Joe the Plumber? More like Joe the Keating Family Operative
By David Neiwert Thursday Oct 16, 2008 7:59amI guess it's no wonder John McCain was so happy to use "Joe the Plumber" as a debate prop last night -- he's a partisan Republican who also happens to be a member of McCain's old friends, the Keating family.
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.
Now I guess we know why Joe is telling the press that Obama is a "socialist" and that the Obama tax plan "infuriated" him. After all, it would hit families like the Keatings and their minions the hardest.
Not to mention that Obama's economic-recovery plan would put the crimps on influence peddlers like McCain's old friends, the Keating Five.
But he sure made for a good one-day story.
[H/t to Mike.]
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Figures the guy was a plant. McCain can't HELP but screw up!
McCain Still Receives Big $$$s from Keating S&L Figure Linked to BCCI and Organized Crime
Posted by leveymg in General Discussion
Thu Aug 21st 2008, 06:18 PM
A lot of people are familiar with S&L crook Charles Keating's illegal contributions to John McCain in the 1980s. What most don't know, however, was that Keating was implicated in the BCCI takeover of a number of S&Ls, including his own. With me, so far?
Carl Lindner, an Ohio billionaire with CIA and underworld connections who owned Chiquita Bananas, was Charles Keating's original partner, banker, and mentor. Lindner got Keating wrapped up with schemes involving the usual cast of BCCI characters, shady Saudi bankers, the Bush family, and Iran-Contra money laundering. Keating was always a sort of pass-through guy, without any real money of his own. But, a lot of money flowed through Keating to McCain and his wife, Cindy, in an Arizona real estate scam. Lindner who was recently convicted of financing Right-wing death squads in Colombia, is still giving big, dirty campaign checks to McCain. Now, that's a story that the American people need to hear.
leveymg's Journal - THE CRIMES AND COVERUPS OF JOHN McCAIN, “REFORMER” Jun 3, 2008 ... Like the Bush Family, McCain had his Hand in the BCCI and S&L Scandals McCain claims that his involvement in the Keating S&L scandal wasn’t ...
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/... - 48k
McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia ...Jul 2, 2008 ... Late last week, Lindner co-hosted a $25000-per-person fundraiser for McCain and the Republican Party in the wealthy Indian Hills ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/02/m... -
Wow, so the Keating Five scandal now reaches through time to make another connection to John McCain. Joe the Plumber is related to Charles Keating? And it looks like he was planted with a bogus story to embarrass Barack Obama?
Priceless! Nixon's "Plumbers" just got a new honorary member!
At this point I don't even believe this guy's a real plumber.
But just in case, here's some real financial advice for "Joe the Plumber":
Get an accountant.
Incorporate your business.
Structure your income to be less than $250k.
Structure your net profits to the corporation to be less than $250k by using the deductions of your employees, parts, expenses and other business deductions.
Then you're making $500k a year and you're rich, Joe.
And if you can't do that, then you're a very bad businessman and should work for someone else, or just suck it up big boy and pay your fair share of taxes.
Show the proof are it isn't true.
Thanks,
You guys are so pathetic. God forbid there's someone out there who agrees with the McCain campaign? OH NO. IT MUST BE A PLANT. NOBODY COULD POSSIBLY DISAGREE WITH MESSIAH OBAMA.
Give me a break. The guy is related to the son-in-law of Charles Keating. So what? Was he involved in the Keating 5? Is he even IN politics? No and no.
You guys complain about "guilt by association" when anybody brings up Ayers - yet because someone who objects to Obama's tax plan is related to someone with very poor judgment, they're suddenly a plant and a moron.
Someone needs to grow up. And it's not me.
Exercises poor judgement? Charles Keating is a thief and liar, not an exerciser of "poor judgement". God, Republicans have more excuses than a three year old.
Excuses are like buttholes....everyones got one, and they all stink.
The Republicans learned to lie from from the democrats, now they just need to make them as believable as the democrats. The democrats are good liars, good stealer's, and on top of that good socialists. Re-distributing wealth is a Marxist idea, and if any one disagrees with that then they are stupid. Republicans are horrible liars, easy to blame when sometimes it isn't there fault (though sometimes it is). Each party has their huge faults, so what people should do is actually do their own research and decide on their own who they like best. Look at the each candidates records and vote according to that. An example is Obama is surrounded by corrupt people even before he went into office (aka slum lord Tony Resko, Rev Wright, and Ayers(American terrorist)). McCain made a bad move about 20 years ago when he listened to some lobyists and go hauled into Congress about that matter (fortunately, for him, he was acquitted and was said that he should of never been brought forth to Congress about the matter). In all honest, I did like Obama at first, but after researching him, I such saw a guy that was so deep in corruption and surrounded himself with people that hated America that it disgusted me. It was very apparent that Obama's family wasn't pro-America when I heard his wife say that she was proud for the first time in her life that she was American (this was during the democratic nomination). Anothering that turned me off to a democratic president is that the democrats are in control of Congress and if Obama becomes president, there will be no checks and balances.
"...Anothering that turned me off to a democratic president is that the democrats are in control of Congress and if Obama becomes president, there will be no checks and balances..."
if memory serves correctly, the Repubelickin's controlled the congress and the white house for the 1st 6 years of W.'s disasterous tenior.
BTW, what does "Anothering" mean?
