Michelle Malkin writes that, "After Wurzelbacher told Katie Couric that Obama's rhetorical tap dance was 'almost as good as Sammy Davis, Jr.,' the inevitable cries of 'bigotry' followed. (There are now tens of thousands of hits on the Internet for 'Joe the Plumber racist.')"
This is why this former liberal can't stand liberals.
Are gun owners mentally ill?
Some anti-gun people think owning a gun is a sign of some kind of mental abnormality. According to General Social Survey data, gun owners ...
I don't think anything can get any more ridiculous than "his name isn't even Joe, it's Samuel Joseph".
ReplyDeleteObama could lose this election just by the inanity and hatefulness of the response by his surrogates and the media to this man. Namely, it crystallizes so much and portends a scary society. Second, people see themselves in Joe and perhaps once saw Obama as being for them and must now be having second thoughts.
One of my absolute, most fervent beliefs about politics is that people are rarely deceived and know best what is good for them (or less worse). Anyways, the people who are attacking Joe for not "understanding" he will benefit under Obama miss something. They are arguing in a theoretical world where Obama will implement a plan exactly as he has laid it out and whatever parts haven't been explained will err in Joe's favor because of Obama's stated intent.
Joe, on the other hand, has far more at stake, his livelihood. He is looking at Obama's plan and Obama the pol from a real world perspective. The ghosts of past Democratic pols come to haunt and the entirety of his experience with politics inform his decision. Things always change once the politician is in office and one has to anticipate how; everybody knows and expects this. Joe aims for $250,000, but he said it himself that he believes Obama will end up taxing businesses that make less. I think his intuition is right, but that's neither here nor there. So, he worries about the extremely successful, future Joe, but also the somewhat successful future Joe.
"One of my absolute, most fervent beliefs about politics is that people are rarely deceived and know best what is good for them (or less worse)."
ReplyDeleteNaaah, I'll disagree with you there. See, our natural intuitions might work well on a day-to-day basis with people we interact with, but politicians are so managed and fake and have so much money to spend on looking like something else that people can easily be duped into voting against their own interests.
Joe the Plumber was probably right that Obama's not going to help him, though, and you can't blame him for fighting for his own interests. The thing is that, IMHO, more people would benefit from an Obama presidency than a McCain presidency. But not Joe the Plumber, certainly, and I can't blame him for voting Republican or giving Obama a hard time.
The thing is that a lot of people have this ridiculous 'aspirational' view of themselves where they could be successful small businessmen some day, and the reality is that most of them are going to be stuck working for the Man in some awful office until the day they die. Best to shake as much money out of the people on top, because odds are you will never join their ranks.
Naaah, I'll disagree with you there. See, our natural intuitions might work well on a day-to-day basis with people we interact with, but politicians are so managed and fake and have so much money to spend on looking like something else that people can easily be duped into voting against their own interests.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, but most of us succumb to similar effects in our average daily interactions. I know I tend to tailor my "personal style" to fit whomever I'm interacting with in the moment. I'm probably more skilled at it than most, but I suspect it's something most of us do, or at least the more sentient among us.
That calls into question ones motives, as manipulation is universally abhorred. I answer that those with the power must resolve to use it for good. :)
The thing is that a lot of people have this ridiculous 'aspirational' view of themselves where they could be successful small businessmen some day, and the reality is that most of them are going to be stuck working for the Man in some awful office until the day they die.
True. But most can improve their material circumstances by acting prudently, and much of the flavor of capitalistic life is found in doing so -- an unfolding which easy credit for dunderheads thoroughly despoils. Prudence is also rewarded away from the financial sphere by enabling one to hone skills in leisure activities such as gardening, fitness, drawing, etc (as opposed to leisure activities financial profligates tend towards, like smoking drugs, hanging out at shopping malls, street fighting.)
Best to shake as much money out of the people on top, because odds are you will never join their ranks.
But never so much that the crappy office jobs the rich create disappear. Don't get me wrong, I'm in favor of soaking them (espcially the current crop, who are beneath contempt), even if only to force them to appreciate the fact that they are able to get richer at all, which high progressive taxes still make possible, albeit at a reduced rate, rather than stripped of all their wealth as commies and millions of envious poor would prefer.
"The thing is that, IMHO, more people would benefit from an Obama presidency than a McCain presidency."
ReplyDeleteLike who? Race hustlers, liberal academics, leftist politicans, the press? It sure as hell won't help poor or middle class whites(or blacks for that matter as Obama cares about the Brothers in the 'hood about as much as I do.) Use your head, please.