Who’s afraid of Joe the Journalist?

By Michelle Malkin  •  January 9, 2009 08:38 AM

My syndicated column today looks at the MSM sneering over Joe Wurzelbacher’s trip to Israel sponsored by PJTV, recounts how The Fraternal Order of the Professional Journalist has squandered its own credibility, and exposes how liberal media elites have attempted to shut out conservatives from membership in the journalism club by redefining their craft based on ideological content.

Soon after I filed the column, yet another example of damaged MSM credibility surfaced in the blogosphere. 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.

Since the CNN cover-up continues, I’m including the damning video clip here:

I repeat: “Who says conservatives don’t do reporting?”

More details on JTP and PJTV here and here. And Howard Mortman rounds up some MSM reax here.

***
Who’s afraid of Joe the Journalist?
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2008

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?

Joe Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. Joe The Plumber, is headed to Israel to interview ordinary citizens about life in the crosshairs of jihad. He’ll be filing dispatches for conservative Internet video broadcasting site, PJTV.com (to which I also contribute). Predictably, the very idea of a non-credentialed public figure attempting to “do journalism” has catty elite journalists hacking up hairballs.

CNN television anchor Kyra Phillips sneered (in her most objective and professional manner, of course): “Oh, Lord, Joe The Plumber’s got a new gig. It’s got nothing to do with the pipes, it’s got everything to do with Gaza.” After catching her breath during a commercial break, she embellished her teleprompter lines with ad-libbed contempt (something only seasoned professional journalists have experience doing, you see): “Now Joe The Plumber wants to flush out the truth as a war correspondent. I know, there are just no words.”

Still not done trashing the Toledo, Ohio citizen who had the temerity to question Barack Obama’s redistributionist policies, Phillips piled on with more derisive words: “Hey, Joe, what do you know? No, seriously, what do you know?…[H]e says he hopes to air Israelis’ views on the Gaza offensive. Lord, help us. Just want to remind you that Joe the Plumber has no journalism experience. No war zone experience either. But he thinks he’s, quote, ‘pretty well protected by God.’ So, what’s Joe been smoking, drinking?”

What’s he smoking and drinking? Clearly not the same ideological Kool-Aid and liberal fumes that you and your snob colleagues imbibe and inhale, Ms. Phillips. The CNN anchor has some nerve questioning Joe The Plumber’s journalistic credibility when her own cable news network once hired former NYPD Blue actress with zero journalism experience Andrea Thompson to sit in an anchor chair like the one Ms. Phillips occupies.

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? Oh, yeah: CNN. Griffin teamed up with CNN star Anderson Cooper, whose resume includes stints as a child model, fill-in host for Live with Regis and Kelly, and reality show, “The Mole.”

Who’s afraid of Joe the Journalist? Unlike Ms. Phillips, I do not begrudge anyone an unconventional path to journalism. On the Internet, conservative bloggers with full-time day jobs have done incredible investigative work without a journalism school credit to their names. (See here.) So have independent war correspondents like Michael Totten (blogger) and Michael Yon (Special Forces veteran).

Groupthink, credential fetishism, and the Sorbonne mentality have turned national newsrooms into stale echo chambers. For all its self-aggrandizing paeans to “diversity,” mainstream American journalism remains one of the most intellectually and ideologically monochrome sectors of the public square.

Territorial liberal journalism gurus have attempted to de-legitimize unorthodox practitioners of their trade by redefining “journalism” based on content. If a conservative writer breaks news harmful to their presidential pick or contrary to their world view, it’s a “hit piece,” not investigative reporting. If a conservative website interviews newsmakers or provides original legislative analysis, it’s “propaganda,” not explanatory or expository journalism. Thus, the myth that conservatives don’t “do journalism” persists. By their definition, we never can.

Joe The Plumber’s new gig is an affront to the Fraternal Order of The Professional Journalist because it underscores hard truths: An Ivy League journalism degree does not a truth-teller make. International war broadcasting experience does not a truth-seeker make. Look at Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post fabulist Janet Cooke. Or New York Times fiction writer Jayson Blair. Or Boston Globe fabricators Patricia Smith and Mike Barnicle. Or former CBS News Captain Queeg Dan Rather.

Or closer to the action in Gaza, witness the veteran editors of Reuters photographer Adnan Hajj, who succeeded in peddling Photoshopped images of fake smoke billows and flares over Beirut in 2006 before bloggers blew the whistle.

Or consider the Hamas sympathizers at France 2. The international TV network was forced to apologize this week for its false story on Israel’s military operations. Independent French bloggers showed that France 2 used an old 2005 amateur video of Palestinian casualties from an accidental Hamas truck explosion and passed it off as current footage demonstrating the violence in Gaza. France 2 was the same professional media outlet that aired a bogus September 2000 report blaming the Israeli army for the shooting death of a Palestinian boy, Mohammed al-Dura.

Joe The Plumber-Turned-Reporter can’t do anymore to harm journalistic credibility than the “credible journalists” have already done.

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Posted in: Joe The Plumber

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Comments


  1. #1
    On January 9th, 2009 at 8:45 am, Cameron said:

    If Kyra honestly believes that Joe’s coverage over in Israel is lacking, perhaps she can extract her worthless hide from behind the desk and get overseas and report it the “way it should be done.”

    Otherwise, I cordially invite her to have a steaming cup of STFU.

  2. #2
    On January 9th, 2009 at 8:47 am, Socky said:

    The guys at the New Republic are really up in arms. “How do we know he’s not just gonna make sh*t up?” huffed a disgusted Franklin Foer.

