Reassurances

If you were paying attention during the recent presidential campaign at all, however much else was up in the air, there was one thing of which you were certain: Joe the Plumber was going to release a book (note that I didn't say he was going to write a book). But if that was a worry to you, calm your mind. Everything's going to be fine.

There's no question that Joe brought substance to the campaign trail. If you were lucky enough to see Joe, you were guaranteed to hear detailed policy wonkery. That's why he challenged Obama on tax policy in the first place--he wanted to wallow in the fine print of IRS legalese. It was just a bonus that John McCain made a mascot of him through the rest of the campaign. Without Joe the Plumber, would we have known that the progressive tax system is Marxist? Would we have realized just how dangerous an Obama presidency could be to the state of Israel? Would we know any of the other esoterica he imparted to us throughout his short, 15-minute reign?

When you're working with a mind of such stature, it's only natural to worry that when the time comes to cash in, the person in question will try to water down his or her gifts in order to become more accessible to the lowest common denominator. A book by Joe the Plumber: Could it be any more than a collection of aphorisms, a mass of feel-good emptiness? Fortunately, the answer is yes. A man of Joe the Plumber's integrity would never buy into such nothingness:

"Everyone came at me to write a book. They had dollar signs in their eyes. '101 Things Joe the Plumber Knows' or some stupid s--- like that. Excuse me, I am sorry," he said. "You know I will get behind something solid, but I won't get behind fluff. I won't cash in, and when people do read the book they will figure out that I didn't cash in. At least I hope they figure that out."

For Joe the Plumber, it's all about something "solid." Content is king. There will be no fluff here.

Thanks for standing up for all of us, Joe.