My old friend Joe

posted by The Vidiot @ 1:18 PM Permalink

Turns out, funny thing, McCain's plumber Joe might have come out of central casting. Not only is he a registered republican in PA, but he has connections to Arizona, and might even be a tax cheat. It's pretty obvious that he's some sort of plant and he's become quite the distraction on the blogs.

And it is a distraction. Make no mistake. Who cares if he was a plant or not. Of course he's a plant since every aspect of a campaign is scripted, fabricated and manipulated.

But what's interesting is that, in the old paradigm, the one where corporate-owned media run the show, where lazy reporters fawn over press releases and over-paid talking heads bleat the campaigns' talking points, a story like this would take off and really stick in people's minds, framed just as the campaign would want.

Now, with the blogs, who aren't too different from a bunch of ill-behaved puppies with the way they chew and gnaw on things, a story like "Joe the plumber" just won't pass muster. The blogs aren't perfect, they still argue within the dominant framework, but they at least chew their food before they swallow it.

Update on Joe: (via Crooks and Liars)

From Martin Eisenstadt: Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who’s Robert Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating’s son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan. The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to Republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.

Labels: 2008 election, corporate owned media