  3. #3
    On January 9th, 2009 at 8:48 am, b-cat said:

    Joe the Plumber is simply not qualified to make up the news. That is what a journalism degree is for, writing fiction. Joe is simply too real.

  4. #4
    On January 9th, 2009 at 8:49 am, b-cat said:

    “How do we know he’s not just gonna make sh*t up?” huffed a disgusted Franklin Foer.

    “Yeah, who does he think he is, Dan Rather?”

  5. #5
    On January 9th, 2009 at 8:54 am, JDinTX said:

    Anything from the MSM deserves a lot of suspicion. I will take news from Joe the Plumber and not worry about the accuracy. I have already seen that he is more honest than the MSM reporters.

  6. #6
    On January 9th, 2009 at 8:59 am, Socky said:

    “The Middle East is a complex region. It is no place for a biased amateur,” sniffed Christiane Amanpour, who then added. “Ulululululululululululu!”

  7. #7
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:01 am, goodforlaughs said:

    I’m loving it! The libs are so paranoid! What was it Huckabee said? When you’re right over the target, you get a lot of flak? And he was getting a lot of flak! Just like Palin’s getting a lot of flak! God Bless Joe and God Bless Sarah!

  8. #8
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:01 am, jangar said:

    This is serious justice for what the MSM and DNC put him through. Go for it Joe…do us proud!

  9. #9
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:01 am, b-cat said:

    I read about one of the doctors seen in the video this morning on Fox News’ site. I’m up early this AM.

    A high-profile Norwegian doctor who has said the September 11 terrorists were justified in their attack is now treating patients in Gaza and is being accused of presenting “hard-core propaganda” to TV interviewers in his telling of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.

    International media reports, including those from the BBC, CBS, CNN and FOX’s sister station Sky News, present Gilbert as an ordinary doctor.

    But a look at his record shows that Gilbert, 61, is a political activist and member of the Norwegian Maoist “Red” party, and he has been involved in solidarity work for the Palestinians since the 1970s. He has criticized the international aid organization Doctors Without Borders for refusing to take sides in conflicts.

    He works in a hospital accused of hiding arms for Hamas by Israel.

  10. #10
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:02 am, kwyoung said:

    CNN: Credibility? No. None.

    Everytime I see that Campbell Brown ad (No Bias. No Bull.) I want to rip it off my monitor. That ad should read Only Bias, Only Bull.

    CNN and all the others are the reason I don’t watch TV to get current events.

  11. #11
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:03 am, flmom said:

    This is the best smackdown of the MSM I’ve seen. Love the bit about hacking up hairballs, great metaphor. Keep on keeping on, Michelle.

  12. #12
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:08 am, mojoe said:

    I’m surprised that they don’t have more respect for plumbers over at CNN, given the continuous stream of excrement pouring forth from their studios.

  13. #13
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:08 am, JHSII said:

    And who can forget CBS’s famed Edward R. Murrow and his role in the creation of the “McCarthyism” myth, or the New York Times “The Paper of Record” and their Pulitzer winning journalist Walter Duranty’s fawning reporting on collectivization in the Ukraine.

    We’ll get nothing but the facts from Joe – no myths, and no Pulitzer.

  14. #14
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:11 am, Socky said:

    Seriously, I think what JTP is more likely to do is avoid what elite journalists usually do – talk to government spokesmen (i.e. other elites) – and instead talk to soldiers, civilians, regular people. The perspective we never get from the MSM.

  15. #15
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:13 am, backwoods conservative said:

    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?

    Great line.

  16. #16
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:17 am, Just A Grunt said:

    I will admit I was a little hesitant also when I saw the story labeled Joe The Plumber – War Correspondent.

    Well the truth is he isn’t going to be a war correspondent but instead is going to be doing stories more in the vein of man on the streets interviews.

    He isn’t going to be saddled to a news bureau safely tucked away from the very story he is going to be reporting on like so many of the reporters who were reporting on Iraq were.

    Leave the splashy, graphics heavy “news” to the networks.

    I wish him well and look forward to hearing and reading some of his reports.

  17. #17
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:20 am, max said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 8:59 am, Socky said:
    “The Middle East is a complex region. It is no place for a biased amateur,” sniffed Christiane Amanpour, who then added. “Ulululululululululululu!”

    HA! BWA HAH BWABWAAHAA!

  18. #18
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:25 am, Sergeant Tim said:

    A Middle-Eastern news organization hired a former terrorist money bagman as a photo journalist and sent him off to interview al Qaeda in Afghanistan, post-9/11. After a 6-year hiatus in the Carribean brushing up on his disinformation skills, that same organization rehired him as a producer for their Human Rights Program.

    He was spotted a couple of weeks back disembarking the Dignity in Lebanon. According to the Free Gaza web site (currently offline):

    >Sami is a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, and head of the human rights section at Al-Jazeera Television. He will remain in Gaza to report on the ongoing military onslaught.

    Perhaps the media worries that an articulate American plumber is less experience at asking Israelis about their views on the Gaza offensive than a terrorist is at asking jihadist about the situation in Gaza.

  19. #19
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:28 am, ajmontana said:

    So the entire myth of being up for “Hopey Changey” has it’s limits I guess with them…… lol

    Odopey was as far as the buttheads were willing to go. tools.

  20. #20
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:29 am, planetgeo said:

    CNN? Say, that wouldn’t be the same CNN that admitted restricting its own coverage in Iraq in order to not offend Saddam Hussein, would it? That CNN?

