I am Joe!

Iowahawk gets serious about Joe the Plumber.

First, a pre-emptive apology for the intentional non-humor to follow. I promise that all future non-humor will be strictly unintentional.

We've all witnessed a lot of insanity in American politics over the last few years. Up until the last few days, none of it has seriously bothered me; hey, just more grist for the satire mill. But after witnessing the media's blitzkreig on Joe 'the Plumber' Wurzelbacher, I can only muster anger, and no small amount of fear.

Please read the whole thing, but this is especially important:

If it's meta-memes and meta-meta-narratives these media headlice want, so be it. I hope you will join me in expressing a simple bit of solidarity with this guy, Spartacus style. I AM JOE. I am a Wal Mart schlub in flyover country who changes my own oil and unclogs drains without a license. I smoke and drink beer and toss the football in the front yard with my kid, and I figure I can fend my way without handouts from some Magic Messiah's candy bags. Most everyone in my family and most everyone I grew up with is another Joe, and if you screw with them, you screw with me.

Are you a Joe? Say it proud. Leave it on every goddamn newspaper comment section and online forum. Let these pressroom and online thugs know you won't stay silent when they try to destroy the life of a private citizen for speaking his mind -- because for every one of them, there are a million Joe Wurzelbachers. And for that we should all be thankful.

I AM JOE! I work for $7 an hour as a front desk clerk/maintenance man. I have $1600 $1300 (thanks Dems) in a mutual fund. That mutual fund's capital gains will be taxed under Obama before I even see the money. Even before capital gains are taxed Obama will tax any oil companies in the fund. Any companies in the fund that make over $250,000, which is every company in the fund, will now be required to provide health care for employees or get taxed on their payroll for a government plan. My employer, a family hotel business that currently offers no benefits, makes over $250,000. Will I be required to pay part of any plan Obama mandates? At $7 an hour I can't afford to have anything else deducted from my check. If I wanted health insurance I could quit drinking and buy it. It's my damn responsibility and choice. Now I have to worry that my boss may cut back on the number of employees he has and just give the rest more overtime. I was last hired so I will be first fired.

I also drive 70 miles a day to work and back. Tax the big bad oil companies? Hey stupid, the oil companies, or any company you tax, will eventually pass that cost on to the consumer or go out of business. I certainly make less than $250,000 and yet I can already see where Obama will stress my paycheck, my savings, my 401K and maybe my job. The fact that he has bought off millions of voters by saying he will share the wealth, i.e. cut them a check, doesn't work for me. I know that Marxism has never worked. My niece however, who will vote for the first time, if she votes, will vote for Obama. Why? She doesn't like rich people. The class envy the Democrats have been pushing for years has come home to roost.