Michelle Malkin speaks truth to power:
If a community organizer can be president and a Saturday Night Live comedian can be a U.S. senator, why can’t a plumber be a reporter?
[…]As to the media hounds now braying at the idea of hiring celebrities for the sake of publicity, which network was it that hired foul-mouthed entertainer with no anchoring experience Kathy Griffin to co-anchor its New Year’s Eve coverage?
CNN had Kathy Griffin co-anchor its New Year’s Eve coverage, so who is CNN to mock a PJTV for sending a semi-literate, unlicensed plumber to cover a war? Got that?
And this should be a slap in the face to those of you don’t believe that conservatives engage in real journalism:
LGF and Bob Owens broke the story of CNN’s broadcast of suspicious Gaza footage featured two pro-Hamas doctors engaging in medical theater of jihad — by faking a bizarre form of CPR on a Palestinian boy who “died.” CNN, which heaped derision on JTP for taking on the role of reporter, has yanked the video. More on one of the jihadi apologist zealots, Dr. Mads Gilbert, at FNC.
[….]
So now we know:
Finding secret prisons in eastern Europe — NOT JOURNALISM.
Finding flaws in 30 second CNN clips — JOURNALISM.
Update: In fairness, we should all remember that Bob Owens did some of the best on-the-ground disaster coverage this side of Anderson Cooper (@blogenfreude).
The Populist
One problem with Malkin’s b.s….Joe is not objective hence he’d be a COMMENTATOR, not a reporter.
The fact that this incurious, talking points spouting moron is getting a plum gig like this makes me wonder even further what the fuck is wrong with the right?
This guy is useless and yet people are supposed to care about his take on this war? It’s a bit deeper than the usual far right nonsense of Hamas bad, Israel good.
jibeaux
Because he was elected to be…because he was elected, also….because he ooooohhhh teh stoopid make it stop
The Populist
Oh and Michelle? Kathy Griffin was hired as an entertainer to COVER New Years, which to me is what most networks DO. It’s not rocket science to stand in the middle of Times Square and talk about a band playing or interview the man on the street.
Nobody let her become a political commentator or a report the news so get over it.
BTW – has anybody noticed that time has not treated Michelle’s looks very well? Had to say it.
Zifnab
Malkin is a ‘tard. Or, at the least, she assumes her audience is. Why not boil it down further?
"A black man can be President. A non-practicing Jew can be a US Senator. Why can’t a devoted Christian be a reporter?"
Oh, I can do this all day.
"A guy with big ears can be President. A guy who wears glasses can be a US Senator. Why can’t a baldy be a reporter?"
Because, let’s get to the root of this, if Joe (Sam) the Plumber(‘s assistant) wore a rug, we could just swap him in for Sam Donaldson and no one would know the difference.
Josh Hueco
@The Populist:
"Don’t you think she looks tired?"
Incertus
@The Populist:
I don’t know that I’d call this a "plum gig" even by right-wing standards. Fox News, now that would be a plum gig. But even so, the question is still a good one–how desperate for faces must the right be that they’re hitching their wagon to this guy? That’s desperation you can believe in.
DougJ
Clearly, you don’t watch "24".
DougJ
I seriously doubt that Joe is a devoted Christian.
Xanthippas
Forget those idiots. The people we should be pissed off at our are own godamn Democratic politicians.
cleek
seems to me that a lot of the coverage of JTP’s Big Israeli Adventure is of the "W.T.F!??" variety. nobody thinks he’s going to bring any insight, they just want to see how bad he fucks it up.
it’s almost a post-modern performance art piece. "we send the idiot to the war and let him ask inane questions of the gloating Israelis, thus turning the concepts of journalism and war on their heads and thereby revealing the Truth!"
PJM is probably happy for the attention no matter how it comes.
TheFountainHead
Wha happened to mai pretty BJ? Da framez be gone!
Davebo
Frankly I’m surprised Joe managed to get a passport in 3 months.
Zifnab
@DougJ:
He voted Republican. What else is there?
CT
I am so loving the whole Joe the Plumber series-every time the laughter subsides and I finish wiping the tears from my eyes, they up the ante-go to economic expert on Fox during the campaign, book deal, country-western singer, now war correspondent. I eagerly await Joe the Astronaut, launched into space on a homemade rocket to thwart a possible asteroid strike.
Incertus
@cleek: Personally, I want to see him face down a column of charging Palestinians, screaming at the top of his lungs "the power of Christ compels you!!!" See how that works out for him, since he’s so sure that God’s going to protect his ass.
TenguPhule
I thought Cole banned that phrase from use here?
