"Joe the Plumber" and an Agenda for an Honest Media

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Thursday October 16, 2008 · 5:24 PM PDT

2008/10/16 · 17:24

When Barack Obama was campaigning in the Toledo area, he met the now famous "Joe the Plumber" of Holland, Ohio. Joe said that he was about the buy his boss’s business and that it earns more than $250,000 a year. Joe was unhappy because he thought Obama’s tax plan would hurt him and slow his quest for the American dream.

The electronic media presented Joe as an uncommitted voter. We do not know if Joe presented himself as such. Joe has said that Social Security is a "joke," and that Obama is a socialist. He volunteered that he admires Mc Cain and the military. He admitted that he was not earning a great deal, which calls his story into question.

We know now that he was not a licensed plumber and that he said he practiced plumbing on his employer’s license. The problem is that this is not legal in Lucas County, where he works.

Some suspect that Joe ( Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher) was a plant because people with his last name in Ohio and Florida are big Republican contributors. Some even hypothesize that he is related to the son-in-law of Charles Keating, as in John Mc Cain and the Keating Five scandal. This is unlikely, and it would take the resources of a news organization with integrity to find out if he was a McCain shill and/or connected to his namesake in the scandal. If it turns out that he was a shill, other things about him could be legitimately printed and aired.

There are other matters that an honest press should be exploring.

Today Senator Ted Stevens testified in his own defense regarding extensive construction work done on one of his houses by an important Alaska firm. It allegedly came to about $250,000. Some suggest that Sarah Palin benefitted in the same way when her $500,000 + mansion was built. Todd, the "First Dude," admitted that some buddies helped him. It is suggested that they were a contractors’ laborers who were also working on her sports complex in Wasilla. This one is hard to research because Mayor Palin saw to it that there was very little paperwork necessary to build in the city.

The press spent many weeks airing material about Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright and the white priest who was a guest homilist at Obama’s church. We hear nothing about Sarah’s pastors even though it is very likely that they oppose the separation of church and state and want to establish a theocracy. It is a matter or record that she thinks pastors should be able to endorse candidates without risking tax problems.

The press must raise questions about Mrs. Mc Cain’s tax returns. We know that she still profits from a deal with Keating. Is she profiting from a no-bid beer distribution contract in Iraq. Is her firm helping the campaign in any ways?

We could use an honest report on John McCain’s incestuous relationship with the communications industry, especially cable television.

The press should look into the claims of Vietnam Veterans Against McCain. Their leaders were leaders of the4 Swift Boaters, whose bilge got an enormous amount of coverage. Their claims need to be examined, as it would be hard to deny that Mc Cain treated MIA/POW advocates very badly. Maybe what they say about McCain in Hanoi should be out of bounds, but the rest requires an honest investigation.

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