When I saw the news story that Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher was going to Israel as a war correspondent to report on the conflict in Gaza, I was a bit taken aback until I saw that it was for Pajamas Media, a right-wing blogging group. That would make sense, as a right-wing celebrity he would appeal to that audience.

However, just a few days ago, I saw a headline reporting that Joe would be addressing the Republicans in Congress, that he had been asked to advise them on political matters, including the stimulus bill. When I saw that one, I first presumed that I had stumbled upon a satire site’s story, like The Onion’s–those sometimes make their way in to Google News’ lineup. But no, this was for real: the GOP had honestly asked Joe the Plumber to address and advise them.

This is what amazes me about conservatives: not just that people like Wurzelbacher and Sarah Palin could become so popular during the election–that I can kind of see because of their sudden popular appeal despite their massive failings (common with right-wing stars)–but that they can persist in their popularity even after having failed so badly. Building a reputation upon fraud after fraud, misstep after misstep, gaffe after gaffe, and then losing the battle to boot should be enough to shunt one aside into to shadows of obscurity. But apparently, both Joe and Sarah continue to “send little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America,” entrancing those of the conservative persuasion.

But the Republicans in Congress? Asking for professional political advice? Are they truly that shallow, that stupid?

Let’s not forget how Joe shot to stardom: he lied. When Obama happened to walk down his street, campaigning one day, “Joe” saw an opportunity to score points for his favored candidate. He approached Obama and began with a lie: “I’m getting ready to buy a company that makes about 250, 270, 80 thousand dollars a year. Your new tax plan’s going to tax me more, isn’t it?” Truth is, the company’s income was not in that range, Joe started with “$250,000” only because he knew that was the point at which Obama’s tax plan would start taxing people more; Joe immediately adjusted the number to $280,000, probably realizing that at $250,000, there would no additional taxes–if you watch the video and realize that he’s making these numbers up, you can pretty much see how transparently he is fictionalizing here. He was also lying about “getting ready to buy” the business, based upon the fact that he did not have the financial means to do so. In short, he saw an opportunity to confront Obama with a guy who would pay more taxes under Obama’s proposed tax plan, and lied to make it happen. He had probably seen McCain’s gaffes represented as “gotcha” moments and wanted to score one of his own on the opponent.

After that, all kinds of interesting information came out about the man. He was not really a plumber, not officially, and wound up losing his plumbing gig when the state discovered that he was working illegally. He owed back taxes which he had never paid. And it turns out that in real life, Joe would have benefitted a lot more from Obama’s tax plan than he would have from McCain’s.

But never mind reality, the right wing suddenly had an fictional ideological archetype, which is much better. Joe was suddenly the everyman downtrodden by oppressively high tax rates, the struggling worker being beaten down by socialist liberals trying to “spread the wealth.” John McCain realized this instantly, and suddenly it was “Joe the Plumber” this, and “Joe the Plumber” that.

Never mind that Joe’s statements were painfully grating and sometimes even borderline racist; never mind that Joe’s opinions on various matters were outlier extremist, often hypocritical, and pathetically easy to shoot down; never mind that Joe was capricious, sometimes criticizing McCain; never mind that Joe was visibly an opportunist, hiring an agent and vying for book deals and Country & Western contracts; never mind even that Joe was ultimately ridiculed and dismissed by most people, and contributed to McCain’s loss. No, Joe was an icon, and that excused a lot. Kind of like a big TV star–someone you don’t mind so much is on drugs or being let go so easily after an arrest, you just like the fantasy they represent and so you’re willing to overlook the personal foibles.

I’d expect that from fans and loyalists. But professionals? Representatives and Senators? When the GOP asked Joe to address them, they were not asking him to do PR–they were asking him to lecture and advise them. Seriously. As if they truly felt that the man had a wisdom that he could impart their way, that he could give them sound counsel on how to approach serious political matters. They were not using him to appeal to others, they genuinely believed that he was someone with better knowledge and sense than they already possessed. They bought into the imagery that much. It’s as if the Democrats asked the Obama Girl to address the DNC on foreign policy. Astonishing.

But that’s where the Republicans are right now: grasping at starbursts and sly winks, believing in failed icons like a terminal cancer patient putting their hopes into faith healers and psychics, because that’s all they have left.