Nylund
Well that "community organizer" also happened to be a magna cum laude Harvard law school graduate, a professor of constitutional law at the 4th best law school in the country, a best selling author, a state senator, and a sitting US Senator.
Now the plumber on the hand. He’s not even actually a plumber.
But really, the best answer has already been stated:
Because the first two were elected.
Dave
I’m just amused that, in the wake of a devastating election, the Right has learned…nothing. They have actually wrapped themselves tighter in the blanket of stupidity.
Think about it; how deranged do you have to be to compare the election of two men to political office to a right-wing welfare media concern sending a barely-coherent pseudo-plumber to report on one of the most enduring and complicated geo-political issues of the past 60 years?
Watching the Right go all Nehemiah Scudder is going to be a joy to behold.
David Hunt
Heh. I just love it when they’re this dense. Ms. Griffin does have experience. She has covered the red-carpet line of several award ceremonies (Emmys and such) for the E! network with Star Jones. And that’s just what I know of. I’m not even sure that covering New Year’s for CNN is much of a step up from the red-carpet line on E!
Of course, she didn’t have experience with CNN covering their 2008 New Year’s bit until this time. Obviously that’s the only experience that’s important to Our Lady of Perpetual Outrage.
Incertus
@Nylund:
Maybe we should look into electing reporters as well. That’s what’s dumbest about Malkin’s comparison, after all.
Jay Severin Has A Small Pen1s
Joe said he wanted to interview the ‘average Jew’ and bring their story out. Or was that ‘average Joe"?
MikeJ
The worst thing about Griffin’s heckler comeback was that it’s old and trite. "I don’t come to your job and knock the dick out of your mouth." She’s supposed to be a pro. Is this gem from Nineteen aught six really the state of the art in anti heckler lines?
Jon
"Slap in the face" is my favorite ridiculous turn of phrase to become popular in the last year. I think you guys need to be using it in every post to refer to every conceivable minor inconvenience.
Joshua Norton
As I recall, someone gave Matt "no-I’m-really-really-not-gay-really" Sachez, the gay porn star, turned ultra-right, right, right wing pundit and war correspondent a gig and he sort of fell off the radar soon after. Joe will soon follow the same path to vainglorious ignominy.
Oh, and Michell – no one "co-anchors" New Year’s Eve any more than anyone co-anchors the Rose parade or any red carpet event. They "host" them. There’s a difference. But you already knew that. You’re just reaching reeeeeeaaaly hard to come up with something to say. And failing miserably.
gbear
Michelle Malkin, pro, pukes hot wet rats.
Comrade Kevin
@Incertus:
"Joe the Plumber" as Father Merrick?
DougJ
I’m glad you agree. That’s what I’ve been doing.
Dave S.
What’s being left out of all this is the fact that PJTV has made the conscious decision to send an average Joe (literally!) into a war zone. Argue with his politics, qualifications etc. all you want (I will too), but frankly I hope he makes it out of there in one piece, and shame on PJTV for throwing him in there for their own promotion.
Dreggas
O/T: but Obama is gonna be on the cover of Spider-Man. I may have to pick that one up for the collector value
dlw32
Josh Hueco makin’ with the Doctor Who quotes!
If only it were that easy to shut Malkin down… :)
Butt
"Forget those idiots. The people we should be pissed off at our are own godamn Democratic politicians."
Xanthippas
Why? Hamas started it. This isn’t that different from the Russia-Georgia conflict. A smaller state picks and picks at a larger one until the larger one reacts with overwhelming force. Rightwingers bitched and moaned about Russia’s overwhelming use of force because Georgia holds a special place in their heart or whatever, but everyone else just sat back and said "fuck ’em, they deserve it." Now the Gazans are getting their smack down, and the lefties are getting their panties in a bind because for whatever reason they’ve developed a soft spot in their hearts for this particular group of folks. The fact that Hamas started this and probably deserves it just isn’t going to factor into their evaluation of the situation, because like the Rightwingers with poor little Georgia their thinking is clouded by domestic/cultural identity politics. If anything the Israelis should forgo the precision munitions and play by Hamas’ rules, and just lob whatever they have over the border without regard for where it lands.
blogenfreude
To me, Bob Owens will forever be associated with the tragic grill incident.
mapaghimagsik
@DougJ:
That would be a slap in the face to everyone who uses the phrase "A slap in the face"
Comrade Kevin
@Butt:
Sure, they could use one of their nukes, that would eliminate the rocket problem once and for all! A Final Solution, if you will.
The Other Steve
Nope. Just your average Jew Six Pack.
