Nyquil not to drink. Poking around on the internet makes it sound like I’ll keel over dead if I do this. Now the Nyquil has alcohol in it in the first place so I’m a tad skeptical.

    If it really is that bad for you I’ll skip the Nyquil and Aleve, and buy a bottle of scotch tomorrow, it works better anyway.

  13. 13.

    Walker

    February 21, 2009 at 3:19 pm

    @valdivia:

    I refuse to even click on their links anymore.

    It is generally considered polite practice for a site to give a PDF warning when it links to a PDF document. We need to do the same thing for Politico, considering that they are such link whores.

  14. 14.

    valdivia

    February 21, 2009 at 3:20 pm

    @Ed Marshall:

    yeah i would stay away from alcohol and switch over to actual drinking when the medication has gotten out of your system. Aleve plus the Nyquil is a pretty potent combo.

  15. 15.

    valdivia

    February 21, 2009 at 3:22 pm

    @Walker:

    totally agree. The less we click there, the better.

  16. 16.

    Svensker

    February 21, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    I think Nyquil has Tylenol in it, which is very bad for your liver if mixed with a lot of alcohol — 3 drinks can be toxic, i.e. acute liver failure.

    So, be careful. Actually, Tylenol (acetaminophen) is very hard on the liver all by itself — you have to be very careful when taking it not to overdose. Especially dangerous for children.

  17. 17.

    JL

    February 21, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    In order to fill some empty space Andy Barr decides to write

    Bystanders become grist for pundit mill

    Does Andy realize that he is the pundit still writing about them?

  18. 18.

    Zach

    February 21, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    @JL: That use of "grist to the mill" could be an intentional slight at his employer given the meaning of the phrase. Judging by the wisdom of the other metaphors he employs, though, I doubt it.

    "fresh grist" – because grain can go bad? because one can reuse grist?
    "another casualty of a relentless and lightning-quick attack-and-counterattack machine that is consuming innocent and not-so-innocent bystanders who step too close to its maw" – the machine has a mouth!

    And how many metaphors are employed just for Joe:
    "the firestorm he would soon get caught up in" – so he was being ground into flour while a giant robot with teeth was devouring the mill and the whole mess was engulfed in flames. Politico is a Monster Truck rally.
    "After the black arts of oppo research were applied to him" – AKA some blogger called someone and another one looked something up online and an irresponsible state employee looked up info; none of this is oppo research.

    Lastly, "Clinton’s campaign also inadvertently torched another civilian" … you can’t torch inadvertently.

  19. 19.

    headpan

    February 21, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    he wouldn’t have even been in the media spotlight were it not for coordinating with the McCain campaign within a day of his conversation with Obama.

    And not long after, he failed to show up for a McCain campaign event. Remember McCain looking out into the audience, "Joe’s here. Where are ya, Joe? He’s supposed to be here. I guess he’s not here."

  20. 20.

    Tonal Crow

    February 21, 2009 at 4:19 pm

    @headpan: That really showed up McCain’s executive skills.

  21. 21.

    headpan

    February 21, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    Where is JTP’s face, exactly? I still can’t quite make it out, the bald head and fat chin just sorta meld together into this twisted little, beady-eyed expression

  22. 22.

    Bob In Pacifica

    February 21, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    I’m still not convinced that Joe the Plumber isn’t a relative of the guy who went down in one of those banking schemes a decade back. Keating, wasn’t it? I know the Repub talking point is "No, he’s not!" but I really have never seen anything definitive on it. I mean, how many Wurzelbachers are there in Ohio?

    The way he was so quickly elevated to pundit status had the elements of a Republican dirty trick/plant/fascist-fool-the-white-reactionary-underclass-trick smell to me.

    I hope he’s learned about tax deductions like business expenses. He’ll be able to deduct his clown shoes.

  23. 23.

    HRA

    February 21, 2009 at 6:09 pm

    Ed go to the doctor. I started with the bad cold a week before the holidays. I tried every over the counter relief I could find and made it fairly well through Christmas. Then it got worse. I went to the doctor and was prescribed an antiobiotic. Four days after the meds were done, it came back. Now I am finishing another antibiotic. This time it is to attack any bacteria per the packaging.
    Don’t wait like I did to get professional help.

  24. 24.

    PaminBB

    February 21, 2009 at 6:53 pm

    Wurzelbacher couldn’t have anticipated the firestorm he would soon get caught up in.

    Kind of like Condi and the Bush admin "couldn’t have anticipated" that people might fly planes into buildings even though they were warned about it.

    Apparently "couldn’t have anticipated (insert obvious consequence here)" is a long way of saying that somebody is an idiot.

  25. 25.

    Anonymous visitor from Sadly,No!

    February 21, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    why is JNTP still in the news regarding the election?

    Isn’t that a Myers-Briggs classification?

  26. 26.

    JL

    February 21, 2009 at 8:17 pm

    Andy Barr’s new headline

    New political hazard: participation

    Andy Barr’s old headline

    Bystanders become grist for pundit mill

    Did someone inform him that he was also being a pundit?

  27. 27.

    Ed Marshall

    February 21, 2009 at 8:20 pm

    Ed go to the doctor.

