Idiots Should Be USEFUL
I like the ingenuity of Julian’s argument that “His stardom in the conservative movement is, paradoxically, its own lone rationale. Conservatives, self-declared foes of postmodernism, have finally produced the ultimate postmodern icon.†I suspect, though, that it’s not true. Joe the Plumber has gotten as far as he has because he puts a (white, male) working-class face on standard GOP positions. It’s not anything so reflexive and metatextual as
What Joe actually has to say is irrelevant; what’s supposed to matter is that conservatives purport to care, and give him a high-profile forum in which to say it. The last semblance of a link between the message and the identity of the messenger finally drops out entirely . . .
JTP’s second career as a media star stems from the fact that he says, and better yet appears to believe, pretty much everything Republican elites propound. The Jamies Network never sends him to Israel if they aren’t confident he sees the Middle East as they do. John McCain never makes a star out of him if Obama actually changes Joe’s mind on tax policy. Let’s imagine for a second that Joe favors gay marriage. CPAC is not going to put him on family-values panels. The instant the cosmic axis shifts and Joe changes his opinions, he’ll be dropped. (I have to get fantasiacal here because there’s no chance of such a thing happening in our world.) The sales pitch is, “Here’s a regular guy†but the internal brand spec is “ . . . who won’t give us any trouble.â€
Julian’s mention of Ward Connerly gets closer to the Joe phenomenon than he thinks, actually. Connerly’s anti-affirmative-action passion is genuine, but he’s also a marketable face for a movement that is largely white. JTP surely believes the stuff he spouts, but the GOP power structure didn’t take pot luck on a random caucasian artisan. The waited until they found one telling them what they want to hear. And just as someone like Ward Connerly makes white people feel better about themselves for opposing racial preferences that favor black people, JTP makes supply-siders feel better about supporting tax relief for rich people. “See! It’s for their own good! The best ones recognize that.â€
Comment by EC —
March 2, 2009 @ 1:16 am
Missing the link to article. Unlike Ward Connerly or all the more self-aware meta-advocates, it’s probably a matter of time before JTP blunders off the bandwagon. I feel bad for all the other plumbers in America named Joe.
Comment by Russell L. Carter —
March 2, 2009 @ 1:33 am
commie.
Comment by Kolohe —
March 2, 2009 @ 2:26 am
Julian Sanchez nails exactly the problem I have with the Wurzelbacher phenomenon. The Pajamas media project was supposed to be ‘an Army of Davids’ – celebrity should be antithetical to their core values.
And this trend ain’t appearing to let up anytime soon. Après JtP, le déluge
Comment by Kevin Carson —
March 2, 2009 @ 3:59 am
I can’t get over just how transparently fake and unscrupulous he is. His original claim to fame was expressing doubt and indecision about Obama.
His “doubt and indecision,” it turns out, were about as genuine as Santelli’s “spontaneous” rant.
Either he was a hardcore dittohead from the beginning, and concealed his views for the sake of his pose of neutrality, or he spun rightward with a force of 10 g’s as soon as his new right-wing sugar daddies made it clear which side his bread was buttered on. Either way, anyone who takes him seriously is seriously stupid.
Comment by abb1 —
March 2, 2009 @ 7:42 am
I think it’s a bit more than just “a regular guy who won’t give us any trouble”; that would be easy to find and/or train. You also want charismatic personality, someone who is quick on his feet, has a good background, life story, things like that.
It really is NOT irrelevant what he says and how he says it. Dozens of image consultants have been working on it, I am sure.
Comment by bdr —
March 2, 2009 @ 9:00 am
JTP’s popularity with Conservatives is fueled in large part by how much they think JTP pisses Liberals off.
Don’t underestimate how much the Dead-Enders take pride in how big a herd of assclowns Liberals think they are.
These are Days of Purity for them – the happiest days of their lives.
Comment by Julian Sanchez —
March 2, 2009 @ 9:23 am
Maybe… I think the difference is that the elevation to prominence of Ward Connerly is not essentially *random*. Obviously, it matters that he’s black, but he’s also a smart and committed political activist with a clear message. With Joe, take away the everyman symbolism and there’s just no there there.