'what does 'tenior' mean? I've heard of 'tenure', but since you questioned someone else's use of Anothering (didn't read that post but would guess it was a typo for Another thing... You should know your own limitations before criticizing someone else's likely typo--apparently you aren't even familiar with the word 'tenure', as this doesn't look like a simple 'typo'.
I just looked at the rest of your post--you had the gall to make a jab at what was clearly meant to be 'another thing' and couldn't even spell Republican or disastrous correctly. I honestly don't think democracy can work in a country so full of illiterates--and I'm dead serious. An idiocracy,maybe....
After reading the above posts I noticed that there are two things going on. One is someone trying to make a point, and one who hates the points being made, but doesn't know how to put the person down by disproving the facts. So they attack the person instead of making a good factual fight. Honestly, I agree with the Democrats vs Republicans person (even though they have horrible spelling). Who ever puts forward a some what sound argument and considering how the country was run with Bush in office with a Republican congress then think about having the same situation all over again. So I would like to avoid that. Also I do not think that the Muslim comment is appropriate for the what the original author was talking about. There are other people than just Muslims that wish harm to America.
Hey, anonymous...nice research...every talking point noted
the only one you missed was that he's Muslim
the McCain campaign is proud of you
>someone needs to grow up, and it's not me.
'Joe' was a plant: he's not a plumber, he's a registered republican, and he's part of the family that helped McCain get his foot in the door at the ground level of dirty politics. He was a setup: yet Obama treated him with respect, courtesy, and dialogue.
I'm willing to do the same for you, even though you're coming here with that 'Mesiah' stuff.
The truth is the Joe would be better off under Obama's plan: he wouldn't be taxed any more then he would be under McCain's plan, his employees would have healthcare(and better yet preventative health care, so they'll get sick less often), and the people in his community would have more money, so they could *afford* to hire Joe.
That's the reason most of America is supporting Obama: hecause he's smarter, he understands the middle class, and he wants to keep our mothers from having to argue with insurance companies while they die of cancer, as his mother did.
Wait a minute, you have this backwards: McCain first used guilt by association as a tactic for tying Obama to radical leftists.
In this case, McCain ostensibly acted like a plant, or at any rate a Republican operative pretending to be an independent, was in fact an unaffiliated voter, and in the process misrepresented who this guy was, when people on the campaign already knew he was related to Keating. This is a simple lie. The association is not the problem. It's up to McCain if he wants to further tie himself to the scandals of his past; the problem is that his campaign knowingly misrepresented campaign theater as the truth. This has become a calling card of McCain's campaign, and the republican party in general.
We'll definitely call it out when we see it. Sorry reality isn;t on your side so much.
Okay, here's some more digs!
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/bl...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081016/ap_on_el_...
Boy, this guy sure is a Republican!
So you're not in the least suspicious that of all the small business owners or plumbers in the entire country, the one who speaks in FRONT OF A CAMERA and asks these questions is related to Charles Keating, a real estate mogul whom McCain had questionable ties to? That he lived in 2 condos in Arizona on KEATING ave?
Futhermore, that his discussion was with Obama, but McCain had no issue bringing up Joe the Plumber every chance he got.
Joe the Plumber doesn't even have a license and I can speak as a business owner that if you are making a 250K income you're well off.
No, we just object to anyone who supports McCain because two of them make a moron, or in your case, three.
Your comments are telling. You're grasping at straws. I guess you'll be one of the angry conservatives for the next four years. 4
I checked out the previously published business profile of JTP's employer--Newell Plumbing is composed of 2 members, both unlicensed*, Joe's employer, Newell, and Joe. The annual estimated sales are 100K. Joe has now stated publicly that he earns 40k per year and also that he has had no concrete plans, nor has he made any efforts, towards acquiring the business. Given these FACTS, it is hard to come to any conclusion that JTP is anyone but a plant. (I'm not sure about a relationship with Keating--that is likely spurious. I doubt the Keating clan move in Joe's social class--and this is just an observation based on my own experience with mingling with the upper tier.)
Since Joe would actually benefit from Obama's plan, please explain to me why he would manufacture a blatantly bogus situation if he was not a plant? The extent to which McCain milked this,(definitely weird that he circled in on one encounter out of so many???)might see odd, except that Joe has also stated that he was asked by McCain's campaign to attend the rally. With so many media in his front yard, Joe is starting to lose his enigmatic restraint....
Someone ought to open their eyes (or perhaps nose) and it IS you.
*I believe an unlicensed plumber is required to work under the umbrella of a licensed plumber in that area, but that's not particularly relevant to the plant issue.
You don't know what you're talking about. People can support Mc Cain...if they aren't liars, fakes or ignorant non-plumbers planted by the Mc Cain campain to make Obama look bad. The guy is clearly a moron. He doesn't know what he's talking about, and he WOULD NOT be taxed more under Obama's plan...isn't THAT what the REAL ISSUE is here?
Bringing up the background of Joe the Plumber (who's not really a plumber) is not Obama's doing; it's the media's, which is just following the Republican's own logic. If the Republicans just follow their OWN logic and reasoning that they have applied to Obama, which is that one can be guilty by association, then the Republicans, too, can be guilty by association. Two can play this game, unless, of course, you're suggesting that Republicans don't have to follow the rules that they themselves make.
I've got two words for you:
Rockey Vaccarella
this plumber is an idiot.