A Slap In The Face
@Comrade Kevin:
Letters to the Editor in the LA Times had a very interesting proposal along these lines. The writer referred to it as the "complete formula" or something else.
Creepy
cleek
tee hee
Zifnab
@Butt:
*rolls eyes*
Nu-uh! Israel started it, no taggsies backsies!
Incertus
@Butt: It’s not that simple, and only a moron thinks it is, but this is neither the thread nor the time to get into it.
mapaghimagsik
Thanks for adding the grill. It makes me laugh every time I see. it.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@Zifnab:
Abraham started it! If he hadn’t gotten with that Hagar chick, we never would have had this mess in the first place!
Comrade Darkness
Since I have a long-term dear Asian partner, I’ll assert that Asians look 14 until one day they look 75.
She better crank the attention getting into overdrive cuz after that transition she’ll get all the emotional reinforcement from her fans that the little old brown lady does who’s holding up the grocery line because she’s taking 15 minutes to sort through her coupons.
Butt
Oh, I forgot. Israel broke the cease fire in early November….when they killed 6 Hamas gunmen who were constructing a tunnel into Israel. This is what justified the rocket attacks.
It must be nice to have Israeli enemies. If you provoke an attack by the IDF the world cries for you. Anywhere else and you’re just not news worthy.
Joshua Norton
Not to mention that he threw them all under the bus.
Gaaahhh! It causes physical pain just to force myself to type those words now.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Anyway, it’s not important whether Israel started it or Hamas started it; what’s important is that Joe The Plumber is there to end it. That’s what they’re paying him for, isn’t it? To give us Armageddon?
Garrigus Carraig
To what do we owe the pleasure, Bibi?
Dusty
Who’s saying a plumber can’t be a reporter? If someone wants to pay an ill-informed, unqualified national punchline to bother whatever people he can get to talk to him in the middle of a war zone, no one’s stopping them.
gnomedad
Haven’t you heard of keyboard macros?
cleek
yeah, she was horrible!
kvack.
Josh Hueco
@cleek:
Who knew, under that big red beard and long Viking horns?
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@cleek:
What’s really weird is that God let Abraham knock up a Viking cross-dresser like that. Or that said pregnant Viking would then be the mother of the peoples of the Arabian peninsula.
The Lord moves in mysterious ways. Luckily, we have Joe the Plumber to get to the bottom of them!
Brick Oven Bill
I have problems with the Joe the Plumber attacks, but am pleased that he is cashing in. Joe got in trouble because he was playing ball with his kids in his front yard. He was targeted for a photo-op because he appeared to be a white prole. And Obama wanted white proles to vote for him in Ohio.
And then the cameras rolled, and Joe turned out to be taller, with a stronger stature than the candidate. And the politician buckled in the face of a challenging question. For a ‘semi-literate’ prole, Joe did pretty good in a debate against the Editor Of The Harvard Law Review.
You do not need a license to be a plumber. You need a license to be a plumbing contractor.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
The real question is whether Joe the Plumber should head the 2012 ticket, or if we should let Sarah Palin take the helm next time. Joe could be ready to lead America, should she be unable to perform her duties as President following a tragic moose-hunting or turkey-beheading mishap.
DougJ
????
Xanthippas
This demonstrates that you don’t really know what you’re talking about.
Brick Oven Bill
He was approached by the Obama campaign as they walked around his neighborhood, as I understand it. He was at home minding his own business, reportedly playing football.
Zifnab
Uh… what? That ‘semi-literate’ prole who stomped his feet and held out his hand in defiance against the man who was going to raise the taxes of people earning $200k+ a year more than him (back when the economy wasn’t considered a giant train wreck, making tax hikes untenable) isn’t even relevant enough to go by his actual first name.
Sam (Joe) wasn’t in a debate. He said, "Don’t raise my taxes!" and we found out a week later than Obama was actually offering him a tax cut.
And then Obama went on to win the election in a landslide.
Dreggas
Shorter Brick Oven Bill:
I sat up a bit straighter in my chair and saw star-bursts.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@Brick Oven Bill:
Wow.
Tim in SF
@Brick Oven Bill: " Joe got in trouble because he was playing ball with his kids in his front yard. He was targeted for a photo-op"
I thought JTP actually approached Obama, not vice versa. That’s what I recall from the videos I’ve seen.
Perry Como
I want a bus that has hands for wheels so when I throw someone under the bus they also get slapped in the face.
Zifnab
@Perry Como:
You could just get hands with buses tied to them so that when you slap people they are then crushed under the weight of your giant bus-hands.
