Salt Lake Crawler

Update —

At Joe the Plumber's rally at Utah Valley University, only 20 people showed up. One of them asked for plumbing advice, which is a little iffy considering Joe isn't licensed:

"We're re-doing our kitchen. How should we measure our sink to make sure it fits?"

Actually, his plumberly answer was probably edgier than anything he said in the Capitol Rotunda was how innocuous it was. Joe tol 80 or so "liberty-loving patriots" that turned out that they must get involved in democracy and shouldn't let the Mainstream Media, right or left, tell them how to think. He warned:

"Freedom is responsibility!"

That's all the fire in the belly Joe can muster? Hell, I am the Mainstream Media and I agree with that. (Note: Without the mainstream media's heavy coverage of the Plumber's Utah tour, only the few hundred people who showed up the events would have  known he was here.)

Everyguy Joe Wurzelbacher lays out his beliefs: He doesn't like abortion or same-sex marriage. He likes god and guns—"I want more." He says nice things about "Plumber's Helper" Cherilyn Eagar who invited him, but no one rips into her opponent. Only one speaker mentions Bob Bennett's name, let alone rails at him. I complain to Eagar that I'm sorely disappointed: "Where's the fire and thunder?"

The high point comes when Joe makes one of his famous Workin' Slob, cut-the-crap points about the lack of accountability among politicians:

"Being a plumber, if I come to your house and do a job and don't do it right — you are going to call me back to do it right. And you have a right to call me back."

Later, I ask Joe, being that he's a plumber with a strong belief in Rule of Law, if he has gotten a plumbing license yet. Joe admits he has not.

"The way I do plumbing, you don't have to be licensed."

Huh? I can only take that as one of those wiseguy euphemisms, like, "I can give you a deal on a HD TV that fell off the truck."

Of course, its all part of that freedom and responsibility thing. In any case, those folks with the kitchen remodel better get a second opinion on measuring sinks.