A plant? Really? Seriously? This guy has lived in the same neighborhood since we went to high school together. The same neighborhood that Senator Obama made an unscheduled visit with no prior media announcement. So the GOP is following his caravan around just waiting to stick a plant out in front of his own house to ask your candidate a tough question, and that makes him a plant. Very well. How about sticking to the issues.
we can all drop this and be assured it is bogus.
... because some anonymous dude on this message board coincidentally and miraculously went to HS with the alleged "plumber".
Tell us please was he as incredibly math challenged in HS as he is now? The business he claims he wants to buy nets about $100k a year. It could possibly cost $250+ to BUY the business, but does this dude actually have such a poor understanding of math or taxes that he thinks he'll have to pay income tax on his purchase price?
unscheduled visit? are you serious? you don't realize that every single step obama takes/has taken is carefully orchestrated and planned down to the very last poster placement and prop? come on now, your just being ridiculous
In less than three weeks McCain and Joe the Plumber will both be flushed away.
That kinda disproves what you libtards are saying that Joe is a "republican plant".
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...
"Mr. Wurzelbacher was playing football in his front yard with his son, Joey, on Sunday afternoon when Mr. Obama made an unscheduled stop to go door to door greeting voters and asking for their support."
"Mr. Wurzelbacher and Mr. Obama had something of a debate Sunday as the candidate walked house to house on Shrewsbury at the start of the candidate's four-day visit in the Toledo area."
Hey joe if you were a union plumber and not a Scab, you would have made more than $40,000 last year, asshole, a lot more when you figure in union benefits as compared to SCAB benefits! OOPS, I forgot......Scabs don't have fringe benefits, only their employers do!Good luck jerk, how about after Mccain gets his ass kicked on Nov. 4th, you ask him for a job! LOL!!!
Is the Subject really Joe the Plumber or is it Obama's uncoerced socialistic redistribution plan? No America he is NOT Robin Hood. Robin Hood took from the Government (Sheriff) who was TAXING the people. He then gave it back to the people who were poor because the GOVERNMENT had taken it away. Did our forefathers really risk their lives and fortunes over a small Tea Tax so that we could elect leaders who think it appropriate penalize success? We didn't become the land of opportunity to the thousands of wealthy immigrants by taxing people into prosperity. Did it work for the communist nations? I think not. And to even consider higher taxes on those who offer jobs during a financial crisis... Perhaps Obama should have taken Economics or at least History instead of law. Perhaps the rest of you can afford to give more money to the government. I cannot! 95% get more back? It doesn't take a genius to figure out if no body is working and no body is selling, income tax, sales tax, capital gains tax don't bring in much revenue.
A 'plumber' who is full of shit.
"Diamond" Joe, the million dollar plumber.
http://www.filthyrichmond.com/
LOL!!!!
The Plumber is full of shit.
Look at the clip...it's Faux News! As soon as I saw this the warning signs went up. McCain is going to be sorry he ever mentioned Joe the Plumber as the truth unfolds.
yes, indeed!
John McCain will rue the 21 times he invoked Joe Surzelbacher and made him an "open book" for americans to get to know.
Joe also is an avid hockey fan and owns a pitbull. Favorite drink: six packs.
Joe's probably laughing with his privileged wingnut friends about playing the "agent provacateur"- boy he is really going to be pissed when he discovers that the term is gallically derived...
I think he'll be even more pissed when he finds out he's going to lose his job because its illegal to work plumbing unregistered for a professional plumbing company, unless his boss is registered....which he isn't
Turns out Joe, the self-proclaimed "liar", wasn't undecided after all; in fact, he admits to being contacted by the McCain campaign prior to his meeting Obama.
This $hit always backfires. What we witnessed last night at the debate was McCain using 20 year old tactics in a 21st century debate. The old "slash & burn" sarcastic tactics fell totally flat; in fact, they worked against him. The split screen showed all of american that McCain's not only dangerous to this country at this time but perhaps that the rumors of his insanity and creeping metastasis of his invasive melanoma may be affecting his brain. His facial muscles surely weren't under his control. Evidently, he's not only clueless about middle america's ability to fact check his lies and smears, he's clueless about split screen television, obviously.
But this Joe....he's a troubling dude and I believe that before the close of business today, we will all have a much clearer snapshot of precisely whom this man actually is.....his ties to McCain, etc.
Do you have a link? I've looked around the net but I can't find anything about him being contacted by McCain before the Obama rally. That would be huge if it turns out to be true.
Joe the Plumber:
Marty Eisenstadt’s Blog
Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher related to Charles “the Crook” Keating. Oops.
October 15th, 2008 . by Marty
John McCain did great tonight in the debate. But every time John mentioned “Joe the Plumber,” some of us in the campaign banged our heads against the wall. If Steve Schmidt had any hair left, I hear he would have been pulling it out tonight. He reportedly screamed at John’s debate prep team tonight (out of earshot of reporters, of course). “You idiots - he’s related to Charles Keating… of the Keating Five scandal!” They thought they had a real live Joe Six-Pack who’s spurned Barack Obama’s tax plan. But what they forgot to do was check on Joe Wurzelbacher’s background.
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. [Note: Apparently, Joe is the grandson of Charles Keating and also is a tax evader who is not even a licensed as a plumber]
Does any of this make Joe the Plumber a bad guy? Of course not. In fact, after that ill-fated night at the Watergate, he may finally be giving plumbers a good name. But at a debate where John goes full bore on Obama for guilt-by-association with William Ayers (and dodges a bullet by Obama not mentioning Keating Five), the press is going to bring it back front and center by midday tomorrow once they delve deeper into the most popular plumber in America.