  21. #21
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:33 am, mdt1964 said:

    That is like taking a news correspondent and appointing them to an important government office. Who would be dumb enough to do something like that?

  22. #22
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:34 am, Sergeant Tim said:

    The second link in #18 apparently does not work from here. This is a more complete story on Sami al-Haj. It contains the second link and it seems to be working from there.

  23. #23
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:37 am, lottadawg said:

    When you have run your profession as an operating arm of the Democratic Party, Leftist Party, The Party of Diversity (except Conservatives), while gleefully reporting lies from unnamed sources, high sources and unofficial sources, this has to be the pinnacle of demise. Not because of Joe. Because their Victoria Secrets underwear has been exposed over and over again to be just tattered dirty rags. The snobby little people who have illusions of being elitist are just not.
    You go Joe. The Plumber that is. Not the Biden.

  24. #24
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:42 am, abstractmind said:

    Couple of things i’ve noted…

    1. Asking Joe to go over there…meh. I would imagine getting more out of him, since he’s not afraid to ask tough questions. Certainly, he would be more reliable, i think, than some of the others over there.

    2. Its about time someone went over there and reported things from a different standpoint than just the same old news crap we see everyday.

    I’ve been watching demonstrations (there was one here in richmond last week at city hall, about a dozen or so people), that are all protesting Israel’s attack on Gaza. The claim is that Israel is being “disproportionate” in their response.

    That’s funny. The way I leared it, you destroy your enemies and create a situation where they neither have the compacity or the will to continue harming you.

    And disproportionate? Thousands of rockets and morters, from people shielding themselves with children, shielding themselves in residential areas, shielding themselves at schools and in hospitals…

    To me, disproportionate is when there’s not one stone on top of another in Gaza where these retards are hiding and attacking…and Israel fires another shot. I say turn the place into a parking lot, if Hamas keeps firing rockets and mortars.

  25. #25
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:42 am, Marc said:

    Kyra Phillips is the same reporter who is infamous for going to the bathroom and relieving herself while her microphone was still on and dissing her brother while she did her business. She called her brother a wimp and said her brother’s wife bossed him around. This is really a high class reporter! She should not lecture anybody else.Dr. Gilbert, the CNN NY Times expert said he would not condemn the attacks on 9/11/2001.

  26. #26
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:43 am, eaglehaslanded said:

    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?

    Uh, because they have a track record of being just freaking intelligent. Both worked their way into Ivy League schools (not getting in because their daddy went there) and are, you know, SMART.

    Joe the dumbass is pretty much a loser, unqualified to do much of anything. He’s a reality show star – he’ll be on Springer someday. You sneer at smart people, I sneer at morons. I win.

  27. #27
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:47 am, Socky said:

    Joe the dumbass is pretty much a loser, … I win.

    Says the troll whose biggest life accomplishment is posting snide idiocy on Michelle Malkin’s blog.

  28. #28
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:49 am, richardbo said:

    I think Joe will report what he sees and hears as it is, not the way others filter and editorialize. You and I might have a much better image of reality through Joe–simple,clean,and to the point.

  29. #29
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:50 am, abstractmind said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:43 am, eaglehaslanded said:

    well, i guess that means i don’t have to sneer at you.

    Looks like I win too.

    Regardless of whether or not you think he’s qualified, or even like the guy…it’s nice to know classy folks like you are around to help tell us what the news should be. /sarc off

    And for people who are so smart…why do those two keep doing really stupid things? Go figure.

  30. #30
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:51 am, eaglehaslanded said:

    2. Its about time someone went over there and reported things from a different standpoint than just the same old news crap we see everyday.

    Reality has a known liberal bias.

  31. #31
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:52 am, JamesLee said:

    Jon Stewart commented on this last night. On the subject of Joe saying he’s protected by God, Jon said, to the effect, Put that on a T-Shirt while you are are over there.

    Surely he’s not advocating harm come to a political opponent?

    Naww, of course not, we know how toloerant and open to other ideas the left is!

  32. #32
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:52 am, mojoe said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:43 am, eaglehaslanded said:

    Nothing.

  33. #33
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:53 am, FamilyMan said:

    HEY eaglehaslanded. What school did you go to and what great accomplishment have you done?

  34. #34
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:55 am, eaglehaslanded said:

    And for people who are so smart…why do those two keep doing really stupid things? Go figure.

    You think they’re stupid things because you’re too stupid to know better.

    Stupid people think smart people are stupid.It’s been that way for thousands of years. “Common sense” is for common people and is usually dead wrong. We need uncommon people in charge.

  35. #35
    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:56 am, flmom said:

    Alternate Reality has a known liberal bias.

    Your sentence was missing a word to clarify it better.

  36. #36
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:00 am, Socky said:

    Reality has a known liberal bias.

    Sadly, no.

    Liberal bias says if someone want to mug you, you should just hug them and tell them you feel sorry for their economic circumstances. Reality says, they’ll shoot your lips off.

    Liberal bias says the poor blighted Palestinians are the victims of the Israelis. Reality says Palestinians are terrorists who only agree to ceasefires so they’ll rearm.

    Liberal bias says global warming is caused by humans and that climate was static before SUVs were invented. Reality says, “Then why are we not still in an Ice Age?”

    Liberal bias says carbon dioxide will doom planet Earth. Reality says, “Then what is Al Gore doing in that private jet?”

    Liberal bias says socialism works. Reality says, “Cuba.”

