Brandt is wrong. There, I said it and I fully expect to be burned at the stake for it.

However, look at a wheel and how the spoke is attached to the rim or, rather, how a spoke isn't attached to a rim. If you build wheels, it becomes apparent rather quickly that there is nothing for the spoke to "stand" on. The nipple floats in the rim. If you crash the wheel into a curb, you can bend the rim and deform the rim enough to lose tension on spokes. If the wheel "stood" on the spoke, the spokes would deform as well but it is possible to leave the spokes completely untouched and have a bent rim.

It's easy to prove to yourself that the bike doesn't stand on the spokes as well. Get a rim (or section of rim), thread in a nipple, put the rim on the ground and push down on the spoke. Without spokes above it hanging from the rim, the spoke goes all the way through the rim and hit the ground. It doesn't "stand" on anything because the spoke never hits the ground. The spoke doesn't even "stand" on the tube or tire because the wheel doesn't need a tire to roll.