Thursday, February 26, 2009

Joe the Plumber Officially Washed-Up


(AP Photo, 10-29-08)


Had I known Joe the Plumber's book signing at Border's yesterday would be such a quiet, uncrowded, unattended affair, heck, I would have gone! The Washington Post's write-up and accompanying photo is hilarious: 11 people showed up, at least one of whom was already there for other reasons:

It's fair to say Joe's appearance at Borders at 18th and L streets wasn't eagerly anticipated. People just kind of shuffled over when Joe strode in with Thomas N. Tabback, the co-author of "Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream." Annie Hickman, a young woman whom Wurzelbacher called "sweetie" during a brief Q&A, was browsing when the PA announced that Joe was in the house. "I'm missing pottery class for this," she said.

Lawyer Alana Hecht was curious. "I was upstairs reading 'Dreams From My Father,' " Obama's memoir. "It's just fate. Who could leave when this is happening?" She and Hickman laughed. Washington, such a weird town.


Weird and fickle! In the end, Joe sold a whole five books, so I'm sure his trip to town was totally worth it. Bonus points to reporter Paul Farhi, exceptionally mean-spirited and amusing, for using the phrase the audacity of hype.

UPDATE! From Wonkette, we learn that even at CPAC, nobody cares much about Joe:

Joe-the-Plumber spoke to 1/4 full room. It was pathetic. I got video of how fucking empty the room was. I tried to make an echo off the walls but I got yelled at.

12 comments:

Karen Zipdrive said...

Audacity of Tripe.

HRH King Friday XIII, Ret. said...

Something tells me that people who actaully read books probably wouldn't voluntarily choose to read dribble written by Sam the Opportunist.

All I can think of when I see this story is Nelson from the Simpsons pointing and laughing "Ha-ha!"

Anonymous said...

Is that "Country First" sign hanging on the bathroom wall for target practice? You naughty boys, what do you get up to in your bathrooms?

Anonymous said...

'Wurzelbacher' sounds like a manufacturer of pipe organs.

tangobaby said...

I just can't tell you how much this made my day. Big big thank you.

Lulu Maude said...

It makes sense that he wouldn't be meeting hordes in DC. I'm trying to figure out where the really big crowds are going to turn out.

Oklahoma? Utah?

Matthew Hubbard said...

Hey, Pony Pals! Dig deep! If there were eleven people listening to Joe the Plumber, let's try to get twelve comments on this thread! No double posting, let's be fair. More people laughing at Joe online in once removed news source than actually went to the trouble of seeing him live!

Push that book, Joe! You can do it! Your book is ranked #166,449 on Amazon! You can get into the top 150,000 if you really try!

Anonymous said...

A few years ago, the expression "the mighty wurlitzer" was used to describe how the right-wing combination of talking heads and blogs would arise en masse, like a plague of locusts, to denounce some perceived slight or other or to propagate some new untruth. I guess the expression didn't catch on; it was the *first* thing I thought of when I heard Joe's last name.

Juliana said...

What they couldn't charter a bus in from rural MD to pack the house?

Toriko said...

I'm trying to feed sad for the guy, but much like Jeff Gannon, it is difficult for me to find any pity for a man who brought this on himself.

Muscato said...

Soon, I think, there will be enough of these pointless, careerless sad-sacks to make some kind of reality show. I'm just trying to think what kind of televised mortification one could impose on a group made up of, say, Sam/Joe, Gannon/Guckert, Matt Sanchez/Rod Majors, Ann/Mann Coulter, and, if we wait long enough, Sarah "Governatrix" Palin, to make it worth watching...

Karen Zipdrive said...

A has-been GOP reality show sounds delightful, much like Donald Trump's new cast of misfits on "Celebrity Apprentice."
In the GOP's show, I hope they'll be dangerous physical challenges that most of them fail.
And let's not forget the hidden camera, pedophile challenge.