    So, just exactly where is this liberal bias in reality? Or is this just one of those comforting mantras moonbats chant to one another. Like, “Hope and Change” and “Yes, we can.”

  37. #37
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:01 am, eaglehaslanded said:

    HEY eaglehaslanded. What school did you go to and what great accomplishment have you done?

    I have been fortunate enough to hold multiple degrees from top schools, including, believe it or not, an MBA. My professors told me I was the first socialist to graduate top of my class. I spent 20 years in the management of

    But that is irrelevant. As Jon Stewart once said, “Not only do I want an elite president, I want someone who’s embarrassingly superior to me.”

  38. #38
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:02 am, Socky said:

    I spent 20 years in the management of …

    A unicorn farm?

  39. #39
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:03 am, flmom said:

    Eaglehaslanded pooped:

    You think they’re stupid things because you’re too stupid to know better.

    Stupid people think smart people are stupid.It’s been that way for thousands of years. “Common sense” is for common people and is usually dead wrong. We need uncommon people in charge.

    Calvin Coolidge answers this best:

    “Education will not (take the place of persistence); the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

  40. #40
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:05 am, Socky said:

    I have been fortunate enough to hold multiple degrees from top schools, including, believe it or not, an MBA. My professors told me I was the first socialist to graduate top of my class.

    R-i-i-i-i-i-g-h-t. And yet you never once have presented a cogent argument in defense of your position on this forum.

    Instead, you spout platitudes from the Daily Show.

  41. #41
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:05 am, FamilyMan said:

    eaglehaslanded said; My professors told me I was the first socialist to graduate top of my class. I spent 20 years in the management of

    You obviously learned very little.

  42. #42
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:08 am, JT said:

    eagle,

    Up the fiber.

  43. #43
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:10 am, Socky said:

    Frankly, I’m more impressed when people display actual intelligence rather than flout credentials.

    And frankly, I think the reason the “EagleHasLanded” is because it was too full of sh*t to fly.

  44. #44
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:10 am, JHSII said:

    My professors told me I was the first socialist to graduate top of my class.

    Would that be Professor Bill Ayres or Professor Ward Churchill??

  45. #45
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:10 am, FamilyMan said:

    Hey socialist eagle
    If your so brilliant, gives us an example of a socialist state that has succeeded.

  46. #46
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:12 am, JT said:

    Socky,

    You own me a new monitor. Just spit tea all over it. :)

  47. #47
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:12 am, JT said:

    owe

  48. #48
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:17 am, jsr said:

    “Not only do I want an elite president, I want someone who’s embarrassingly superior to me.”

    While most conservatives would like a president more intelligent than us also, we remain disapointed. On the other hand liberals like eagle have had their dream fulfilled.

  49. #49
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am, MarcoPolo said:

    I don’t really care about what happens to who in the Middle East.

    Having said that, perhaps if the Israeli Army would obey their Supreme Court and allow journalists into Gaza the media wouldn’t be so desperate for footage.

    Sorry for the hubbub this is going to start, but I don’t want the Israelis controlling the story any more than I do the Palestinians.

  50. #50
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am, abstractmind said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:51 am, eaglehaslanded said:

    Let me fix this for you…

    Reality has a no known liberal bias.

    Only people like you and your ilk are the ones who inject liberalism into everything.. to feel good about yourselves, and to try and make things line up with your own world view. Sadly, its all too easy to see through, and all too easy to push back in the face of pure fact and reason…something which you seemingly lack in spades.

    Facts don’t have a “liberal bias”. Unless of course you’re CNN, ABC, CBS, and so on. I would think that someone else decrying the stupidity of others (and based on news organizations dropping the ball so often), that you would welcome a different view.

    Guess not, huh?

    You think they’re stupid things because you’re too stupid to know better.

    Stupid people think smart people are stupid.It’s been that way for thousands of years. “Common sense” is for common people and is usually dead wrong. We need uncommon people in charge

    .

    Wow, where to begin with your weakly structured, redundant and positively boring statements.

    I think that they’re stupid, eagle, because of their actions, their words, and their views. I dont have to be a Harvard graduate to know when something is wrong, or when something seems less than intelligent. I noticed that you really didnt follow up with your little weaksauce diatribe with anything constructive, or anything to rebuff anything that’s been said. Way to present an intelligent argument. ;) You know, the one that you and your liberal friends are so good at presenting by comparison, right?

    Of course, blindly following someone is all good for you, I’m assuming. You know, since you’re just marching along to the drumbeat.

    I find myself to be intellgent, even if i have to have the bad manners to point it out. Not because I need affirmation from someone insecure like yourself, but because I take the time to research, read, and educate myself on the issues going on around me and on subjects in which i’m interested. But here, i’ll make this easy for you, since really…if I didn’t I would spend the rest of the day explaining it…

    “Common Sense”…isnt really as common as you think it is. How often, really, is common sense wrong? I’d have to see examples, of which i’m sure you’ll have tons of right?

    The pedestal that you have people like Oblahma on is unreasonbly high. More than likely, as you are and he was. “Uncommon people” in charge…do you even really know what that is, or means? If Obama tried to paint himself during the campaign as “just like everyone else”, you’re doing wonders to unravel that. Is he one of us, or is he uncommon? take your pick. It doesnt take “uncommon” people to lead others, or to be a mouthpiece on national television. It takes uncommon people to rise above challenges, to take problems and fix them…something your savior there isn’t really doing. All that he’s doing is staving off the symptoms of a sickness that is much worse. Sure, you’ll feel better today, but sooner or later…that sickness catches up to you.