This might remind you of the Paris Hilton scandal - where one side of the McCain campaign attacked her in an ad, not realizing that her family were huge donors. I was the first to warn the campaign of the perils of miscommunication within the campaign, and that story flared for a week.
define close relative, not that i doubt you but it seems you are just repeating what has already been blogged. lets get some facts please, so we can expose these right winger for the arrogant SOBs that they are.
Not to belabor the point, but under Joe's scenario, the most he'd pay in extra taxes is $900 a year.
What plumber do you know today who is making over $250,000?
The plumbing profession's decline is commensurate with the economic crisis - no new homes being built and it's only a case of fixing a toilet or water leak here and there - called "no steady income".
Your comment is not only inaccurate but irrelevant because thus far few people know of any plumber grossing more than $250,000
My comment is not inaccurate, check my blog. I run the numbers.
Also, you seem to misconstrue my point. Assuming Joe the Plumber is on the up and up, then the Obama tax plan imposes just $900 more in taxes on his $280,000 a year income. That's hardly a great burden to place on a guy who's making that much money, especially when you consider that this country is running a half trillion deficit this year.
I'm a retired master plumber in the state of Michigan and never made that kind of money
and NO one working for someone else in this field can make that kind of money
ps i do'nt think this guy is even a plumber
You're right.
According to the Guardian, he doesn't have a plumber's license
And he himself admits that he's not making anything near $250k right now nor will he in the near future.
I suspect that he's basically just a guy who listens to a lot of right-wing talk radio.
Granted, I live in Bergen County, NJ, but the three plumbers I personally know in my hometown each have vacation homes on the Jersey Shore, and their wives all drive luxury SUVs (two Lexus LS-series; one Land Rover).
Plumbing in the age of the real-estate bubble (1999-yesterday) was fueled by HELOC-powered 100k kitchen makeovers and $30k bathroom renovations. It's become a very lucrative field. Heck, I cannot get a plumber to visit my dumpy house unless I've got at least $500 worth of work..
Jamey, I suspect you've stretched the truth a bit, to be polite. My last car, prior to my new little Honda Fit, was a Lexus SUV, so it hit me immediately that 'their wives all drive luxury SUVs (two Lexus LS-series; one Land Rover)' ( The Land Rover, a piece of c--- if there ever was one and hardly a luxury car, unless living in a repair shop is your idea of luxury). Anyway, all of the Lexus' SUV lineup have an X in their model name. The LS-series is a sedan. If you want to try to substantiate something, it would help to know what you're talking about.
Re plumbers making decent money--when I interviewed for an MBA at Wharton there were other applicants who told me they were tired of making less than a plumber in their respectable but underpaid positions. Plumbers can do quite well, but there are highly competent plumbers and then hacks who do a little plumbing because they know a little. One look at JTP and it's clear he doesn't have it together enough to be contemplating purchasing a business netting him 250K as an individual. He might start by getting licensed, so he wouldn't have to pay someone else--and on 40K a year, he doesn't have the chops to dream about paying a licensed plumber and still clearing 250K. McCain acting as if Obama's plan was preventing this poor Everyman from adding more jobs to the economy was pathetic, given the facts.
P.S. I used to live in Ridgewood but now live in the Pacific Northwest. I trust all those 100K kitchen makeovers weren't rolled into home financing in Bergen County...?, and, as another poster mentioned, there may not be quite so much lucrative work going around right now. You might mention to your friends that they may want to trade in their SUVs if they're not too deep into the negative, if the dealers will still accept them. (Lexus does make a great car, and I'd have held onto mine if circumstances were different, sigh.)
Nice try though to suggest that someone making over $250,000 right now somehow relates to Middle class americans.
Right now anyone who claims to be grossing over $250,000 is either a liar or a piece of total fiction.
David,
Use Martin (AKA Michael, AKA M. Thomas, AKA Abrad2345) Eisenstadt as a source at your own peril. The guy is a parody/hoax.
Bill
I did do some checking, at least WRT the core information: Here's more on Robert Wurzelbacher, from the NYT, 1993:
I don't believe that the name similarity is a coincidence.
I'm sure there is a connection, but right now all you do have is coincidence, David. That, and the word of the guy who made the Abrad2345 videos and who stole the bio and name of the real Michael Eisenstadt, and who pretends he works for the McCain campaign. And the "Harding Institute"
I don't begrudge the guy's work as a parody, but way too many respectable places have used him as a source for things that he's never produced any evidence for whatsoever. I'm confident in the work I did to out him as a hoax/parody.
I'm a big fan of yours, David, but this whole Joe the Plumber thing is a distraction, not a story.
And excellent work it was. I'd forgotten about it when I cited him. But I'm digging around and think there probably is a family connection there, so the information so far appears accurate. If nothing else, we can get the media to ask the question.
However, I agree that this is a distraction -- except to the extent that it brings up the Keating Five thing again, not to mention how it reflects on McCain's judgment in leaning so heavily on "Joe" in the debate.
Thanks, David. It's really surprising to me how little traction the Keating 5 scandal has gotten. Still, I'm hoping the left blogosphere doesn't get too sucked into this Joe the Plumber thing. The media narrative has been set and it will be hard to change unless there's a photo somewhere of McCain handing him cash. But I think his media cycle will be over rather quickly. Britney Spears is bound to do something that'll knock him off the media's pedestal.
