by Ripley
Snoopy's cartoon balls, are you kidding me??? Via AP:
I'll assume you're sitting there, scratching your head and maybe thinking something like, "What the holy fitzer valves does Joe(!) the Plumber(!) know about cypherin' and big city newspaperin'? He's just a regular Joe. (yuk yuk)" You'd really have to think long and hard to figure out what kind of outfit would hire this clown to - ohhhhh...
"War correspondent"... I suppose one could get his or her pedantry all up in my face and point out that if Mr. Wurzelbacher is "corresponding" with us from an area that's experiencing a "war", that he sort of qualifies as a "war correspondent", but... come on. I mean, Fuck...
Leave it to the nutless wonders of PJTV to glom onto some pseudo-celebrity du jour whose claim to fame is being schooled on the finer points of tax policy, on video, by Presidential candidate, Barack Obama. (he's black, by the way - did you know that?) The people who pay John Cole good money to try and convince you and me that Glenn Reynolds or Hugh Hewitt or whoever the hell it was is going to be the "end of broadcast/cable news" or some such self-aggrandizing bullshit. And then, there's the breathless, dang near turgid promos on their "web site"...
... breaking news ... Joe the Plumber goes to Israel to cover the Gaza War for Pajamas TV...
Huh... "reports from Israel"... "goes to Israel"... Kind of a cushy gig for a war correspondent. You have to ask yourself, "Why isn't he going to the Gaza Strip to report on conditions there?" Shit, Bill O'Reilly was in the fucking mix, man. Ask him - he'll tell ya! But again, this is really about some dime a dozen lunkhead who's being pushed into America's face like a Miss Junior Little Miss Pre-Tween Sweetness and Light pageant contestant by a bunch of wannabe's who can't stop talking about themselves even when you excuse yourself to go to the bathroom. [True Story: I had a landlord once who was talking to one of my roommates about his girlfriend and followed the rommate upstairs when the roommate said he had to use the bathroom. The landlord stood there, waiting patiently outside the bathroom and picked up the conversation as soon as the door opened. Creepy? Oh yeah... a little...]
And, really - what kind of "news organization" would spend money to send a fucking plumber half way around the world to deliver poignant, insightful commentary on a decades long political, and centuries long cultural, struggle? What can we expect from this joker, some kind of Ollie Williams "Shit's
blowing up!" reports? For the love of Granny's tits, at least the sports shows have enough
brains to hire former players for a good chunk of their commentary.
Oh, I tell you, kids. This just does not sit well with me. I have nothing against people cathing a lucky break, but fuck's sake... This is beyond the fevered, feel good dreams of Horatio Alger. Shit, it's just got to be burning holes in the stomachs of every legitimate journalist out there. And,Hell, not to keep dipping into the O'Reilly well, but at least he had some actual face time on a real live TV show and some experience in journalism, if not combat.
But here's something for the PJTV crew and Sam "Who Ya Gonna Call?" Wurzelbacher to think about.
On January 29, 2006, Woodruff and Canadian cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously injured in an explosion from an improvised explosive device near Taji, Iraq, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Baghdad.
At the time of the attack, they were embedded with the U.S. 4th Infantry Division, travelling in an Iraqi MT-LB. Woodruff and Vogt were standing with their heads above a hatch, apparently filming a stand-up. Both men were wearing body armor and protective helmets at the time. Woodruff sustained shrapnel wounds; Vogt was struck by shrapnel in the head and suffered a broken shoulder. Both men underwent surgery for head injuries, with a joint Army & Air Force neurosurgical team, at the U.S. Air Force hospital south of Balad, located in Camp Anaconda, and were reported to be in stable condition. Tom Brokaw reported on the Today show that Woodruff had also undergone surgery, with a portion of his skull being removed to reduce the damage from brain swelling.
Bob Woodruff was an actual war correspondent, corresponding from an actual war zone, and while some may argue that embedding reporters with the troops was a bit of heavy handed propaganda, it was far less a publicity stunt than the PJTV crew is trying to pull on us. They cry and whine about "bias" and "facts", then they prance around the internets, sticking their hairbrushes in front of their stuffed animals' faces and asking really tough questions. And, yet, they want us to believe they're serious journalists.
It is to fucking laugh...
[Updated to remove some excess white space around the blockquotes and to say: Fuck you, PJTV and Joe the Plumber.]
Rip -
John Cole?
Posted by: Righteous Bubba | January 07, 2009 at 08:16 PM
PJTV was running ads on Balloon Juice for quite a while. I don't see them anymore but I'm told they're still there.
Posted by: Ripley | January 07, 2009 at 08:22 PM
Rip,
You noted the AP actually identified PJTV as a conservative website.
Would they have done that even four months ago?
Posted by: actor212 | January 07, 2009 at 09:19 PM
Good point, a212.
Posted by: Ripley | January 07, 2009 at 09:50 PM
I only wish I could enjoy this fine comedy coming down the pike in HD. Spent a pretty penny on that big set and it's goin' to waste.
Posted by: seventwentyfour | January 08, 2009 at 12:56 AM
Okay, that Ollie Williams comparison may be the best thing I've read on this topic so far.
Posted by: Auguste | January 08, 2009 at 01:35 AM
Well, then, Auguste, I guess we got ourselves an internets meme!
'Joe the Plumber in Israel' stories should be accompanied by an Ollie Williams pic, kids. Make it so!
Posted by: Ripley | January 08, 2009 at 05:39 AM
Ripley: "PJTV was running ads on Balloon Juice for quite a while..."
