Joe The Plumber - Getting Ugly

Oy, this Joe The Plumber stuff is getting really ugly. I'm amazed that this guy's reputation is being dragged through the mud for so little.

Do the folks on the left think this is helping?

Of course, McCain and Joe himself are fanning the flames by suggesting that Obama's explanation ("we've got to spread the wealth around") was either Rabin-Hood-eseque or just plain socialism.

You know what's really interesting? To actually watch the interaction the interaction between Obama and Joe. In many ways, I think this is Obama answering a tough question as best he can. And surprisingly, he even gets truthful enough to say: "I respect what you do and I respect your question, and even if I don’t get your vote, I’m still gonna be working hard on your behalf."

Actually watch the whole clip and see what I mean:

In a lot of ways, the discussion here was more interesting (although, one sided) than what we heard in the debate last night.

As for the "spreading wealth comment" around, check out the actual context:

If you’ve got a plumbing business, you’re gonna be better off if you’ve got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you, and right now everybody’s so pinched that business is bad for everybody and I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.

It's a funky argument: Joe, you want your customer's taxes to be low, so they can afford you. In other words, spreading wealth around has nothing to do with taking money from Joe and giving it to someone else. It has everything to do with the fact that Joe needs customers, and if people in his community pay less taxes, they'll be better customers. Therefore, spreading the wealth (lowering taxes) benefits everybody (Joe gets more customers). Like I said, funky - and perhaps inventive - argument. But still, nothing to do with men in tights.

Bottom line: what a mess. Skip the media filter, go to the source of the content, and you'll be better off.

Update: The daily show really captured the out of control nature of this story. As they explain, the media doesn't know whether Joe's their new hero, or their new punching bag.