    Honestly, you strike me as being someone who takes potshots at other people who disagree with you, throws out some “you’re all too stupid” like some 5 year old, and then runs away with your hands over your ears so you cant hear anyone who disagrees. You really didnt provide anything of substance other than “ur stoopid”, which at best makes me roll my eyes at such childish manuevers, and at worst makes you look no different than well…your idols.

    I fundamentally disagree with the policies that your hero there spouts off..mainly because I’m intelligent, and have taken the time to understand them, research them, and form an opinion on them. You, however, dont seem to have even a basic grasp on anything he’s said so far. Its the blind followers like you…and you’ve shown you are…that really just dont have a clue. He could say “well, today…we’re gonna go all Heaven’s Gate and, well, Kool-aid is on the way!” and you’d be the first in line.

    If you really have something of substance, i’d love to hear it. I just sincerely doubt you do, based on your previous posts.

    Better luck next time, kid.

  51. #51
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:20 am, Socky said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:12 am, JT said:

    Socky,You owne me a new monitor. Just spit tea all over it. :)

    Thanks, I get that a lot.

  52. #52
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:21 am, mchristian said:

    The people in charge are, all too frequently, uncommonly arrogant, not uncommonly intelligent. Getting elected does not prove someone is intelligent. It proves that the electorate, rather than educating itself, believes what it sees on TV or reads in the daily fishwrap. It proves that apathy trumps interest. Obama’s cult of personality does not prove him to be a superior being. It proves that, as Abraham Lincoln said, “You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all the time.”

  53. #53
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:27 am, ThatSamIAm said:

    You can tell it’s nothing more than propaganda from these non-news networks. No matter how bad their ratings they still dish out the same liberal socialist anti-American slop day and night. It has nothing to do with real journalism or the truth.

  54. #54
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:30 am, frontierguy said:

    That was the first time I’ve seen that video, although I heard about it. I have seen actual CPR done, and ummm, it’s not done lightly on the stomach. Actually, if you do not break a rib or two, you are doing it incorrectly. I imagine at least a few people at CNN must know this. CNN must really believe their viewers to be stupid.

    If they are this much in a tizzy about Joe reporting, they must be afraid of news without ideological spin being reported. It will be refreshing to get news without having it edited to create a different impression.

  55. #55
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:30 am, Just A Grunt said:

    I am so impressed that Eaglehaslanded has managed to make a career out of being a professional student.

    It is perhaps most appropriate that his statement regarding his management experience is blank.

  56. #56
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:31 am, RedDog said:

    Predictably, the very idea of a non-credentialed public figure attempting to “do journalism” has catty elite journalists hacking up hairballs.

    Hilarious Michelle. Wow. These diletentes (sp?) are exposed constantly as fraudulent. Our society has indeed decended into moral and ethical corruption. Everyone makes up their own personal rules and laws as they go along. The Psalms describe these people perfectly. So sad.

    I expect it to get worse.

  57. #57
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:34 am, FamilyMan said:

    Hey eaglehaslanded
    How can a socialist economy expand it’s money supply? If you don’t take risk, you don’t expand the money pie. A capitalist system has risk takers to do the job. Where are the risk takers in government? You can’t fire the suckers, can you?

  58. #58
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:34 am, madmonkphotog said:

    D.L. Hugley on CNN.

    Ron Reagan on MSNBC.

    The lamestream media? Not a peep.

    Joe the Plumber reporting?

    Oh, Lordy. Oh, Lordy. This guy has no credentials.

    What I don’t hear is how an American worker was able to get another job in this tough economy. All I hear is snobbery and the desire to keep an average American down.

  59. #59
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:35 am, granite said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:01 am, eaglehaslanded said:

    I have been fortunate enough to hold multiple degrees from top schools, including, believe it or not, an MBA. My professors told me I was the first socialist to graduate top of my class. I spent 20 years in the management of

    You started this.

    Allow me to remark, “Wow!”; “Ooh!”; “Ah!”; “Big f**kin’ deal”.

    Arrogant, ignorant, and immature is no way to go through life, young man (apologies to the Dean in “Animal House”).

    What makes a school a “top school”, anyway?

    I was a public-high school-Harry (back in the days when public schools actually educated), and went to the state university.

    I received a National Science Foundation fellowship, and was accepted by the graduate schools of the two “elite” universities – one in the Northeast, one on the west coast; because I had considered MD-PhD as a possible career path.
    A faculty member from the Northeast school even called me at home to talk about working in his group.
    BTW, that faculty member won a Nobel prize in 1990.

    But, I turned all these turned down, and “just” went to medical school.

    My medical school was an Ivy League school.

    As I’ve said here before, I had classmates from all the Ivies, and from “top” schools like Bryn Mawr, Berkeley, Haverford, etc.

    I was not in the least impressed by any of them.
    It is not that I was better prepared than they;
    however, I was easily – no question – as well prepared as any of them was.

    Enough “top” of this, that and the other thing for ya?
    Enough credentials for ya?

    Fool.

    Grow up, develop some humility, and actually learn something if you want the grown-ups here to take what you write seriously.

    But that is irrelevant. As Jon Stewart once said, “Not only do I want an elite president, I want someone who’s embarrassingly superior to me.”

    Unbelievable.
    You’re quoting a clown like Jon Stewart?
    If he actually said what you have put into quotations, he is a clown.

    Not only that, he is a self-confessed elitist.
    Tell us, little boy, what makes one person “superior” to another person, anyway?

