Raw Story continues:
Later Tuesday afternoon, Shepard Smith pressed Wurzelbacher on his comments, reminding the woefully misinformed McCain backer that Obama has consistently voiced support for Israel. Pressed several times to explain how he could agree with the conclusion that Obama would lead to the death of the Jewish state, Wurzelbacher was unable to come up with any good reasons aside from Obama's position in favor of negotiating with rogue regimes such as Iran.
"You don't want my opinion on foreign policy," Wurzelbacher said. "I know just enough to kind of be dangerous."
Smith seemed to agree with that assessment, implying that the only source for Wurzelbacher and the supporter's concern was "hateful things spread on the Internet." The host clearly worried that Wurzelbacher's endorsement of such a view might inspire violence against the candidate.
Why, Smith asked, would Wurzelbacher believe Obama was lying when he spoke of the importance of Israel's relationship with the United States.
Wurzelbacher was flummoxed. All he could offer was an appeal for people to "go out and find their own reasons ... go out and get informed."
If only the "plumber" had bothered to take his own advice before jumping onto the national stage. Smith, for his part, made sure to set his audience straight on the facts.
"I just want to make this 100 percent perfectly clear, Barack Obama has said repeatedly and demonstrated repeatedly that Israel will always be a friend of the United States, no matter what happens once he becomes President of the United States, his words," Smith said after the interview ended. "The rest of it, man, it just gets frightening sometimes."
But, through no fault of their own, Raw Story is actually making Samuel look good. That's because any attempt to talk about him in a coherent fashion imposes a framework of rationality far above and beyond anything lurking in his Rush-fed brain.
Apparently, Sarah Palin is simply too well-informed, well-spoken, and restrained to be a truly effective McCain surrogate. The fact that she's aware she's not coming off too well is the "tell" here. "Joe", however, is the real deal, even if his name is not. And not only that, he's there to vouch for others who are as ignorant, incoherent and gullible as he is.
Remember (from above):
A McCain supporter asked if "a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel." JTP hardly batted an eye.
"I'll go ahead and agree with you on that," Wurzelbacher said.
Jason Linkins at Huffington Post has a transcript of where this goes:
SMITH: Do you think John McCain agrees with you?
PLUMBER: No, that is just my personal opinion that I've come up with by looking into different facts and what I think. That is what my message has been about. I haven't been telling people to go out and vote. Listen, you don't want my opinion on foreign policy. I know just enough about foreign policy to probably be dangerous.
SMITH: That is what I was wondering. I wonder if you think it is dangerous at all for people to say that a vote for Barack Obama is the same as a vote for Israel, if you think that is dangerous for people to start believing. What happens if the polls are right and he becomes President of the United States and people start thinking that this means the death of Israel. Are you worried about what people might do if they actually believe something like that?
PLUMBER: That goes back to what I just got done saying. Some people believe it wholeheartedly. This gentleman I spoke to is Middle America. Therefore...it is very important to him -- important to me, but especially important to this gentleman. He is Middle America and he was able to get on there and make his point, and I agreed with him. I have no idea where John McCain's position is on that. John McCain is his own person, just like I am.
SMITH: Do you think a lot of that has to do with some hateful things that spread all over the internet? After all, Barack Obama has said repeatedly time after time that there is nothing more important that the United States friendship with Israel-- and the United States will back up Israel every moment of every day if and when he becomes President of the United States. He could not have been clearer about it in his positions in speeches, and I just wonder what it is that makes you think he is lying about that.
PLUMBER: [illegible] Actions...I have heard words. I hear words from politicians all the time, but actions [crosstalk] the action that I see is offering to meet with certain enemies of the United States on no uncertain terms --
SMITH: Meeting with Ahmadinejad? That is what the campaign said. Let's put the statement on the screen. This is what the McCain campaign released after you said that at the campaign event today. So that is what they put out. "While he's clearly his own man, so far Joe has offered some penetrating and clear analysis that cuts to the core of many of the concerns that people have with Barack Obama's statements and policies. Whether it is Obama's willingness to sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or his plans to redistribute the paychecks of hardworking Americans, there is good reason to question the judgement that Obama would bring to the Oval Office." So that's what they put out, so I guess the fact that he has said it he would meet with Ahmadinejad is something that you have taken to believe would be the death of Israel?
PLUMBER: It definitely does not help the situation. I'm not trying to be dancing around this. I honestly want people to go out and find their own reasons. I tell people not to listen to everyone else's opinion. I'm not going to have them start listening to mine. Go out and get informed.
This is, quite literally, the verbal equivilent of the kids puzzle "what's wrong with this picture?" that has birds and airplanes flying upside down and the like. Only it might be easier to ask, "what's right with this picture?" as the answer is much simpler: "Spelling and punctuation." That's about it.
"While he's clearly his own man, so far Joe has offered some penetrating and clear analysis that cuts to the core of many of the concerns that people have with Barack Obama's statements and policies."
penetrating??? and clear??? analysis???
Remember, the McCain line on "Joe"--first put out by Joe, himself, then hallowed by McCain--was that Joe asked a simple question, but Obama danced around and couldn't answer it. Yet, here we have "Joe" even "Joe the Plumber" painfully aware that he is the one that's dancing around like he's walking on hot coals.
Hey, didn't I just say that this sort of sliver of self-awareness was the "tell" that Sarah Palin wasn't full-bore id enough to get the job done for John McCain? Good catch! A sure sign that "Joe" the "plumber"'s days are numbered. That's why he's introducing someone who doesn't even get a first name, much less a cool, disinfo-age handle, as the new center of the narrative:
[JTP:] Some people believe it wholeheartedly. This gentleman I spoke to is Middle America. Therefore...it is very important to him -- important to me, but especially important to this gentleman. He is Middle America and he was able to get on there and make his point, and I agreed with him. I have no idea where John McCain's position is on that. John McCain is his own person, just like I am.
So, JTP's no longer "Middle America" enough. He's passed the baton to "Nameless Guy Who's Just As Ignorant As 'Joe The Plumber', Maybe More." Because "Joe" the "Plumber" is simply too well-informed, well-spoken, and restrained to be a truly effective McCain surrogate. |
STATE BLOGS
