Joe the Plumber says

If you haven't heard yet, Joe the Plumber, a.k.a., Samuel Wurzelbacher, also referred to as the "last straw" of the McCain campaign last year, has quit the GOP. Yes, sad to hear, I know.

But if you're wondering how this sad event has come to pass, it appears it has followed a rather progressive yet these days rather typical chain of events in what now appears a new social media world order. The chain of events, in retrospect, are so simple and easy to recognize that in hindsight, one wonders how it was overlooked. So for those of us who are a little slow to the draw, here are the events and, for posterity, their social media corollaries, so these events can never be overlooked again.

First, the meteoric rise. Obama, unaware of how lucky he was that the cosmos had all lined up for him that day on October 12, 2008, answered the innocent questions of a bystander. Joe made the advantageous move to speak out about the responses he felt were "anti-American dream", some GOP brainchild overheard him and said "Ah hah, we've struck gold now Lucy!". In the social media world, this is called coming up with the next Facebook idea.

Second, McCain takes this "ah hah" moment and decides (one has to wonder exactly whose brilliant idea it was) to make "Joe the Plumber" a national catch phrase. He mentions Mr. Joe, before the world, at least 1/2 dozen times, always in reference to ideas that were, we now know, simply assumed, and not investigated, kind of like a Sarah PalinSarah Palin mini-me. Within 24 hours the media was all over Joe the Plumber, trying to get the first, juiciest plum of information about the new super-star of the GOP (well, second only to Palin herself). In the social media world, this would be like a blog article being picked up by the national AP wire.

Third, now that Joe is a superstar success story, bandying his tale far and wide, stumping with the woman who perfected the art, some began to wonder just why in the world he was there anyway? While he obviously had some "super-star" backing, in the end his success seemed largely more virtually grown than real. And as soon as the "real" story began to surface, the life of Joe the Plumber as a campaign success began to erode along with all the other half-baked ideas the campaign had come up with in the twilight hours. The social media corollary: Twitter as a business tool.

Lastly, after months of campaign, national book deals, right-wing blog assignments overseas, Joe the Plumber has begun to actually start asking questions again. Aside from the fact that his name is not, in fact, Joe, he is not actually even a plumber, and in fact, he doesn't make anywhere close to the kind of income he alluded to when he first spoke to Obama, he seems to have done pretty well for himself as a national icon.

But there is trouble in paradise, and now Joe the Plumber has seen the light. "You can't sell principles," Joe was heard to say of RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who he says wants to make conservatism "hip hop". And on gay marriage, Joe appears to be unwavering, stating that God has been "explicit in what we're supposed to do--what man and woman are for" and that gays are not welcome around his children.

So now it has come to pass that on May 7, 2009, Joe is bidding adieu to the GOP, stating, we might surmise, irreconcilable differences. Joe's short shrift with the GOP is nothing short of astounding, but in today's age flash-pan stardom seems the norm, rather than the exception.

Successful "up and coming" websites and blogs are all the rage, for at least a year or two. On their heels are the next "up and comings" which, also, are around for a year or two. There is no question that the ideas are foundations, and the developments help future developments and technological breakthroughs, but has anyone asked "at what cost?"

Is it significant that a world of "one hit wonders" should be the rule rather than the exception? In an age where true leadership appears to be eroding, and ideals of principle, fellowship and considerations for man-kind are fleeting, are our attention spans going to be developed enough to handle an idea that lasts longer than a few months, let alone a few years?

Perhaps it is time to ask ourselves whether politics is mere sport, or has some higher function or purpose. If political efforts can be sifted to mere sound-bite realities, and the media relegated to the quickest wit and the most palatable presentation, what happens to intellectual pursuit of a better world, a better human race? Perhaps, already, I've lost the masses by contemplating ideas that require thought, effort and determined concentration. Is this the age of our future? A Twitter-esque reality of politics and decision-making.

If we wish to thank Joe properly, we will relegate his memory into the archives of our history, and leave the pages locked, until such time that we can look back on history and say "ah yes, thank goodness we were able to come out of that one alive".

For more on Joe's timely departure, see the Time article Republicans in Distress: Is the Party Over?

See more about social media and politics in my blog at Online-Business-Woman.com