Before I get to this, I want to take a moment to reflect on some things.

There have been some interesting changes of late, and there are people to be thanked.

Over the last three and a half years, I've pledged countless hours of thinking, reading, and typing to the RWRepublic, all for the purpose of contributing to the cause of spreading conservative beliefs in America. I've loved every minute of it.

All of you know that I track traffic to this blog not as a measure of its or my success, but just as a reference point and for fun. But what has happened recently almost seems unexplainable.

I'm not a Hawkins, a Misha, or a Malkin, and I don't really aspire to be. A good month, in my opinion, has been 800-1000 hits for the month, which works out to about 30-35 per day. A thousand hits for the month, and I've been pretty much a happy camper. Twenty-five for the day? No big deal.

So when I get 368 hits in a single day and 122 the next, things get a little exciting. Indeed, October's worst day (33 hits) would have been more than adequate to my mind, and having 2,976 for the month has REALLY flipped me out. I certainly don't expect THAT to happen again any day soon!

Still, the people who come around and bring that kind of traffic should be thanked, and that is what this part of this post is all about. I will not promise any more frequent writing, as things are starting to get busy again at work, but I will do my best to make every post worth reading, and make myself worthy of your company here at the RWRepublic. Many humble thanks to everyone, new and old.

OK. Now that that's done, on to other important stuff ...

This morning, I woke up early (God knows why) and couldn't get back to sleep. So I checked out my email, and found the always-welcome Glenn Beck email newsletter, which linked to this transcript of Glenn's recent chat with Joe the Plumber. There are many notables here, and I wish I had time to comment more, but there's still a lot of reading to do and I need to get some sleep, as I'm going on the road today. There is, however, one point Joe makes that I simply cannot leave alone, as it speaks very strongly to my own personal story:

JOE THE PLUMBER: Actually, Glenn, one thing you don't know about me, Barack Obama talks about wanting to take care of people. You know, just that information you shared with me just now is ridiculous. I just moved my parents into my house. You know, I'm not a millionaire. You know, I don't make $100,000 a year. We had to tighten our belts a little bit. Friends and family came together. We turned the garage into a bedroom, they moved them in. That's what America's about, about family taking care of family, neighbors neighbors, you know, community. It starts there. It doesn't start at the federal government and work its way down. And this guy who, you know, has millions, can't take care of his own aunt and uncle? There's something wrong there.

This is what America is really all about. I know Mr. Oblahma would like for it not to be, but it is, and Americans know it. This is why I believe that Oblahma is toast on Tuesday. Not because McCain is much better, but because he foolishly flaunts his socialist "values" that include telling you he wants to take care of you using other people's money, while his own relatives suffer in REAL poverty, the likes of which very few, if any, Americans ever see. If you say you are your brother's keeper (and I do believe I have heard those words uttered by the Schlock), then you had better be taking REALLY good care of that brother if you have the means (and the Schlock DOES have the means and then some) if you are going to have me believe you want to take care of me.

Truth be told, I don't want Barack Oblahma to take care of me. I don't want John McShame to take care of me. I don't want ANY "help" from the government. You know, even at my somewhat low income level, I would be doing just fine if I weren't taxed into oblivion. But there's something much more important here.

When the chips have been down, the government has always denied me help, often because I was a white male. Not that I expended too much energy asking - you now how I feel about the government and its ability to "help" people, especially given the long-term effects of that "help".

No. When the chips were down, it was my parents who helped out. It was my in-laws who helped out. Friends offered assistance. Charities helped out. Yes, even my filthy rich boss has reached back and done things to soften the blow in tough times. Am I really to believe Barack Oblahma is looking out for me or, for that matter anyone else? Sorry, but I'm calling bullshit on that one. Same for the Republican.

For those who have been there, I hope to someday be able to return the favor. Friends and relatives want only to see success and happiness, but mine will see more. Those involved in offering aid as part of a charity will also reap rewards for having done so. As for my boss, he's been a great friend as well, and I will be doing everything I can to show myself worthy of his faith in me. There aren't too many people outside my family who are "looking out for me" like he has been. Contrary to what your typical Democrat will tell you, rich people are some of the best people in the world. I hope to someday become one of them. I've got all their attibutes but the cash - and you had better believe that's going to work itself out too.

I am Joe the Plumber.

RWR