Personally, I'd like to see Obama find a "Joe the Army veteran" to talk about how McCain has consistently screwed vets. ;)
OMFG!! You gotta be kidding me!
In some other news:
A rightwingers favority poller Zogby are push polling:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/15/1384...
We all know Zogby's a fraud but now we have the proof. Send this polling form immediately to www.truthfightsback.com.
Zogby needs to be outed as being a corrupt pollster. This is the evidence we've needed to skewer Zogby.
I can see SNL opening with Joe the Plumber's butt crack in the frame as he works on Sarha Palin's toilet.
Bwahahahahaha!
I guess now despite Obama not wanting to take the low road and hammer McCain on the Keating five the subject will have to be brought up by the corporate media? We will see a great example of the double standard when we don't hear a word and use your imagination to guess if Joe The Plumber was a Democratic plant related to Tony Rezko. Don't hold your breath on McCain getting hammered over the Republican plant.
Joe the Plumber is actually Bruce Willis.
It was this guy
http://l.yimg.com/img.tv.yahoo.com/tv/us/img/...
)O(
You got it. Absolutely.
I thought he was a dead ringer for Michael Chiklis
Figures.
McKeating Pig and Lipstick Alaska only have one strategy:
Lie, cheat and racism your way to the White House.
The McCain campaign is like it's own personal oldies station.
What a freakin' debacle. But...no sympathy for the old codger. As he has said himself...at the "church" appearance.."This is a rough business"...and last nite..."this is a tough campaign"...he has no one to blame but himself. He wanted to run for President...oh wellll...be careful what you ask for....and...how did THAT work out for you.
Now take your lumps, old man.
Hey Joe, nice to hear you're doing well enough to consider buying a business that will make you over 250k a year, but because of the failed economic policies of Bush and McCain, I'm afraid people like you are going to be asked to chip in a little more to help fix the mess the Republican have left us in. I'm sure you don't mind helping America do you, Joe?
What once was a truth-based, credible pollster, Zogby now descends into darkness and skewed questions called "push polling".
This needs to be headline news so send it out immediately. The form is located on www.truthfightsback.com. They will get it on immediately.
Also CNN posted an 800 numbers to report voter irregularities. Report this to the CNN fraud number immediately.
Push polling is not only unethical; it's illegal. Zogby's license is now in jeopardy.
Patrick the Wall Street Trader, or Sheena the New Age Mogul.
"I was talking Patrick the Wall Street Trader and you know what? He said, I want to buy Lehman Brothers, and you know what. John McCain doesn't want to let me do it. With my plan Patrick the Wall Street Trader will be able to buy anybody he wants!"
The cons bullshit-emotionalism tweaking is really old. DEAD.
I can just see all the teary eyed Joe the Plumber sympathizers last sitting there rotting in front of the tube choking up thinking . . . why them god damned Democrats! Liberals!!!
It's DUHbya in disguise. He shaved his head and is pretending to be a plumber because he knows he's gonna end up in the Hague for war crimes!!
http://fablog.ehrensteinland.com/2008/10/16/h...
JOE the plumber wants to live the republican DREAM. joe wants to hire illegal cheap labor for his company, so he can get into politics. it would really be fun to see this get out to all the media.
Hey Amigo, I thought I told you I wanted this job finished at 5:00. It's 6:15 PM! Get out a here! All of you!!! Before I turn your asses in to the feds! Your not getting paid either.
Bittersweet reality.
This unfolding story is mind boggling for me. I am almost lost for words. Is it stupidity on Joe, McCain and his handlers' part, or do they really have such low opinions of the intelligence of the American media and/or people? Having this opinion for a portion of the Media I can understand, but enough already of deceit, lies and trickery.
Great move , old man. Using this dolt, who ends up reminding everyone of Super thief Keating, a man who with YOUR help robbed millions from Grandma's and Grandpa's savings everywhere. This has got to be the worst run, most fucked up confused, campaign in history.
This whole thing seems fishy. I don't believe it. He may very well be a plumber. Just a plumber. This is all happening really fast. What's going on? Call me paranoid, but something's afoot.
As soon as McCain brought this guy up, I found it deeply suspicious that he new the guys full name. I thought, "this guy is a mole." It's interesting to find out that he was most likely an implant at Obama's rally for just this reason. To give McCain the opportunity to use someone at Obama's events in dissent of Obama's views, and have them portrayed as undecided. How sloppy to use someone with relation to Keating. If I were Obama, I would have my talking heads out there pushing the fake that this guy was, and relate that the hard working Americans that are actually undecided should not stand for such deceit from McCain.
It looks like "socialist" is the new slur du jour.
They've been using that one for years.
It's not a slur if the person wears the title proudly - it's merely an observation. Read the definition.
the GOP has been playing on the stupidity of the American People since the Reagan Administration.
I know what you are saying L&P. But, the difference is that they haven't been backed up between "a rock and a hard place" to this degree before in trying the same old crap with such a negative response to their foolishness.Less and less people are buying into it and it's about frig'n time too.
willy horton , joe the plumber willy horton joe the plumber willy horton mccains new pimp !
Wrote the Dallas Morning Nudes about it.
I'll doubt they'll print it.
They didn't print my letter about Prescott Bush's attachments to the Nazis and the attempted 1933 coup to overthrow the US Gubmint.
)O(
It seemed like "Joe" got mentioned a lot last night during the debate. McCain also made a big deal about this guy/story. So, to be fair, Obama and the media should make a big deal about the real Joe.