    I’m going to do that tomorrow. I tried to go yesterday, the Immediate Care place told them I owed them some sum of money that I didn’t understand from 2007 and rather than argue I’m going somewhere else. I’m not even sure how you argue with medical billing.

  28. 28.

    Douche Baggins

    February 21, 2009 at 9:34 pm

    Ed, don’t ignore your medical billing. They are quick to turn their accounts receivable over to collections, and that shit will drag your credit score down fast. Welcome to Poverty, Inc.

  29. 29.

    priscianus jr

    February 21, 2009 at 9:53 pm

    What firestorm did Joe the Plumber get caught up in? You never said.
    Joe the Plumber is a publicity-seeking idiot. He wasn’t just a guy asking a question. He is an opportunist and an operative, [possibly self-appointed, but still an operative. Of course he WANTS to get caught up in firestorms to get more publicity, and yet on the other hand, why is he of any importance? The guy’s a nobody, and even if he winds up as vice-presidential candidate to Sarah Palin, he’ll still be a nobody. The whole premise of this post eludes me.

  30. 30.

    JWW

    February 21, 2009 at 11:17 pm

    Tell me there has been some other news in the last six months. I think you should read the National Inquirer if you are this hard up for an idea of what to write about.

    The only thing you seem good at is typing fodder.

  31. 31.

    Tim in SF

    February 22, 2009 at 1:02 am

    Ugh.

    This post should bear the "We read these morons so you don’t have to" tag. I read two thirds of the way through that politco article before I realized my brain was oozing out my ears. What a complete waste of time.

  32. 32.

    rachel

    February 22, 2009 at 7:31 am

    @Svensker: A friend of mine almost died of drug-induced hepatitis because the Tylenols she took for a headache interacted badly with one of the medicines she was taking for something else.

  33. 33.

    Jess

    February 22, 2009 at 1:27 pm

    Don’t take those overpriced, potentially toxic, ultimately useless cold-remedies. Maybe a bit of Robitussin (w/o decongestant) when you get to the coughing phase, and if absolutely necessary a mild decongestant at night so you can sleep. Most of those so-called remedies actually interfere with what your body needs to do to get rid of the cold. Just rest and drink tons of fluids (not booze!), to the point where you’re peeing every hour at least. That’ll keep you from getting too congested and will help flush the virus out. And by the way, antibiotics don’t work on a virus and are also very hard on the system–don’t take them unless you really have a secondary infection that you can’t kick.

    I’m prone to really nasty colds so I’ve had lots of opportunities to experiment and research what to do, and this (rest and absurd amounts of fluids–herbal tea mostly) really is the best solution. (Extra doses of vitamins C and E seem to help as well, but researchers swear that’s just an delusion.) I still get nasty colds, but they’re over quickly with no lingering traces.

  34. 34.

    ricky

    February 22, 2009 at 3:47 pm

    Removed

  35. 35.

    ricky

    February 22, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    If we take this as fact, the only question here is whether Andy Barr or Joe The Plunger Jockey is the dumbest motherfucker on the planet.

    That is a pretty big if, which might place one in the running for third.

  36. 36.

    JWW

    February 22, 2009 at 10:40 pm

    DougJ,

    Have you no nads, you seem quite capable of letting the comments go by as if they were never written. You might find it much easier to spend a week with Madonna, then you could write childrens books.

    You like to open a post(idiotic as most of yours are), then just let it run alone in the wind. I can see you are a learned(skilled) man. Why don’t you own up and defend yourself.

    Maybe, you had way to much training in the Sheryl Crow one sheet method and you spend the vast majority of your time cleaning your finger nails.

  37. 37.

    Cyrus

    February 23, 2009 at 11:57 am

    @JWW:

    The only thing you seem good at is typing fodder.

    I don’t understand this; could you elaborate please?

    It’s the "typing fodder" part that confuses me. Except for when one is talking about actual, literal fodder – that is, food for cattle or something – "fodder" almost has to be followed by a prepositional phrase. For example, "Bush’s malapropisms provide plenty of fodder for comedians," meaning that what he says is deeply flawed in humorous ways or otherwise an easy and likely target for mockery.

    So if DougJ is "typing fodder," as you say, then either you left out a phrase at the end of the sentence, or by the act of typing DougJ is literally creating hay or oats or whatever. If the latter, that’s amazing; how? If the former, what phrase did you leave out?

  38. 38.

    Ed Drone

    February 23, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    I somehow can’t get uptight about the various misadventures of Joe the Dumber. I saw previews for that movie and didn’t bother to see it. I think it was "Dumb and Dumber Reloaded" or something like that.

    Ed

  39. 39.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    February 23, 2009 at 6:05 pm

    the only question here is whether Andy Barr or Joe The Plunger Jockey is the dumbest motherfucker on the planet.

    I thought that honor was reserved for Doug Feith.

  40. 40.

    JWW

    February 24, 2009 at 8:31 pm

    Cyrus,

    Being I have no idea where you are from, I will say that in NY dairy land fodder is both described as cattle feed when applied in the context of a cattle conversasion… when the word is used as in, conversation of human context, it means shit or less(so you do’t have to cuss).

    Didn’t mean to confuse you, and Dougj is confused from the moment he or she opens their eyes in the morning. He or she is neither displayed any skill in research or reason when a blog is posted.

    Dougj reads an article he or she agrees with it and reposts it as, this is true.

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