Sam “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher famously said the following two stupid things:
People don’t understand the dictionary – it’s called queer. ‘Queer’ means strange and unusual. It’s not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that.
I’ve had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn’t have them anywhere near my children.
It’s my impression – after an admittedly unscientific survey conducted with but a cursitory eye – that the tv media have been more exercised over the first quotation, and the blogosphere more exercised over the second. Since the second quotation is even more idiotic and dickish than the first, this doesn’t speak well for the tv media.
Tags: Left-Libertarian, LGBT, Thank You Please May I Have Another
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I do find it strange that they wouldn’t emphasis on the entire quote..Unless you believe that him stating to have gay friends would “make him appear less evil,*” or the major news network stand for the latter anyways. I do find it ridiculous that he is inferring that homosexuals either molest children, and/or some how “infect them with the cancerous gay meme…”
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Never mind, I was being foolish; pardon my blunder….I read that as one entire quote, and not two separate quotes…..
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It’s nice to see you utter profanity.
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What, “dickish”? That’s devilish mild, by gum!
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It’s still a win in my book.
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I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him do better before. FCC/S&P attention getting words I mean.
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I’ve often wished Prof. Long would show more anger and less careful analysis when discussing fiendish philosophies which do not deserve the courtesy of a tuning fork..
But now that I see it… please, keep the polite grace. You and Adam Reed are the two intellectuals I know who keep a stature which doesn’t need a profanity to show its strength.
Thank you for the support you’ve shown. You’ve done much to restore my trust in libertarianism.
P.S.
I prefer the term ‘monumentalist’. Raise high the obelisk!
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When will this guy’s 15min be up? I can’t believe he is still around. There are a lot of reasons to dislike McCain but this Joe the Plumber thing is pushing me closer to loathing him.
I am not sure if in the second quote he is implying that homosexuals are pederasts or that they will “convert” his children. Any idea?
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Probably some mix of the two.
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Exactly. I was hoping this guy, along with Sarah Palin. Would go crawl under a rock after the election and we’d never have to hear from them again.
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I remember after the ‘04 election wondering how long it would take for Kerry to stop being news. It took a long time, I think it was about a year. Since Joe wasn’t even a candidate I figure he’ll be out by summer.
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If he can’t trust his friends around his kids, then are they really his friends?
I suspect these gay friends of his don’t actually exist, and he made it up to try to soften his bigotry (“some of my best friends are…”.
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I was thinking the same thing. I tried to imagine the conversation between Sam and one of his gay friends where they make this agreement, but it didn’t compute.
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If queer just means “strange or unusual” to Joe, why does he follow up with a comment about homosexuals? Is this just a bizarre non sequitur? Inquiring minds want to know, Joe.
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I wouldn’t trust this troglodyte around his children.
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I’m queer. I’ll also wager that Pipesnaker Joe doesn’t know that honky originated as an ethnic and not racial slur. Christ, he wouldn’t even grasp the difference.
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With regards to the second statement, but with reference to the first, too, I wonder if he understands the dictionary? It is pedophiles you don’t let near your kids, not homosexuals – is clearly confused by the definition of either term.
He should also be made aware of the fact that if his children are assaulted, statistics show it is most likley that another family member is doing it!
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Which kind of makes you wonder what his response would be if he found out that one of them was gay.
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If he found out his kids were gay he wouldn’t let them near themselves.
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He could liberate them from their lives.
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Queer needn’t be an insulting term to members of the LGBT or Queer community, but when Joe the Plumber uses the term I doubt he’s using it in the same sense. I can’t remember who made the observation that Joe is the perfect postmodern celebrity. He’s famous for being famous.
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He did say he’s “had” gay friends. If they exist, perhaps they were his friends up until the point he told them to stay away from his children.
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About Roderick T. Long
The Empirical Me
I’m Roderick T. Long, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Auburn University. I’m an Aristotelean/Wittgensteinian in philosophy and a left-libertarian market anarchist in social theory. (More about me here.) This blog, Austro-Athenian Empire, is a continuation of my earlier blog, archived here.
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