John Hodgman lauds, then challenges, Obama’s geek cred:

You may recall that during last night’s debate Senator McCain told Barack Obama about the woes of “Joe the plumber” – who was supposedly going to be taxed more on his business since it makes just over 250k a year. apparently Baracak has spoken to Joe the plumber in person, outlining his reasoning for his plans.

Maybe Barack should combat all of McCain’s quips this way? He can call it the “Straight Talk Express,” which seems not to be a strategy employed by McCain anymore.

Update: It now appears that “Joe the Plumber” isn’t even “Joe the Plumber.” Whoops. The whole question-asking fiasco appears to have been a ploy by Joe to try and stump Barack in front of his neighbors.

Video below and the more thorough text.

Inspirational.

Update: Adding the video right here –

It’s a huge shock, I know, but Cheney’s Chief of Staff is a royal d%@&!

Addington went on to explain how the enemy’s actions — “smoke was still rising. . . . 3,000 Americans were just killed” — justified his legal reasoning. And he showed abundant disdain for dissenters, such as Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), who asked whether Addington consulted lawmakers about anti-torture statutes. “There is no reason their opinion on that would be relevant,” he answered.

[via The Morning News]