Since Joe Wurzelbacher asked a question of Senator Obama on October 11, 2008 which proved to be potentially damaging to the Obama campaign, the following has happened to Mr. Wurzelbacher:
1. He has had his divorce records disclosed to the public by the press.
2. Left-wing blogs have published his home address and that of his ex-wife.
3. Snuff films fantasizing about the violent death of Joe the Plumber have been posted by Obama supporters on YouTube.
4. The City of Toledo has notified him that he cannot work without a license, which will certainly come as news to the legions of plumbers without licenses who work for plumbers who are licensed.
5. The fact that he has a personal property tax lien against him in the vast sum of $1,182.98, and a judgment lien in the amount of $1,261, has been revealed by the press.
6. Documents relating to his work history have been published in the press.
7. His party affiliations and voting history have been disclosed by the press.
8. The press has charted where he has lived over the years.
9. The tax history of the business which employs him has been published by the press.
10. Left wing blogs have falsely claimed that Wurzelbacher is a relative of Charles Keating of the Keating Five scandal.
11. The press has reported that his driver’s license was suspended in May of 2000 when he lived in Arizona for non-payment of civil traffic fines.
The list could go on for considerable length but suffice it to say that Mr. Wurzelbacher has received more searching media analysis in three days than Senator Obama has received from most of the mainstream press since he announced his candidacy for President.
My reaction to this media, and left-wing blog, led onslaught against a private citizen in order to protect the political candidate favored by most of the media is identical to that of Iowahawk, in sentiment if not in precise language. That the Obama campaign attacks Joe was to be expected. “Politics ain’t beanbag” is not just a saying. Some Left-wing blogs splashing the personal information of Joe over the internet and making false charges are all par for the often vile political tactics on the internet and which, sadly, are not restricted to the political Left. However, that most of the media, the same media which has showed such a studied indifference to investigating many of the blank spots in the life of a man who wishes to be Commander-in-Chief, joins in an all-out assault on the privacy of a citizen, who merely asked a politically inconvenient question of a politician, is beneath contempt.
I believe I said earlier that if they’d hack Sarah Palin’s email, they’d do anything, to any of us. This sad case only demonstrates once again the evil of the left, their contempt for those whom they seek to rule, and the points out the alarming progress we are making towards the day, if it is not already here, when an ordinary citizen must know his place, and keep it, lest he suffer the penalty for trying to get above it.
We have all been saying, as we do every four years, that this is the most important election of our lifetimes. But I really believe that the twin cases of Sarah Palin, the ordinary citizen who dared to seek high office, and Joe the Plumber, the “regular guy” (if you’ll permit me) who asked a question, really raise the stakes to something not seen in America since the Civil War, if ever: we face an election in which our most basic rights, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, are really threatened by a candidate who would sweep them away.
Anybody who effectively and memorably challenges a politician will now face criticism suppression fire from partisans. Some unearthed report or factoid could cost him his job, even if the citizen hasn’t done anything wrong.
In the world of YouTube, this will have a horrible chilling effect on public speech from Everyman.
Less than 24 hours after his appearnce, NPR had already made a fake commercial ridiculing him. Their expose also lied about him (they said he didn’t want to pay taxes, when he said in the interview, word for word, “you have to pay taxes, everybody has to pay taxes). Then they said he “owes $1200 back taxes.” (Only someone who has never run a business would think this is a big deal. I owe that much sometimes too. It is pretty simple and not a crime. When it turns out at the end of the year that Uncle Sam owes you a tax refund, is that a crime?)
Really disturbed me that they would tear a private person apart like this. I can’t believe I used to be a Democrat. They are scum.