The Swift-Boating of Joe the Plumber

Watching what the media has done to Joe Wurzelbacher is sickening. From Mark Shea:

So poor old Joe the Plumber is minding his own business when Obama walks past and they end up having a too-candid-for-the-candidate moment. As is only possible in our media-soaked culture of insta-fame, the guy suddenly become The Face of the Common Man, McCain's Last Best Hope and the Fear of the Dems.

So, overnight you get:

- Andrew Sullivan at the "Atlantic Monthly" insisting he's not really a plumber, because he doesn't have a license, followed by post after post aiming to destroy the guy (sandwich in between post after post demanding to know who Trig Palin's mother *really* is).

- A news report from Bloomberg saying Joe has a $1,200 tax lien against him.

- KOS searching the tax records to find the tax lien, and going a step further by publishing Joe's home address.

- "Democratic Underground" publishing any rumor they can get and soliciting more: "Feel free to post your own JOE THE PLUMBER facts, links and trivia. I have a good nose for bull shit and man my bull shit detector is off the dial right now with this guy."

This is the punishment meted out to a guy for speaking his mind to the Son of God. Coming soon to an Obama critic near you.

I am surprised that the mainstream media felt so threatened by this guy -- a guy who is not running for President! So, you have to have all of your finances in perfect order before you can ask a candidate a "real" question? Or perhaps the lesson is you can't ask a question for which you think the candidate might shoot himself in the foot on camera. Maybe the lesson is that it is wrong to question Dear Leader period.

*throwing hands up in air*