Meet Joe the War Correspondent

[crimsonblue]

X-posted from my blog,

Joe Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber", gained notoriety in October for asking Barack Obama a question about economics and taxes. Since then, Joe has become something of a cult hero to far right conservatives, who laud his simple mind, lack of education, and willingness to obfuscate important matters into easy terms. He repeatedly misrepresented himself throughout the course of the election (e.g. lying about his education level, lying about about his ability to buy the business he works for). Undaunted by this, Fox News, in particular, became obsessed with Joe as the epitome of an average man. John McCain even mentioned his name more than 20 times in a debate.

Now it seems that Joe has changed career paths, again (he was in talks to sell movie rights to his life story, he was in talks to make a country album, and he has a book in publication). He has been hired as a war correspondent by a right wing website to "cover" Israel's version of events in the Israel-Gaza conflict. That somebody would actually pay this guy to cover important world events is appalling. Even more head-scratching is the recent comments made by Joe the War Correspondent during his publicity tour through Israel.

From Vetvoice.com:

"I'll be honest with you. I don't think journalists should be anywhere allowed war. I mean, you guys report where our troops are at. You report what's happening day to day. You make a big deal out of it. I-I think it's asinine. You know, I liked back in World War I and World War II when you'd go to the theater and you'd see your troops on, you know, the screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for'em. Now everyone's got an opinion and wants to downer--and down soldiers. You know, American soldiers or Israeli soldiers. I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting. You know, war is hell. And if you're gonna sit there and say, 'Well look at this atrocity,' well you don't know the whole story behind it half the time, so I think the media should have no business in it."

This guy is: a) clearly off his rocker; b) not intelligent enough to realize that films shown in movie houses during WWI and WWII were blatant propaganda pieces meant solely to boost morale in the US at the expense of providing accurate coverage; and c) by covering the war in the Gaza Strip, he has become a "journalist."

Maybe he should follow his own advice and shut the hell up.

[rurallib]

1. hard to believe, but he is just as bad as I thought he'd be

and right out of the gate, too.

[peace frog]

2. On a positive note

his reporting is a sure cure for insomnia. Sweet dreams, kids.