The American media community recently alighted on "Joe the Plumber" like a fly on poop and I couldn't help but wonder if he was truly represented the face of the America or if, perhaps there was something else going on there.  This has been nagging at me for weeks until today, when I was bobbing up and down on the basement treadmill, trying to read an article in this week's edition of Business Week.

It suddenly hit me, with the force of a diarrhea bomb the morning after a dinner of Kung Pao chicken.  The U.S. media is obsessed with the toilet and all things related to it.  Joe the Plumber was merely the media's toilet obsession, personified.

The article of "inspiration" entitled, "Toxic Assets: Still No Takers," was flush with toilet related imagery.   In a mere eight paragraph article, covering just one page that included an illustration, a big headline and a chart, I counted 28 throne-related images. Key among them were:

• Bailout
• Plumbing job
• Toxic
• "Ass"ets
• Flowing again
• Passed
• S"crapped"
• "Sit where they are"
• Impasse
• Unload
• Dumps
• Pumping
• Lack of pressure
• No pressure
• Sitting on

My favorite, and the final sentence was, "You could have it back up on you in an ugly way."

Whether we agreed with the message of Joe the Plumber or not was irrelevant.  For me he was merely the allegory for American media.  Toilet obsessed. 

You may be asking, "what does this have to do with Health Savings Accounts, High Deductible Health Plans, Consumer Driven Health, HSA education, health or wellness?"   I suppose the only advice we can offer is, stay away from the Kung Pao chicken, and if you can't, remember, you can pay for Pepto Bismol from you HSA.  Can anyone "spare a square?"

A classic.