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Joe the Plumber: Ban media from war
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by mtippett | January 12, 2009 at 03:03 pm
347 views | 46 Recommendations | 20 comments
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We now interrupt your regularly scheduled, superficial, comically dated, celebrity-driven news program to bring you the news media's most embarrassing stunt to date -- Joe the plumber. Joe isn't technically a plumber and nor is he a journalist but he does play one on TV. Over to you Joe:
‘Joe the Plumber’ Wurzelbacher told a group of journalists covering the conflict in Israel and Gaza that he didn’t think the media should be allowed to report on war.“I think media should be abolished from, you know, reporting,” Wurzelbacher said. “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.”
There are moments in the proverbial 'Citizen Journalism' movement that give me pause. There are instances when people of such dubious qualifications and motivations are allowed to call themselves news people that make me want to abandon the whole project. Joe the Plumber is just that kind of person.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (20)
at 15:23 on January 12th, 2009
I do fully agree with your last tree sentences.
at 15:30 on January 12th, 2009
( Shaking her head in stunned disbelief.)
at 16:13 on January 12th, 2009
*Speechless*
at 16:31 on January 12th, 2009
I hope he runs for office. He can call it the 'Final nail in the GOP coffin campaign.'
at 17:24 on January 12th, 2009
Source: toledoblade.com
But, of course he isn't a plumber - he's a WAR CORRESPONDENT !
Source: toledoblade.com
But, wait ! I thought he was a WAR CORRESPONDENT !
at 20:26 on January 12th, 2009
How can he be a war corrspondant when he thinks the media should be "you know" not allowed to report. F##king idiot.
at 22:22 on January 12th, 2009
In many ways he is right. In WWII had Americans seen the censored footage, people would have protested and we would be speaking German and or Japanese.
at 22:43 on January 12th, 2009
Doubtful. If people had been able to see what was happening in Germany in the late 30's they would have taken Hitler far more seriously and acted sooner. Hitler could have been easily stopped if we'd seen the threat earlier. Luckily, we live in a world of different expectations now where people expect to be able to see what is happening. Joe the Plumber wants to make us blind.
at 12:12 on January 13th, 2009
I respectfully doubt that. We can't even see the writing on the wall regarding terrorism. It is not the media that brings to light the issues and threats of the day. It is the open minds and truth seekers that dare to ask the questions knowing that in those question lie the answers.
But look at US. We make wise-arse cracks at someone that believes in something, whether we agree or not, and all we can do is personally insult him and make fun of him. Who is the truly the enlightened that walks among this group. Stay tuned.
at 21:57 on January 13th, 2009
tikun:
Right on. Go Israel!
at 09:45 on January 15th, 2009
I would support Israel if they would stop sucking on the American teet. Fight (and fianace) your own wars. Stop being leeches on the American taxpayers.
at 12:06 on January 15th, 2009
first of all most of the money is not in cash but credits to buy arms that then need to be purchased in the US of A and as a result creates jobs. So the money is not a gift but an avenue for the creation of jobs in the military and civilian sectors. I also think that any money that is a gift should be stopped. We really do not need any free bees as far as I am concerned. Most of the charity or gifts to charitable organizations in Israel are from the private sector in the US. Jewish and Christian Americans support various wonderful charities in Israel. No one leeches. In fact look in the mirror and do something about it. But in the end you really cant since you are a Canadian and we don't "leech" off of you.
at 21:56 on January 13th, 2009
@mtippett:
All due respect that is absurd. I was stating that if Americans had seen footage of the killing and death, Americans would have protested the war and would have surrendered.
Had the people who would be considered leftists under today's standards, such as Neville Chamberlain, actually not taken it up the butt for Hitler, there would have been no WWII to begin with.
at 14:59 on January 16th, 2009
You post contains a lot of speculation that seems irrelevant to the issue at hand so I am not going to address it.
In terms of the historical record there was reportage of Nazi atrocities early on but these were not widely publicized in the press. Much of it came from intelligence services and it was this information that showed Churchill how dangerous Hitler was. If this information made the headlines Chamberline would likely have been forced to confront the situation. Had he done so early, Hitler would have been crushed by the superior strength of the British military.
The point I am making is not a political one that has to do with left or right or any of those somewhat artificial dichotomies. The point I am making is that the reason journalism exists is to shed light on what would otherwise be invisible. It is the macroscopic equivelent of opening your eyes. If we can't see what is happening then we are by definition, ignorant and ignorance is not a sound basis for action - or inaction.
at 22:45 on January 12th, 2009
Truth will come, Falsehood will vanish !!!
at 13:57 on January 13th, 2009
The media is a very powerful tool. As it stands, the world media system is tied into multinational corporations that want people to know the truth...but not necessarily the whole truth. That's why it's so important to see diversity of views in the press, otherwise it becomes a lopsided monster. Documentaries like Buying the War and Weapons of Mass Deception are very important to consider when analyzing the oftentimes biased and constrained event coverage we see in the mainstream press.
at 18:47 on January 13th, 2009
To tell you the truth I heave read worse from "citizen journalists" on NP. He is one misguided voice and people will recognize him for just that. Don't give him any more attention and he will fade into the sunset. Free speech has a price and it's name is Joe the Plumber.
at 12:10 on January 15th, 2009
free speech is Joe the plumber. You apparently don't get it. The beauty of a Democracy is that everyone has right to their opinion even if you do not agree. The mainstream media has given him more exposure then he could have wished for. The crazed and confused. He is just another middle America voice. Like or not.
at 15:06 on January 16th, 2009
Joe the plumber has every right in the world to free expression but my advice to him is: It is better for people to think you're an idiot than to open your mouth and prove it.
at 17:08 on January 18th, 2009
Free speech, yes.... It all depends on who he's claiming to be. Some people would take the guy's opinion as gospel, so I guess the question is: whose fault would that be - his or theirs?