Joe The Plumber, And Other Lies

[JRSWRITER]

From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton


“The morning after he emerged as the unexpected star of Wednesday evening's U.S. presidential debate, Samuel ‘Joe’ Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, found himself at the center of a media frenzy, with reporters camped out on his front lawn and his phone ringing off the hook.
But it wasn't long before the Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters and Service Mechanics revealed that Wurzelbacher was not a licensed member of their trade. ‘That means that he has not completed the training program necessary for him to sit for a license test,’ said Tony Herrera, market recovery specialist for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 50 in Toledo, Ohio. ‘It's a shame that this guy has ended up in this situation because it seems like he's misrepresented himself -- and for that matter the plumbing and pipefitting industry.’ Without a license, Wurzelbacher cannot practice in the city of Toledo but can work for someone with a master's license or in outlying areas that do not require a license, Herrera said.” Election star "Joe the Plumber" lacks license www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed2

With just two days before the 2008 presidential election I’m tired of all the lies, distortions, innuendo and obfuscation by both major candidates and their corporate supporters. Most national polls have Obama with an edge and it may come to pass Barack Hussein Obama thumps John Sidney McCain Tuesday rolling up huge popular and Electoral College vote totals. Or perhaps the Bu$h-Cheney Republican theft machine will steal another election and John McCain will run off into the sunset as the next president of the Untied States along with his disastrous VP pick Sarah Palin.

This long campaign season has been draining and taxing. The psychological stress started during the primaries. Many black people felt and internalized the sting of the vicious attacks against Barack Obama especially by the Clintons. The Clintons exposed themselves and showed just how ruthless they are. To his credit Obama pressed on undeterred, he survived the contentiousness of the primaries and won the Democratic nomination for president. Obama went up against a formidable campaign run by the Clinton political machine. He had to weather a blistering barrage of attacks from all the white candidates but he kept on task and focus. He outclassed them, out organized them and triumphed. The McCain campaign used most of the same verbiage against Obama the Clintons used. He alleged Obama was unready, untested, he questioned Obama’s associates and his left leaning record.

During the primaries McCain ran out of money to run his campaign. He was down in the polls but was able to bounce back. Somehow major donors found McCain attractive enough to give him additional money and he was able to defeat a lackluster field of Republicans mostly old guard white guys to win the Republican nomination. The public persona of John McCain lacks the charisma of a Barack Obama. He is not a dynamic speaker and the Republicans were worried about McCain going up against Obama’s star status. Once he secured the nomination, McCain took a huge gamble and selected Sarah Palin a relative unknown governor of Alaska as his running mate. Initially Palin’s emergence energized the Republicans and helped to dim Obama’s shine from the Democratic Convention. The Republicans kept her under wraps and worked with her to put her best foot forward during her acceptance speech. The corporate medai went gaa gaa over her and she was a hit, briefly. As the campaign began in earnest, Palin stumbled badly and exposed herself as an intellectually shallow person.

The two major party candidates were front and center while third party and splinter candidates got no play whatsoever in the corporate media. Candidates of the caliber of Cynthia McKinney Ralph Nader and Bob barr have been maginalized by the corporate media. Millions of dollars have been spent by both Obama and McCain to confuse, bamboozle and deceive us. Modern national political campaigns are choreographed, scripted and meticulously planned. The media plays an integral part shaping the candidates’ image, persona and message. In my opinion the appearance of Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher was a scripted event like most of the candidates’ campaign. McCain used Wurzelbacaher’s appearance at an Obama rally (he may have been a McCain plant) and TV time it garnered to elevate him to celebrity status as a blue collar working class everyman. The McCain campaign envisioned Wurzelbacher as representative of the kind of people McCain needed to win the White House.

The problem for McCain is Wurzelbacher misrepresented himself. He is not a registered licensed plumber and he doesn’t even have the money to purchase the small plumbing company where he works. This is just one of the many lies and claims both candidates have pushed and promoted. This is why I’ll be glad when the election is over. I’m tired of all the deceit, name calling and obfuscation. I am opposed to allowing folks to insult our intelligence and make fools out of us. We deserve better but this is the nature of the system we are under, (literally under its boot).

When you check out McCain’s record you discover, he was not an accomplished pilot, he got into and remained in Annapolis only because his father and grandfather were admirals. He finished at the bottom of his class. He had several plane crashes, incidents that would have washed him out if he didn’t have the naval pedigree he had. As far as being a war “hero” he was shot down after only a few missions and there are allegations McCain collaborated with the North Vietnamese.

Upon his return to the states as a free man, McCain married into wealth after unceremoniously dumping his first wife and used his father in laws’ connections to help him launch his political career. Nothing sinister there, it works if you can pull that off but there is something about McCain that doesn’t pass the smell test.

As far as Obama is concerned, he would not be where he is if a significant number of influential white folks didn’t feel comfortable with him and they weren’t willing to put up big bucks to get his campaign up and running. Don’t believe the hype about his campaign being funded mainly by small donations. Obama received mega bucks from Hedge Funds and special interests groups. But I digress. If you are a black man in AmeriKKKa, you know what it takes for whites to feel “comfortable” with you. You have to be “non-threatening” meaning you have to make them not feel inferior or inadequate around you and they have to see you as “transcending your race”, not too black. You also have to convince them you think like they do and believe the same things they believe and have the same goals as they do. While all whites don’t feel that comfortable with Obama, a segment of the ruling elites do. They will use him just like they used Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Andrew Young and Alberto Gonzales to further their agenda of global white supremacy. Pray for the Brother, he will need all the help he can get.

Most black folks are so caught up in the mystique of him being a viable candidate (which he is because he is infinitely more intelligent than John McCain) they fail to realize Obama is in a precarious position. He will have to fit into the mold the whites who really run this country want him to fill or they will destroy him like they have so many others. As far as voting is concerned, think for yourself. Don’t fall for McCain’s okey doke of Joe the Plumber or any one else’s. This system is corrupt, and fascist. If Obama wins, be prepared to keep him grounded and sane, hold his feet to the fire and make him accountable. If McCain should pull it out, we are in deep doo doo.