Comment by Thoreau —
March 2, 2009 @ 10:15 am
I don’t think the JtP phenomenon has a single explanation. There’s a lot to what Julian says, and to what Jim says, and to bdr’s point about the fact that JtP pisses off liberals. A lot of weird phenomena have no single explanation. JtP is a guy whose schtick works for many people on many levels.
God willing, it will soon be 15:00.
Comment by dhex —
March 2, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
well, his origins have at least equal footing in the consumer advocate “gotcha” reports of local news broadcasts for the last 30 years and whatever radioactive cultural runoff you want to pin on michael moore. i’m fond of “sports bar diplomacy” as an explanation for the rhetorical style and general “1-2-3-4 / we want lots of kultur war” bombast.
people like shouty people who agree with them. they also like shouty people who don’t agree with them so they can yell at them, perhaps with a cohort of other shouty people who also agree with them.
personally, i like tea.
Comment by Uncle Kvetch —
March 2, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
God willing, it will soon be 15:00.
Very soon, from the looks of it.
Comment by joe from Lowell —
March 2, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
The fact that they don’t call Mr. Wurzelbachber by his name, but rather assign him one based on his blue-collar trade, serves only to further demonstrate the point that he was pushed out front because of the optics of having a real, live working class person who supports Republicans.
It’s like the guy who’s constantly referring to “my black friend Tony,” and who only ever calls him “my black friend Tony.” Look at me, I’ve got a black friend!
BTW, assigning someone a last name based on their trade is what was done to peasants in medieval Europe. Really tasteless and condescending.
Comment by dhex —
March 2, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
http://sugarbushsquirrel.com/image/33702598_scaled_567×576.jpg
Comment by Jim Henley —
March 2, 2009 @ 2:23 pm
Personally, I feel wistful that that practice ended. There will never be a “John Programmer” or “Mary Payroll Accountant.” That’s sad.
Comment by Eric Martin —
March 2, 2009 @ 3:20 pm
The Jamies Network
The dastardly alliance of Jamies Lee Curtis, Farr, Foxx, Kennedy, Lynn Spears, Moyer, Oliver, Langenbrunner and Redknapp.
Comment by bartkid —
March 2, 2009 @ 4:10 pm
>produced the ultimate postmodern icon
Being dumb as a post in modern times is NOT the same as postmodern.
Comment by Justin Office Drone —
March 2, 2009 @ 4:14 pm
@Jim: I dunno, it works out okay for some of us. Though if I could become Justin Middle Management I could be persuaded differently.
Comment by Joshua Holmes —
March 2, 2009 @ 4:15 pm
Personally, I feel wistful that that practice ended. There will never be a “John Programmer†or “Mary Payroll Accountant.†That’s sad.
True, imagine someone 300 years in the future with the name James Robert Executive Director of Human Resources.
Comment by bbartlog —
March 2, 2009 @ 4:41 pm
‘Done to’ implies an autocratic mechanism whereas AFAIK the evolution of surnames was an organic process. While I agree that the ‘Joe the Plumber’ usage is weirdly anachronistic and the whole phenomenon is a bizarre attempt at creating a pastiche of the working class man, I don’t think assigning him ‘the Plumber’ moniker is demeaning in and of itself.
Comment by joe from Lowell —
March 2, 2009 @ 4:46 pm
Jim the Blogger?
Comment by Bob —
March 2, 2009 @ 5:53 pm
Most of the name examples here display little to be honored and preserved for the long term, unlike our peasants of lore. But I could go for Bob Taxpayer.
Jim, would you have him supporting tax relief for the poor, whoever that is?
Comment by Herr Doktor Thoreau Die ComputationalOpticsBiophysicsProfessor —
March 3, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
I’m fine with names based on one’s trade as long as I get to do like the Germans and string together a whole bunch of nouns and adjectives into a giant uber-word.
Comment by Barry —
March 3, 2009 @ 2:06 pm
HDTHCOBP, I think that useing the term ‘Doktor’, when you’re merely a Ph.D., would get you into Big Trouble in Germany
Just go with UberOberPfiziksMeister.
Comment by Julian Sanchez —
March 4, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
That was part of the premise of that book “Jennifer Government” from a few years back, no? A quasi-feudal future in which everyone takes the last name of the corporation that employs them? “Julian Technica” has a certain ring to it…
Comment by Jim Henley —
March 4, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
Right. I remember that book now. I mean, I didn’t read it, but I read about it.