Now I didn't see all of the debate, but it looked like Obama was letting McCain off easy. Was there ever any mentioning of Keating? Obama said nice things about Palin, never mentioning she directly says "pal around with terrorists". Meanwhile McCain was totally negative about Biden.
We've seen it before, haven't we? In the shell-shocked faces of inappropriate and nervous gesturing which characterize post traumatic stress syndrome. This is precisely what we watched John McCain do for 90 long, painful minutes. Instead of looking presidential, he looked like he was auditioning for a soap opera as the "local schizophrenic". How sad for someone who has worked so hard to build a reputation of credibility and honor in this country that he goes down in flames - of his own doing.
No one can help John McCain at this point. He's become a "merchant of sleaze" and has lost the respect of the american people. We forgave him for his diabolical actions in the Keating Five Scandal but that's as far as it goes. What he has done this past week in outing his overt racism and bigotry will never be forgotten; in fact, John McCain has become "hate's new poster boy".
He needs anger management counseling. this was obvious - painfully obvious to anyone who watched the debate. His "old biddy" concept of destroying your opponent harkens directly back to his "good guys/bad guys" of his vietcong incarceration.....Senator "Government" and my "fellow prisoners".
It's a good thing that Schieffer didn't jangle the change in his pocket or McCain might have strangled him on the spot.
Clearly, John McCain's glory day are over. John McCain, broken battle-axe of a man with marked dementia and facial tics beyond his control has gone down again in flames.
What we witnessed last night was the shooting down of his plane over Vietnam all over again.
AMEN!!
I thought he said Joe Strummer.
Joe Strummer would be rolling in his grave at the thought of McCain even knowing who he is!
Here's Joe's REAL Motivation
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=4039
He, I am Joe the Plumber... Just like every other plumber, except I want to BUY a company that cost more than 10 TIMES what the average plumber makes in a year...
YEAH RIGHT...
Plumbers median pay -- 38K!
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtml...
You would think the Repugs would choose a different profession, one that isn't unaware of what shit smells like!
So having successfully somehow dodged his Keating Five scandal (even in the midst of a disturbingly-similar scandal unfolding in the markets this month) the McCain campaign now manages to BACK ITSELF INTO THE KEATING FIVE SWAMP.
The Keating Five are now back on the table. Thanks Grampy McSame!
Obama is being framed as a 'socialist' by some republicans. the same party that brought us the 'bailout'
of the credit market and nationalization of some banks. oh yeah and huge loans to automakers. some
people are calling this Socialism.
Hey Joe, Where you goin' to with that script in your hand?
McCain just loaned one of the questioners from his own Potempkin Town Hall meeting to Obama (without notifying him).
Speaking of alternate realities, did anyone notice McCain sitting there, moving both hands with ease? It almost looked like he would be able to use a computer (or shoot craps). I guess that physical therapy is finally paying off for him.
I know 2+2=4, but I also know 2+2=5, and I love Big Brother McCain
bastards out in Nov people landslide the damn polls for Obama/Biden and get it done.
THERE'S NOTHING MORE TO FIGURE OUT.
Now that John McCain has literally "invited" us all in to reopen the Keating Five Scandal and his involvement with it, I guess you'd say it's "fair game".
Now we all will devour everything in print about it and it will make McCain look like an even bigger sleazeball in the process. The parallels with Keating 5 and today were never more poignant.
The common denominator in both debacles: John Sydney McCain
McCain will never get out from under Charles Keating - any more than he can get out from George Bush.
Charles Keating and Bush have one thing in common: They've beaten John McCain a second time.
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/15/...
This convo took place during a walkabout that had not been announced before Obama did it. How could McCranky who has shot himself in the foot every which way to sunday pulled off a plant.
Come on....
Since when does any campaign have a video ready within minutes of the debate?
That was america's first clue.
Obviously, McCain can't be videotaping each encounter of Obama's on the campaign trail.....second clue: The "set up" or "plant" of Plumber Boy.
This defies logic and makes the case very clearly that it was all another bogus, idiotic "stunt" which is backfiring in McCain's face just like all the rest.
Joe, The Keating Plumber, will be right up there with Moosey Palin, the american laughingstock by next week.
I saw video and a photo slide show in The Blade.
Joe may have been pro-McCain but I just don't believe they planted anything - that would take smart planning.....
So, if the press was there, it was planned to some extent. Which means people knew, and those people could tell other people.
Perhaps a friend in the media let the McCain campaign know where Obama was going to be. They knew he'd be in Ohio days before the debate, they needed this fodder for the debate, so they had Joe ready.
Not too hard to put together.
Who's at the wheel of this mess? Toonces the driving cat?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQkL9LpvKl0
)O(
Toonces the driving cat is the PERFECT metaphor for the McCain disaster...errr..campaign. Look honey, isn't this great...Toonces is driving...SWERVE...SCREAM...FIERY CRASH!!!
Say it ain't so Joe! But it surely looks like america's diving into the Keating 5 right now. Keating 5 will not occupy the next week of the campaign -thanks to Joe, the Keating plumber.
All across american, people are preparing for the opening of Keating Five Scandal week.
Joe, the Keating Plumber, will be the official host. Sarah, the ethically-challenged human shark will be his co-host.
Let the Keating Five begin. Americans now want to know every detail. We can thank McGrampy and his Plumber for it.
