The antics of the conservatives recently leaves little that I should be surprised at, but somehow, I am still amazed some days at the things they do. Just this past week, it was announced that the infamous Joe, the Plumber had been chosen to be a war correspondent in the Middle East for pajamastv.com. Here is some of what they say about themselves on their website:
Pajamas Media (PJM) was established in 2004 and is a network of about 100 bloggers that covers news and issues of the day in a refreshingly thoughtful and civil way.
On their biases page, they make this comment:
To avoid the simplicity of polarization (left versus right)
I find it interesting that in trying to avoid polarization, that these are the only people they reference as people they interviewed during the campaign. Why, they all seem to be from the same party, don’t they? At least, in another sentence on pjm, they say they are bias. I don’t know quite how you relate their two statements, but I’ll leave that up to you.
Pajamas Media’s coverage of the 2008 US presidential election has included interviews of various key figures, including Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson.
“A refreshingly thoughtful and civil way”. Wow, that’s impressive. Of course, I doubt that any media source would consider itself in any other way. Maybe PJM will be able to uncover some media bias in the moguls of the industry, and I would applaud them for that. But, I have trouble with any media source who chooses Joe, the Plumber, as a overseas reporter anywhere. But he is a Christian and is being sent to “connect with the man on the street” in a war-torn area of the world. In Joe’s own words in his interview after being chosen, he said that God will protect him….his Christian god, of course. His conservative, evangelical beliefs have, hopefully, taught him tolerance and love for his Jewish and Muslim brothers, or PJM will be aiding and abetting him in his own destruction.
Just as a refresher of just who Joe is (and I can’t believe that we are even discussing this man anymore–or that we ever did talk about him), let’s look at the background and character of this “correspondent” who will be helping shape thoughts of some conservatives in this country.
From the NYTimes Political Blog, December 16, 2008:
Turns out that “Joe the Plumber,” as he became nationally known when Senator John McCain made him a theme at Wednesday night’s third and final presidential debate, may run a plumbing business but he is not a licensed plumber. His full name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher. And he owes a bit in back taxes.
An official at Local 50 of the plumber’s union, based in Toledo, said Mr. Wurzelbacher does not hold a license. He also has never served an apprenticeship and does not belong to the union. (The national plumber’s union, the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters, and Service Mechanics, endorsed Mr. Obama, it should be noted.)
“He’s basically playing games with the world,” Thomas Joseph, the local’s business manager, said in a telephone interview Thursday morning.
But he became the hero of conservatives and Republicans….
Unlike some other states, Ohio does not have a formal statewide licensing system for plumbers. But the city of Toledo and other municipalities do, Mr. Joseph said, and Mr. Wurzelbacher has not met those requirements.
“All contractors are licensed, and he does not have a license, either as a contractor or a plumber,” the union official said, citing a search of government records. “I can’t find that he’s ever even applied for any kind of apprenticeship, and he has never belonged to local 189 in Columbus, which is what he claims on his Facebook page.”
So, as a hero of the Republicans during this past campaign, here you have a man who appears to not be of good character or have integrity. His version of who he is doesn’t coincide with what legal documents say, so he doesn’t tell the truth. He fabricates stories in his one brief moment of fame? At least, it should have been his one, barely noticed, moment on a local news report in Toledo, but John McCain propelled this liar to stardom during one of the Presidential debates. Amazing. The bad guy gets rewarded, not punished. In my world, when your wrong deeds are discovered you should receive negative consequences, not rewards. Where are we in this country when we not only tolerate such things, but many people choose to applaud the person….well, because “He’s one of us”. What? Are we a country of people who don’t believe that telling the truth is admirable and the only respectable to act? What precept do you use when raising your children? “It’s OK if you cheated on that test, because everybody cheats. And good for you for getting that A.” Not in my world is it OK. It shouldn’t be OK in anyone’s world.
But if you’re reading pajamastv.com, you will find one of their fans who left this comment:
“Joe is a very intelligent man. The reason the main stream media is responding with such negativity is that they are afraid that he will connect with the everyday man in the USA and they will lose. I would rather listen to the straight facts from a plumber or an electrician than from someone who puts the liberal spin on the truth. Thanx, -Phil M., Forest, VA”
Straight facts. Joe, the Plumber? Think again.
