Joe's a Republican

On Comment is Free, Joe Queenan (I think that's his real name) blames John McCain for the Joe the plumber hoax.

Joe the hoaxer - or is he a plumber after all?

The Indy and others cover the revelation that "Joe the plumber" isn't called Joe, isn't a licensed plumber and doesn't earn $250,000, so won't be affected by Barack Obama's tax plans, as he claimed.

It looks like it was all a hoax to embarrass Obama and it will be interesting to see who put him up to it. In Britain, the tories and the right wing media have a habit of finding "ordinary" people who will be affected by progressive taxation measures aimed at the well-off.

Meanwhile, the Indy also describes John McCain's appearance on the Letterman show, where the host pointed out that McCain is friends with Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy, one of the dirty tricks team called the White House Plumbers.

Perhaps Joe is a plumber, after all.

Terrorism 4 votes

The Guardian reports comments by Charlie Black, a senior adviser on John McCain's campaign, that a terrorist attack before the election would help McCain. It's pretty cynical and may backfire but, given the shameless way George Bush played the "war president" card in 2004, it's really a statement of the obvious.

When Black talked about a terrorist attack, he did not mean bombing Iran, something neo-con John Bolton says might happen after the election. Terrorism is what other people do.