Do you find it ironic that the MSM is doing more of an investigation of Joe the Plumber's backgroung then of Obamas?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2qRKy36dL4
)O(
What a scam! Couldn't they find some Independant who leans Mccain? Man, McCain's campaign thinks we're stupid! I laughed whan I heard this. Of course I knew this idiot was a plant, but what about the shmoos who thought he was real? Ha.Ha Ha.
Say hello to why the trickle down theory does not and will not work. People like Joe, the rich, Plumber will not give anybody a dime "for what I (he) worked for." Taken directly from the "tricklelist" mouth, the trickle down theory is, by design, something even the rich will not consider.
What a valuable service C&L was to this comment. I wonder what is next for Joe, the phony, Plumber. I know one thing: The Republicans need to pay for this deliberate oversight of the media. They did not do their homework. All the shows are showing this lying Plumber -- I want so bad to call him a nasty name. I too am really drained by, in a sense, having to look over my shoulder for something to ruin Barack Obama's chances. From Acorn to now a dam plumber, the Republicans are loading up and putting things out there. With luck, they feel something will stick.
With this bit of background information, the only thing that should stick is a crisp exposure to Joe the Plumber's Partisan game of misconception.
Joseph
NOOOO!
Thu, 10/16/2008 - 09:22 — LegallyBlonde (not verified)
Joe Strummer would be rolling in his grave at the thought of McCain even knowing who he is!
Well...you are obviously cool. I want you to have my baby! LOL! And John McCain wants you to die in child birth.
will they ever learn?
They're following in the footsteps of the dinosaurs (while being ridden by cavemen).
I didn't know Joe Strummer died.
I thought the Police toured last summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vygKiHo-igU
But Joe was in The Clash
Even sadder than the story of Joe the [world's richest] Plummer is the story of Ned the Janitor. Poor Ned works hard sweeping floors all day. He wants to buy an oil company that makes billions of dollars a year, but if he does mean old Obama would raise his taxes!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
[wiping tears from eyes]
Republicans.
My oh my...
John always looks like he wants to go to the john.The more I see and read convinces me this guy wouldn't make it through his first year of a Presidency. Would anyone care to map out what they think the Repugs have planned for the next 18 days? Surely the Ayers things has petered out. No doubt Palin will continue her tour of venom. What is needed is more vision of a calm, Presidential Obama and an increasingly crazy McMarverich. Surely the Undecided should have begun to decide by now.
the "undecided" voters fall into two categories:
- those that just decided and are voting for Obama
- the racists that don't like McCain but can't bring themselves to vote for Obama
Couldnt the McCain campaign planted a plumber NOT related to Charles Keating??
the mccain campaign will be in the books as an example of WHAT NOT TO DO when running a campaign.
years from now, people will talk use the term "mccain campaign" to denote a failed method. it will be a standard of failure. pundits will ask of losing campaigns "is this the mccain campaign all over again?"
Is there PROOF that the two Katzenjammer kids are related, other than sharing the same last name?
Also hearing a rumor that Joe the Plumber doesn't have a plumber's license ...
True. Joe the Plumber isn't even a licensed plumber!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081016/ap_on_el_...
The article also reveals that he (surprise, surprise) has no real plans to by the business that makes over a quarter million dollars a year using his unlicensed plumber salary. What a joke.
By JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press Writer
HOLLAND, Ohio (AP) -- Joe the Plumber said Thursday he doesn't have a license and doesn't need one. Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, the nickname Republican John McCain bestowed on him during Wednesday's presidential debate, said he works for a small plumbing company that does residential work. Because he works for someone else, he doesn't need a license, he said.
A story about Joe the Plumber. By someone called 'John Seewer'.
It's like a story about the Cookie Monster by Chip Baker.
http://cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F...
Check out Jed report. Joe the plumber is not a Keating relative.
I only found this on the Jed report:
"Finally, yes, I'm aware of the speculation that he is related to Charles Keating's son-in-law, Robert M. Wurzelbacher of Cincinnati, Ohio. That Wurzelbacher spent 40 months in prison as part of John McCain's Keating Scandal, but even if they are related, I have trouble believing McCain was aware of the connection."
http://www.jedreport.com/2008/10/mccains-lame...
They don't deny the connection, only question it, and whether mcgramps knew it or not.
I love how the "caller" managed to find a way for Obama to insult him by calling us all peasants. Yeah, you stupid crybaby, keeping setting up those straw men and messing your diapers. Don't worry: the rest of adults will clean up your mess for you, as usual.
it did seem very odd that the press was in his living room watching the debate with him and all. unbelievable.
Sry, I fell for this info first, too. But on second thought this sounded too good to be true, so I googled Eisenstadt and found this:
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/0...
Well, you can't trust anyone in the internets. Too many crazy attention seekers around...
:-/
No, this is where the internet needs to carry the ball that the media so often drops. Establish the blood relation through records, etc.
Do a better job than Dan Rather did with Bush's 'records'.
Of course, the media fell for it. It's time to contact anyone who interviewed him this morning, and let them know they're not doing their job in not reporting the connection to McCain and the Keating family.
I don't know the details behind the $250,000 breakpoint. As regards an individual tax return, is it straight "wages" or is it more like line 37, (adjusted gross income)? I doubt Obama is talking about top-line income in a "small business". If that were true, about a gazillion small business owners would go over the limit, and I'm guessing that's not the intent. Hence, as regards Joe-Bob (who, we're now hearing, doesn't even have a contractor's license) this whole $250 G's thing is totally and completely irrelevant.