Xanthippas
Yes, the world is crying for Hamas.
The Populist
The worst thing about Griffin’s heckler comeback was that it’s old and trite. "I don’t come to your job and knock the dick out of your mouth." She’s supposed to be a pro. Is this gem from Nineteen aught six really the state of the art in anti heckler lines?
It’s not far removed from the goof she played on Seinfeld. The episode where she goes on stage to put Jerry down because he had the nerve to tell her she sucked.
DougJ
That sounds like some of Jim Morrison’s poetry.
Zuzu's Petals
Per usual, Jon Stewart has the best take on it:
Burger at 1600
DougJ
@Tim
Oh, cut the crap you lying sack of shit. The video does not explain what happened.
/THOMC
RememberNovember
I’m sure he has the MLA handbook memorized..Malkin is not a journalist. She’s not even a "wise person" or "guru"- the defenition of a "pundit". She’s a finger-wagger.
MikeJ
That sounds like some of Jim Morrison’s poetry.
I was thinking Morphine. Maybe the track right after "Head with Wings".
Cris
Holy man-crush, Bill.
The Grand Panjandrum
OT: Incontrovertible proof the FSM exists:
Maybe it should be called Political Viagara because I’m getting aroused just thinking about it.
R-Jud
@Zifnab:
But then you’re technically not throwing them under the bus as well as slapping them in the face.
Back to the drawing board, smart guy.
@ The Populist:
It’s not far removed from the goof she played on Seinfeld.
It’s also in a Mr. Show sketch; she is or was pretty good friends with Bob Odenkirk. She is also pals with Cher, which may explain all the new work she’s had done.
Dreggas
@The Grand Panjandrum: only a masochist could be aroused at anything containing the names "Hannity", "Michelle Bachman", and "Al Sharpton".
jibeaux
I thought BoB’s post was the most nonsensical thing I’d read all day, but then for some reason I went to his blog.
So, now, clearly, that wins.
On the plus side, the brick oven pizzas look good.
RememberNovember
Plumbers can’t pronounciate them mid-east Gee-Haaaaadis correctly.
Why are Conservatives blog sites stuck on stupid? Because they stick to what they know, which is not much, or broken. A lot of wishful thinking, rumor and inuendo mixed with confirmation bais and anectdotal evidence.
HyperIon
@Dave:
wow, that takes me back.
i had forgotten him.
RememberNovember
To give power to something is to give attention to it. Let it die…next!
PaminBB
DaveS, don’t worry too much about JtP’s safety. He’s not going to be anywhere near the action. The Israelis are preventing access to all journalists. Oh, wait….
Proud Grill-American
Did you joke about the Tsunami victims that way? How about the victims of Katrina?
Your insensitivity to the plight of Backyard Grills is appalling!!!!
Perry Como
It’s a slap under the bus!
JL
@CT: Then would Krista have to give her award back?
Zifnab
@Perry Como: /me falls out of chair.
Damn you, photoshop!
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Yo, Joe!:
Clearly a man for whom the phrase ‘objective reporting’ has no relevance, he told Toledo television station WNWO-TV; "It’s tragic but what are the Israeli people supposed to do?
"I get to go over there and let their “Average Joes” share their story, what they think, how they feel, especially with world opinion, maybe get a real story out there,” he said.
“If given the opportunity to do some good however minute it may be, or could be something really good, you gotta take that chance. You have to do it,” he added, heroically.
Is he scared that one of the Hamas rockets might have his name on it? Not really. After all, as he explained, he’s a Christian so God will keep him safe.
"Being a Christian I’m pretty well protected by God I believe," he said.
Cris
Holy shit that’s stupid. So, what, Christians are invincible to shrapnel in the Holy Land?
Punchy
I think Joe will get there and order Hummus, then be surprised when chick peas show up instead of some bulky, expensive SUVs that he was expecting.
Mouse Tolliver
I’m just glad I wasn’t drinking hot coffee when I read that, because it would’ve been squirting out my nose.
Porn stars, plumbers, and prostitutes are what the right rely on for quality journalism these days.
That Joe is a Jack of all trades, isn’t he? I expect the next thing he’ll do is get shot in the ass while covering the war. Then he’ll discover he’s a ping-pong prodigy. And then, after landing a lucrative ping-pong paddle endorsement deal, he’ll buy himself a shrimp boat in Bayou LaBatrie, and make himself a millionaire.
Cris
Making him an instant expert in the Veteran’s Health Administration.
Ash Can
@The Grand Panjandrum: Arm Sharpton and Bachmann with lemon meringue pies and I’d pay to watch.
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
His ass is toast.