True, and yes they still run there. But the way it's written makes it sound like Cole himself is pushing PJTV, which he's not.
PJ recruited Cole back when he was still a wingnut apologist. While Cole and PJ still have a financial agreement, Cole is politically on the opposite side of the fence these days.
.
Posted by: JGabriel | January 08, 2009 at 08:39 AM
Upon reading this news on Wonkette, some wag replied, "I wonder if Hamas has PayPal?"
Well, like you said, it's PJTV, and this just goes to show what a joke that organization is. Joe the Fucking Plumber? Why not sent that deranged Atlas Shrugs woman along for the ride?
Posted by: Betty Cracker | January 08, 2009 at 09:17 AM
What, Malkin didn't want to go?
Posted by: Tom65 | January 08, 2009 at 09:52 AM
whose claim to fame is being schooled on the finer points of tax policy, on video, by Presidential candidate, Barack Obama and still not getting it!!
I am just imagining Joe the Plumber's hard hitting interviews, as he introduces himself to people who live in othere countries by his Nom de Fame, a self-refrential question about "regular Joe", receiving a polite response of "Uh...yes...who did you say you were?" from someone who's never heard of him.
"Enough about me," says Joe. "Let's talk about you. What do you think about me?"
Hilarity ensues.
Posted by: g | January 08, 2009 at 10:38 AM
[True Story: I had a landlord once who was talking to one of my roommates about his girlfriend and followed the rommate upstairs when the roommate said he had to use the bathroom. The landlord stood there, waiting patiently outside the bathroom and picked up the conversation as soon as the door opened. Creepy?
--------
Sounds like what my wife goes through when my mother-in-law visits from Germany...except she follows my wife right into the john.
Enjoy.
Posted by: Tim Fuller | January 08, 2009 at 11:17 AM
PJ recruited Cole back when he was still a wingnut apologist. While Cole and PJ still have a financial agreement, Cole is politically on the opposite side of the fence these days.
JGabriel, yep - I wasn't implying endorsement on Cole's part, just noting the irony that they actually advertise on his site, still. And expect his readers to, I don't know - flock to PJTV with eyes wide open or whatever.
Posted by: Ripley | January 08, 2009 at 11:54 AM
When I imagine JtP reporting from Israel, Bob and Ray spring to mind.
Thers will get it. So will Molly.
Posted by: actor212 | January 08, 2009 at 12:29 PM
WTF -- was Jeff Gannon not available?
Though I do expect a full report on the shitty state of Gaza's infrastructure.
Posted by: Izak | January 08, 2009 at 01:38 PM
Tee hee!! "Shit's blowin' up!" Gotta love it...
Its times like these that lend credence to the idea that we're all just existing in a huge computer program (ala The Matrix.) I mean, honestly, how else could something so absurd pass for "reality" if not for a handful of hackers with a seriously fucked up sense of humor?
I had to laugh, almost uncontrollably, when I heard NPR mention this in passing yesterday. If I hadn't, I think I would have driven myself into a lightpole...
Posted by: Duncable | January 08, 2009 at 02:34 PM
Thank you, Ripley, for tackling this "news" with all the seriousness it deserves. I thought of JeffyLube as well - he's gotta be fuming that he didn't get the call!
Posted by: iamcoyote | January 08, 2009 at 04:48 PM
It's currently 18C in Eilat, Israel right now (it would be 20 to 7PM there as I write this). Highs later this week are supposed to reach 25C. That's nice beach-going weather, if you're so inclined. (Also, there's a four-star hotel in Eilat with the coolest swimming pool in the world.) Eilat is also 243km from Be'er Sheva, or well out of missile range. (If terrorists were lobbing rockets at Toronto, which is about as far away from me as Eilat is from Be'er Sheva, I wouldn't be breaking a sweat about my own hide.)
Joe the Plumber, therefore, could get a nice south-of-France style vacation (albeit on the Red Sea and not the Mediterranean) in and still claim he was doing war correspondence in a combat zone, the bastard.
Posted by: Interrobang | January 09, 2009 at 11:46 AM
... some dime a dozen lunkhead ...
Seems a little overpriced to me!
... some penny a peck lunkhead ...
Somewhat better.
... some mil a million lunkhead ...
Now we're talkin' value, people!
Posted by: amocz | January 09, 2009 at 06:34 PM
What can we expect from this joker, some kind of Ollie Williams "Shit's blowing up!" reports?
Move over, SCTV Farm Film Report, it's time for the
PJTV Islam Film Report
----------------------------------
JtP:
"Well, Paul, I kid you not, that F-16 strike on the terrorist elementary school was [bleep]in' sweet!
Whoosh, KA-BOOM, baby! That whole [bleep]in' block just got blowed up real good!
Now, that's your average Red Plate Gaza Gumbo Special, if ya know what I mean.
Talk about yer shock-n-awe...these IDF dudes don't [bleep] around! They know how to take care o' business, man!
God, you just know that one hadda hurt!
Back to you, Paul.
Posted by: amocz | January 09, 2009 at 07:34 PM
The Daily Show (Joe Coverage starts about 3:30):
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=215322&title=burger-at-1600&byDate=true
So, what have you been doing to prepare for this assignment?
I've been monitoring the news, learning as much as I can about the Middle East. ...Trying to learn how to pronounciate (sic) the names...
What a maroon!
Posted by: Booga Booga | January 10, 2009 at 08:06 PM
...Also, it's not the safest place, the middle east - how will you protect yourself?
Well, as a Christian, I believe that God will protect me....
Posted by: Booga Booga | January 10, 2009 at 08:07 PM