You gotta hand it to McCain. It's takes energy (and gall) for a 72 year-old ex-POW to continue shoveling this bullshit...
McCain Still Receives Big $$$s from Keating S&L Figure Linked to BCCI and Organized Crime
Posted by leveymg in General Discussion
Thu Aug 21st 2008, 06:18 PM
A lot of people are familiar with S&L crook Charles Keating's illegal contributions to John McCain in the 1980s. What most don't know, however, was that Keating was implicated in the BCCI takeover of a number of S&Ls, including his own. With me, so far?
Carl Lindner, an Ohio billionaire with CIA and underworld connections who owned Chiquita Bananas, was Charles Keating's original partner, banker, and mentor. Lindner got Keating wrapped up with schemes involving the usual cast of BCCI characters, shady Saudi bankers, the Bush family, and Iran-Contra money laundering. Keating was always a sort of pass-through guy, without any real money of his own. But, a lot of money flowed through Keating to McCain and his wife, Cindy, in an Arizona real estate scam. Lindner who was recently convicted of financing Right-wing death squads in Colombia, is still giving big, dirty campaign checks to McCain. Now, that's a story that the American people need to hear.
leveymg's Journal - THE CRIMES AND COVERUPS OF JOHN McCAIN, “REFORMER” Jun 3, 2008 ... Like the Bush Family, McCain had his Hand in the BCCI and S&L Scandals McCain claims that his involvement in the Keating S&L scandal wasn’t ...
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/...
I want to choose where my money goes too. I don't want a single penny going toward the Iraq War, I don't want any more money going for corporate welfare, I don't want any of my money going to the pentagon, the cia, the nsa, the war on terror, the war on drugs, no child left behind, no money for religious crap, and I want churches taxed, no tax shelters for corporations dumping money out of the USA, etc. Joe the plumber is an idiot.
This is how I feel about it too.
I have no problem paying taxes so that everyone can get medical help when they need it. I am glad I can help pay for hospitals and roads and schools and programs for people who need help. As well as art and culture and the myriad of excellent and important things that our taxes pay for.
I am loathe to think about a bunch of privileged overfed jackasses taking my taxes to pay for their benefits and then telling me why me and my friends and family don't deserve health care because it's socialist and that's a scary bad word.
"Finally, yes, I'm aware of the speculation that he is related to Charles Keating's son-in-law, Robert M. Wurzelbacher of Cincinnati, Ohio. That Wurzelbacher spent 40 months in prison as part of John McCain's Keating Scandal, but even if they are related, I have trouble believing McCain was aware of the connection."
High comedy. Because you'd have to be high to believe it. LOL! :D
Marty Eisenstadt’s Blog
Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher related to Charles “the Crook” Keating. Oops.
October 15th, 2008 . by Marty
John McCain did great tonight in the debate. But every time John mentioned “Joe the Plumber,” some of us in the campaign banged our heads against the wall. If Steve Schmidt had any hair left, I hear he would have been pulling it out tonight. He reportedly screamed at John’s debate prep team tonight (out of earshot of reporters, of course). “You idiots - he’s related to Charles Keating… of the Keating Five scandal!” They thought they had a real live Joe Six-Pack who’s spurned Barack Obama’s tax plan. But what they forgot to do was check on Joe Wurzelbacher’s background.
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. [Note: Apparently, Joe is the grandson of Charles Keating and also is a tax evader who is not even a licensed as a plumber]
Does any of this make Joe the Plumber a bad guy? Of course not. In fact, after that ill-fated night at the Watergate, he may finally be giving plumbers a good name. But at a debate where John goes full bore on Obama for guilt-by-association with William Ayers (and dodges a bullet by Obama not mentioning Keating Five), the press is going to bring it back front and center by midday tomorrow once they delve deeper into the most popular plumber in America.
This might remind you of the Paris Hilton scandal - where one side of the McCain campaign attacked her in an ad, not realizing that her family were huge donors. I was the first to warn the campaign of the perils of miscommunication within the campaign, and that story flared for a week.
Wow!!! Wait until Olbermann gets his hands on this!!!
The whole 'joe the plumber' thing was certainly meant for the simple people that's for sure.
It had all the unscripted naturalness of a traveling medicine show.
"Now tell me sir we have never met is that right?"
"That's right Uncle mc.. errr... I mean total stranger whom I've just met."
Truly ridiculous.
What is it with Republicans and plumbers? This is the most inept move of John McCain's entire campaign. I thought Sarah Palin gave me a double take, but this takes the cake. Compared to McCain, George Bush looks like an utter genius. The Corporate Media may not pay attention to this (although i think they will have to), but you can bet your bottoming out stock exchange that Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart and David Letterman are going to have a field day with this.
Presidential? John McCain would have a hard time being a Keystone Cop.
Nixon had his Plumbers too. I guess it's the love of wading knee deep in fecal matter. (This is not meant to malign actual plumbers, who perform a valuable and much appreciated service to the civilized world.)
McCain is a son of a bitch for trying such a transparent stunt. Jesus, how fucking sleazy.
And--wait for it--his little gimmick didn't really help him.
McCain, you well deserve the beating you are about to receive.
I am not sure about this Martin Eisenstadt person. However, I am sure about FOX News. I believe this was a plant by FOX. That connection needs some investigation. I mean Joe Sixpack, Joe the Plumber, Say it ain't so Joe etc. The McCains and FOX have some kind of Joe fixation.
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