Hey Joe

UVU has a unique history of inviting eccentric speakers to campus. There was of course the cataclysmic 2004 Michael Moore/Sean Hannity episode. Then there was Ralph Nader conducting an alternative commencement for disgruntled BYU students in 2007.

Well, the good news is, it seems, we intend to continue this tradition. On Nov. 18, Joe the Plumber, the renowned blue-collar man who happened to run into Obama on the campaign trail, is coming to speak.

I have a feeling Joe is going to love it here — it’s mostly his crowd. He will be surrounded by other like-minded conservatives who agree that Marx is a four-letter word. He’ll likely find a crowd receptive and warm to his cautionary and catapulting message and his wisdom anchored in the years of being an unlicensed plumber (not that I care, but it’s true).
Who knows, maybe it’ll be enough to make him conclude, “Those Mormons are alright” in his next book.

Let’s applaud the decision to bring Joe the Plumber to campus. Even if you’re not sold on his blue-collar tao, you can at least bask in the knowledge that you attend an institution that allows for such odd stumping and discourse to occur.

Plus, I’m guessing he isn’t too expensive to bring in — at least let’s hope not. The only disclaimer is that there better not be any complaining the next time a Moore, a Kucinich or some other leftist comes to town.

But of course there will be. Whatever.