    I must correct my earlier comment:

    Hypocritical fool.
    If not hypocritical, then dangerous fool.

  60. #60
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:35 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    You go Joe! Put truth to their lies! If only you could get your dispatches on TV, you’d have better ratings than CNN, CBS, PMSNBC (thanks Rush)et al.

  61. #61
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:36 am, MarcoPolo said:

    “Common sense” is for common people and is usually dead wrong.

    You gotta love how the left absolutely hates the very people they claim to represent, dont cha?

  62. #62
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:39 am, FamilyMan said:

    Here eagle here eagle. Come here boy. Sit, rollover, speak.
    Where did you go boy?

  63. #63
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:39 am, granite said:

    Apologies.
    After working yesterday, “preview” is not working today.

  64. #64
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:40 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:39 am, FamilyMan said:
    Here eagle here eagle. Come here boy. Sit, rollover, speak.
    Where did you go boy?

    The Beagle Has Landed?

  65. #65
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:41 am, pueblo1032 said:

    MSM fears any form of CONSERVATIVE JOURNALISM… If they do not own it, they try to discredit it… Whether columnists, bloggers, newsprint or television, they fear any source of info, not from their PROPAGANDA MILLS… They feared JTP as a civilian, and they want him nowhere near SOURCE INFORMATION… I say good luck JTP, and I am looking forward to your unbiased JOURNALISM!!!

  66. #66
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:41 am, abstractmind said:

    Unbelievable.
    You’re quoting a clown like Jon Stewart?

    Granite, thats because liberals believe him to be “hardcore journalism” with a funny twist.

    And of course, one of my favorites…Keith Olbermann. Of course he’s a serious journalist! Because who better to tell me the political happenings of the day than someone who rose in fame doing sports commentary.

    Sports…Politics. Meh, same thing right?

    Srs Jurnulizm is srs bsns right? LOL

  67. #67
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:44 am, chapoutier said:

    Eagle, granite…

    Can we compare SAT scores now?

    Me: 710 verbal 700 math (note this was before that insipid recurving they did back in 1996 or so).

    LSAT: 169.

  68. #68
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:46 am, right4life said:

    eaglehasfarted is only good for a few laughs.

    and given that he thinks such an obvious moron as obama (uhhhhh ummmm uhhhh) is superior….that must make him a real idiot.

  69. #69
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:48 am, right4life said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:44 am, chapoutier said:
    Eagle, granite…

    Can we compare SAT scores now?

    you remember your SAT score??? I’m getting old….

  70. #70
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:52 am, madchef said:

    It’s amazing how one ordinary man can scare the pants off these liberal bias spin meisters. Since when do you need a degree to report a first-hand experience? Most of history is recorded by those who lived it.
    What scares me is the MSM’s fear of an opposing point of view.
    Joe is an inspiration of what one man can do to expose the liberal elite for the frauds they are.

  71. #71
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:54 am, SHoward said:

    Comparing SAT score and degrees is a waste of time, everyone. Bush has an Ivy League MBA, but many people believe him to be dumb as a rock, based on his actions as President.

    It is useless to say much about Odopey at present, although his legislative record is thin on accomplishments and long on BS. The real story can only be told after he screws up this nation serves as president for a couple of years.

    I wonder if eagleDroppping will be so visible around htese parts then.

  72. #72
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:54 am, abstractmind said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:44 am, chapoutier said:

    we’re dinosaurs :P

    I took the test in my last year of high school, 94-95, which was just before they did all that curving and changed the numbers.

    I dont remember how the score was divided, but i ended it out with 1430, so i was happy enough with that.

    i wonder what we’d all get if we took it again today?

  73. #73
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:55 am, Salt said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 9:55 am, eaglehaslanded said:

    And for people who are so smart…why do those two keep doing really stupid things? Go figure.

    You think they’re stupid things because you’re too stupid to know better.

    Stupid people think smart people are stupid.It’s been that way for thousands of years. “Common sense” is for common people and is usually dead wrong. We need uncommon people in charge.

    While intelligence is certainly to be admired, I believe you are missing something in your argument. Intelligence untempered by wisdom or humility can be extremely dangerous. Throughout history, the most destructive tyrants could also be said to have been intelligent.

    The largest mistakes can be made by those that believe they have all the answers and sneer at those that have studied history or have experience (i.e. the “common sense” at which you sneer).

    You believe Al Franken to be intelligent and perhaps that could be debated, but what has his intelligence gotten him? As an SNL alum, he did not achieve the same level of post-SNL success in entertainment as many of his peers and other alumni.

    Air America, his big answer to conservative talk radio was a failure.

    We’ve seen all the issues he’s had not long after his “I am a corporation” line.

    You believe he’s intelligent because you agree with his principles and ideas. That’s fine, but at least be willing to admit some bias in the matter. Or, if unable to do that, at least present some factual evidence to back up your claims. I can understand and appreciate your praising the guy because you agree with him, but acting as though the everyone here is stupid for not agreeing with you is short sighted at best.

    Joe the dumbass is pretty much a loser, unqualified to do much of anything. He’s a reality show star – he’ll be on Springer someday. You sneer at smart people, I sneer at morons. I win.

    Perhaps Joe isn’t an elite like you proclaim yourself to be, but I don’t recall Joe ever trying to claim he was. In fact, Joe has been rather modest and humble about himself.

    What we (conservatives) find fascinating about Joe is that he was able to ask a question of your smartest man in the world and get an answer that the media was not able to do. That’s why the media elite hate Joe so much. His ONE question was able to spark more conversation than any question that any of them dared to ask. (…and they certainly did not dare much.)

