Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. Joe Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. "Joe the Plumber" sounds like a Ph.D. in "kitchen-table economics." He obviously understands the argument against hiking taxes on people earning more than $250,000 a year during an economic downturn better than John McCain does.

Naturally, therefore, he must be destroyed.

As Zaius avers below, Obama's supporters may not want to take a hatchet to the federal budget, but they're more than happy to perform a hatchet job on plumber Joe. Or is that unlicensed plumber Joe? Or unlicensed plumber with a tax-lien Joe? Joe the Plumber's Union non-member? How about Joe the idiot Republican shill? As Byron York at National Review advises: "If you have anything in your past that you're not proud of — a messy divorce, a DUI, an unpaid bill, an indiscreet comment, whatever — be prepared for it to become public knowledge.”

So it would appear.

Wurzelbacher, of course, didn't have to agree to appear on the morning news programs or on CNN this afternoon. But why his sudden celebrity should earn him the full media proctological exam eludes me. We'll learn more about Joe the Plumber in 24 hours than many Americans learned about Barack Obama in 24 months. Which is funny to ponder. Who's running for president, again?

Update: I like this summary from the delightfully named Jeff Poor (perfect for his chosen profession) of the Business & Media Institute: "Call this a concerted effort by the media to assassinate the character of an ordinary guy for calling out a liberal politician for wanting to raise taxes."