Martin
Yes. Christians never die you know in war, you know. God deflects all the bullets and mortars with his light saber. I wonder if he’s offered to strap himself to the front of an Israeli tank to extend the Force to his righteous brethren?
I wonder if he can bring Palin with him?
Garrigus Carraig
@Cris: Don’t tell JTXP there are Christians in Gaza.
Laura W
I did not think it possible, but I lurf Kathy Griffin even more now.
Malkin says "foul-mouthed" like it’s a bad thing.
WTF?
theturtlemoves
@The Grand Panjandrum: How can you possibly leave out this part:
Bachmann and Sharpton may say some crazy shit, but will they bust out into "Paradise by the Dashboard Light?" Yeah, I didn’t think so.
demimondian
@theturtlemoves: "And now I’m waiting for the end of time // to hurry up and arrive // ’cause if I have to spend another minute with you // I don’t think that I can really survive."
You know, it has a certain appropriateness to it…
phobos
You really should be helping Bob Owens upgrade his failed and vulnerable grill technology.
Bordo
The really interesting thing about the rightwingers these days is their loving embrace of mediocrity. This reached its zenith with Sarah Palin, whose very lack of education, experience and accomplishment was touted as a net positive. It’s not surprising Michelle Malkin, who will never be mistaken for a deep thinker or clear writer, would love the idea of an unemployed dunderhead wandering around Israel. See, he’s just an average guy, not one of those media elites.
The war on professionalism, competence and, yes, elitism is just weird. I wonder if, when Michelle Malkin needs a doctor, she looks for a mediocre practitioner. Or when her car needs repairs, she takes it to a mediocre mechanic.
Well, more power to the Republicans if they think this is a winning strategy. It will ensure a long time in the wilderness.
theturtlemoves
@demimondian: You know, it really does feel right, doesn’t it? I feel bad for the ‘Loaf, though. There’s very few venues where he has the weakest set of lungs in the room.
OriGuy
Nah, Meatloaf is going to burst onto the set through the backdrop, singing "Bless My Soul". Then the whole cast will sing "Time Warp".
Starring:
Meatloaf as Eddie
Sean Hannity as Rocky
Al Sharpton as Brad
Michele Bachmann as Janet
and featuring
Ann Coulter as Dr. Frank N. Furter
theturtlemoves
@OriGuy: Thank you for that image of Ann Coulter in a corset. I’m going to go outside and vomit now. Jackass.
Laura W
@David Hunt:
Au contraire. This was her second year. She and Andy did the deed in 2007. I was there. Er, here. Girl keeps busy. Her BRAVO show rocks. My world, anyway.
Re. her heckler comment, I was asleep and missed it and only heard about it in passing, and heard only the quip, not the context. Not realizing it was directed toward a heckler, I thought she said it to Andy! If you play it in your head that way….it’s very fresh and funny indeed.
Edit: Oh. Maybe you mean she didn’t have experience with 2008’s show until 2008, which is correct, of course. I thought you meant she didn’t have experience doing CNN’s NY’s Eve show prior to 2008. No matter. The wikipedia link is a goldmine of info on Her Snarkiness.
*In May, 2006 Kathy visited the troops in Kuwait who were on their way to service in Iraq. She had dinner at the chow hall with many troops including Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion-25.
*(At her wedding) ABC News reported that she walked down the aisle to the strains of the 1980s power ballad "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger.
*When asked if she actually targeted (dating) Steve Wozniak to make her ex-husband jealous, Griffin stated "What better way to get back at my ex, who was a tech, than to marry the biggest techno-nerd in the Universe?"
CT
Perry Como, you Win! Zifnab, you Win! Incertus, you Win!
Everybody Wins!
/oprah
Comrade Darkness
Oh, come now. You know how this works. He does this for His *real* believers. QED.
Cris
@CT:
Meat Loaf wins!
comrade rawshark
Meatloaf on FOX News? I know he would do anything for love but….
andy
Holy crap, you mean when last week’s windstorms threw my beautiful stainless steel grill clear off the patio and into the rock beds in the backyard, rather than spending time reassembling, unbending bits, and polishing it up, I could have just blegged for a new one?
Well, that sure sucks.
Did I mention my patio furniture umbrella got a little bend in it? Can y’all send me $20 a piece?
Zuzu's Petals
@Cris:
I love Jon Stewart’s response: Right. That’s exactly what you want to say in an area filled with Jews and Muslims.
To paraphrase.
Zuzu's Petals
A late link to SEK’s take on Malkin’s list of "investigative online reporting" by conservatives:
I only investigated this report online