Gratuitous Impiety

Joe the Plumber Predicted by The Onion in ’93?

May 29, 1993: The Onion’s story about Roy the Forklift driver becoming a media darling of the conservative movement becomes, apparently, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or has talk radio dumbed us down so much what once was so unlikely as to be satirical now surprises no one? In the article, the uneducated forklift operator from Ohio addresses a spellbound nation on The Rush Limbaugh Show to “offer profound insight on current events.” Unlike the forklift driver, Joe the Plumber now has a book deal by a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s ultra-right media empire. This reflects just as badly on Murdoch as it does on those who look up to Joe the Plumber. […]