    Isn’t that what the media is supposed to do?

    So, sure… make fun of Joe and sneer at his “commonness”. If you believe that’s elevating your own place in the world to do so, I pity you.

  74. #74
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:58 am, MNUSMCDavid said:

    Being in my fifties how the heck am I supposed to remember my SAT’s, LSAT’s… sheesh. All I know is in reference to Parrothaslanded’s superior comment is to respond with this quote……. “They that do… have done or do.. they that haven’t…. talk about it”. Parrot bores me.

    “Omnia relinquit sevare republicam”

  75. #75
    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:59 am, granite said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:44 am, chapoutier said:

    Another lame, priggish (in the old sense of the word) attempt at humor, trying to create, and hopelessly trying to compete in, a peeing contest.

    Sorry, other little boy.

    But, I have to say again… you started this.

    SAT “modifications” (read, “inflation”, a type of grade inflation, analogous to currency inflation) began a bit after 1970, just after I’d taken them.
    Your scores are within ~1% of what mine were before 1970, in other words, when “scores were scores” (pace the term, “when dollars were dollars”).

    Don’t remember my MCATS.

    I did, however, get a perfect score on my specialty GRE.

    As I said, you started this.

    My apologies to the other posters.
    But, sometimes one just has to respond to arrogant dandies.

  76. #76
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:00 am, flmom said:

    Salt said:

    Awesome post, nail on head. I bow in your general direction.

  77. #77
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:00 am, granite said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:55 am, Salt said:

    Good post!

  78. #78
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:01 am, Trollman said:

    eaglehaslanded said:

    You think they’re stupid things because you’re too stupid to know better.

    Stupid people think smart people are stupid.It’s been that way for thousands of years.

    Yet earlier, eaglehaslanded said:

    I sneer at morons.

    Tell me, eaglehaslanded, did your professors ever teach you about a little thing called “irony?”

  79. #79
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:01 am, chapoutier said:

    As an SNL alum, he did not achieve the same level of post-SNL success in entertainment as many of his peers and other alumni.

    So his value is determined by the fact that the American public found Night at the Roxbury slightly less insipid than Stuart Saves His Family?

  80. #80
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:02 am, abstractmind said:

    Nice shot salt :)

  81. #81
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:02 am, chapoutier said:

    Another lame, priggish (in the old sense of the word) attempt at humor, trying to create, and hopelessly trying to compete in, a peeing contest.

    No you fool. I was mocking the impending pissing contest between you and eagle.

  82. #82
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:04 am, abstractmind said:

    chap…

    i think all they need really, for franken to move a little higher, is just more cowbell.

  83. #83
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:05 am, FamilyMan said:

    chapoutier said:
    Can we compare SAT scores now?
    Me: 710 verbal 700 math

    Is that all you could do? I only missed six questions in 1963.

  84. #84
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:05 am, right_on said:

    I watched that propaganda video yesterday. They need help making them more convincing. Perhaps Sean Penn, or Danny Glover could give them some tips?

    Besides the phony chest compressions highlighted in the video, I found it remarkable that the house where this boy was supposedly killed, was still standing after an Israeli missile attack, and that there were not more casualties.

    According to the video, the boy went to the roof, leaving “a house full of people” below. It then shows a small divot in the concrete roof, small chunks of concrete scattered around the divot, and numerous shrapnel scars in the surrounding walls. I was struck with how much the damage looked like the result of a hand grenade, or small mortar blast.

    Having watched numerous Israeli missile strikes on buildings during this and other Israeli actions, it is hard for me to believe an IDF missile struck that house. Had it, it would be nothing more than rubble, and there would have been mass casualties. In addition, there would not have been anything left of the “victim” on the roof, except pieces of flesh and vaporized blood. Of course this incident was staged! Not only can you NOT trust these Palestinians, you can’t believe anything coming out of their mouths.

    Unfortunately, ignorant zealots believe anything that attempts to de-humanize Israel or the U.S.

  85. #85
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:06 am, JHSII said:

    One of the things I’ve noticed over the years is that liberals equate how intelligent someone is based solely on how liberal they are. That’s why Jimmy Carter (He was Captian of a nuclear submarine!! :roll: ) was a genius, and Ronald Reagan (He was an actor playing sidekick to a chimpanzee!!) was an idiot.

    When a liberal says that someone is intelligent – I know that they’re not. When a liberal calls someone an idiot – I know that they’re truly intelligent.

  86. #86
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:06 am, alaskangrizzly said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am, abstractmind said:

    :lol:

    Abstractmind 1

    Commieagle 0

  87. #87
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:07 am, chapoutier said:

    That was a very smart post, JHSII. Spot on.

  88. #88
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:08 am, chapoutier said:

    Is that all you could do? I only missed six questions in 1963.

    I go through every day of my life shamed, hoping that no one I know finds out.

  89. #89
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:08 am, DBNinKY said:

    “…Anderson Cooper, whose resume includes…“The Mole.”

    I remember that show! I was a Griffin fan then and actually tried to watch an episode – I couldn’t…it was awful! The worst reality show ever.

  90. #90
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:10 am, FamilyMan said:

    Hey chap
    I’ve discovered in business, the high achievers in school, were to poorest performers in life. Creativity and goal setting abilities are much more important.

  91. #91
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:11 am, chapoutier said:

    The worst reality show ever.

    Ohhhhhh…..that is a can of worms I don’t think you want to open.

    Worse than The Simple Life?

