Book deal for Joe W. from Ohio

Following the lead of Governor Sarah Palin, who we learned is well qualified to handle American foreign policy because she can see Russia from Alaska, Joe the Plumber (Samuel J. Wurzelbacher) is going to be an author. Apparently, knowing your ABC's makes you the next Hemingway or Dickens.

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, the presidential campaign fixture and John McCain advocate better known as Joe the Plumber, won’t have to open his own plumbing business just yet: he has signed a deal to write “Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream.” PearlGate Publishing, a small publisher in Austin, Tex., announced the book on its Web site, pearlgatepublishing.com.

Presumably, Joe can write. One can hope so. After all, he wasn't so good at paying his taxes, nor was he actually a licensed plumber.

So now that it's 14:59 on the fame clock, and with the economy in the tank, Joe has decided to cash in on his fame and pad his wallet. So Joe is going to now grace the world with his ruminations on "American values". You know, those "real" American values, from someone who lives in "real" America.

Regardless of who he supported for President, does anyone really care what Joe W. from Ohio thinks about American values? I'll be watching closely because if Joe can write a bestseller on American values, I will release my three volume series on astrophysics. After all I can see the stars, the moon and the sun, so I'm an expert in the field. Look out, Stephen Hawking.

BY THE WAY (Andrew): Ken's commentary tonight reminds me of a memorable post authored exactly a year ago by Keith Deshaies, our first and beloved Senior Managing Editor, who sadly is no longer with us. Entitled Absolution by book deal, it criticized Scott McClellan's then-forthcoming tell-all, What Happened?.

It's still great reading, twelve months later.