  92. #92
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:16 am, Chief RZ said:

    I wonder what Jason Blair did before he was hired on at the NYTs? His schooling? Journalists should report on what they see, not what is presented to them in the form of drama.

    Here is a flashback thanks to Michael Yon. Read the portion in the green type.

  93. #93
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:16 am, abstractmind said:

    Worse than The Simple Life?

    Well…i guess it depends on the viewpoint. At least with Paris and Nicole, we *expected* ignorance. I mean, really…did we expect anything else out of those two?

    The Mole was supposed to be some clever, edgy reality tv show that kept you on the edge of your seat till the very end. Not so much.

    I’m glad i never really put any real time into watching either of them.

  94. #94
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:18 am, ThatSamIAm said:

    UPDATE: Obama doing his daily press conference telling us he welcomes all good ideas from Dems and Republicans. Has he not hear that Nancy and Harry are barring the Republicans from having any say in anything?

    Words. Just words.

  95. #95
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:19 am, granite said:

    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:02 am, chapoutier said:

    Of course you were.

    Know how to do anything else but mock?

    You’re almost – almost – as funny as Al Franken.
    You’re likely far more pretentious and arrogant.

    More and more, you paint yourself as being that paim-in-the-ass in high school who went out of his way to be annoying.

    You are to be pitied – I’m not sure you deserve it; based on your recent posts over the past weeks/months, what a sad, empty life you must have.

    Just please don’t try to force your type of life and worldview on the rest of us by continuing to support and elect dangerous socialists, with the disasters and all else that comes with them.

  96. #96
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:20 am, RetFireman said:

    Let me preface this comment by saying I did not finish reading the article and stopped at the video, nor have I read any of the comments, thus I do not know if anything I am about to write has already been stated.

    I was curious at how the CPR had been decribed, so I watched the video. All I can say is that were those men actually doctors, they should both be ashamed and have their licenses pulled for their propaganda exposition. There was absolutely no CPR or any other life-saving measures being done to that or any other child within sight of that camera.

    If that was, as is claimed, a child who was hit by a missle blast or struck by shrapnel, where was the blood? Why was that child not packaged properly for the Critical Trauma it has allegedly received, such as being placed in a “papoose” (the child-sized version of the spinal immobilization board) which is the universal standard for such injuries?

    Why has there been no IV access obtained? There has not been a single line established in order to replace the fluid loss, to gain access for life-saving medications such as Atropine, Epinephrine, or Dopamine, or any other cardio medications which would be used, especially if there is CPR being performed.

    Why has there not been an airway established? This child, who is supposedly dying and in Cardiac Arrest, has not been intubated, there is no Bag Valve Mask or unit is evidence anywhere near this child.

    The taller “physician” refers to the Cardiac Monitor to show that this child has “expired” especially after the fat doctor stops his “Hollywood” CPR on him, telling people the child has died. Why, then, are there no Cardiac Monitor CABLES attached to the chest or trunk, of this child? I am not aware of any new advances in Cardiac Monitoring that allows for wireless Cardiac Monitoring.

    I am going to ignore the CPR itself. I think that the actions of that “doctor” speak for themselves, and clearly demonstrate that he needs a good deal more acting lessons if he is going to sell those actions as an actual CPR intervention.

    I also have no idea if anyone else has mentioned that the elderly gentleman who is a “member of the family” bears a more than passing resemblance to the “Helmet Guy” who always seems to be at the scene of all bomb landings, especially in the previous flare-up.

    Now, I have not been in the military, nor have I ever been present when a bomb lands, but I have seen many pictures from war zones, and every single time there was a crater left at the site where it struck. The “father” of these children takes the camera outside and shows everyone where the bomb landed, and other than some crumbled cement from a garden barrier of some sort, there is not a single mark ANYWHERE that has any evidence that a rocket, missle or any other explosive device EVER exploded within 50 miles of that house.

    ANYONE who buys into this piece of crap has got to be the biggest fool to wander around the planet. I guess that explains why Islamists believe this crap. And that is all it is…crap.

    CNN should be ashamed for showing this. It most definately demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is not a hint of integrity left in television journalism, and it is nothing more than a proaganda tool for those that want to do ill to civilized countries and peoples everywhere.

  97. #97
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:20 am, DBNinKY said:

    As an SNL alum, he did not achieve the same level of post-SNL success in entertainment as many of his peers and other alumni.

    Agreed – and his writing partner, Tom Davis didn’t exactly blaze any new trails either.

    Worse than The Simple Life?

    I liked that one, when it was on Fox, because it was frivolous, air-headed fun and it knew it; unlike The Mole, there was no contrived pretense to be anything else.

  98. #98
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:21 am, Socky said:

    Gosh, I did better on the SAT and I was hopped up on Sudafed that day. (Had a wicked head cold).

    I don’t remember my LSAT score, but I remember it was in the 97th percentile.

  99. #99
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:21 am, granite said:

    Sorry.
    …pain-in-the-ass…

    Preview kaput.

  100. #100
    On January 9th, 2009 at 11:23 am, chapoutier said:

    You are to be pitied – I’m not sure you deserve it; based on your recent posts over the past weeks/months, what a sad, empty life you must have.

    God…you are SO right. Its why I drink myself to sleep every night.

    Know how to do anything else but mock?

    With you, there really isn’t much else to do.

    Just please don’t try to force your type of life and worldview on the rest of us by continuing to support and elect dangerous socialists, with the disasters and all else that comes with them.

    You WILL eat arugula and you WILL like it!

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