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Joe the Plumber Turns Joe the War Correspondent

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January 12, 2009 7:27 PM

ABC News' David Wright reports: His 15 minutes of fame are officially over, but Joe the Plumber seems not to have gotten the memo.

Samuel Wurzelbacher is now in Israel as Joe the War Correspondent, hoping to turn the notoriety he gained during the 2008 campaign into an international franchise for a conservative online outfit called Pajamas TV.

The toughly posed question is, after all, what made him famous in the first place. Republican John McCain practically hinged his entire campaign on a question Wurzelbacher happened to ask Barack Obama.

But it appears that in a war zone, the plumber is out of his depth.

“Shoot, I got a lot of questions, I'm just trying to find the right one,” he admitted, as he spoke with an Israeli police spokesman in front of a pile of Hamas shrapnel.

Visiting the southern Israeli town of Sderot, which is close enough to Gaza for Hamas rockets to have become a deadly nuisance, Wurzelbacher explained a conflict that has vexed presidents, prime Ministers and Nobel laureates –- not to mention generations of Palestinians and Israelis -- as though it were a particularly tricky plumbing job.

"The people of Sderot can’t do normal things day to day, like get soap in their eyes in the shower, for fear a rocket might come in," he said.  "I’m sure they’re taking quick showers."

Asked about Israel’s ban on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip, Wurzelbacher made it clear he has no desire to see the front lines himself or to investigate both sides of the story.

He said: "To be honest I don’t think journalists should be anywhere around war.  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 think it’s asinine. 

"I like back in World War I and World War II, where you’d go to the theater and you’d see our troops on screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for them," he said.  "I think media should be abolished from reporting."

The New York Daily News was quick to point out, "It seems he skipped a key chapter in the newsman's manual." After his first big day on the job, Joe the War Correspondent didn’t bother to file a story.

January 12, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (86)

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"Asked about Israel’s ban on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip, Wurzelbacher made it clear he has no desire to see the front lines himself or to investigate both sides of the story."

And this line is a real winner:
"I think media should be abolished from reporting."

What a complete moron! What does he think a reporters job should be?

Posted by: Bob Z | Jan 12, 2009 10:13:50 PM

I thought we hit the bottom with Bush!

Posted by: JW | Jan 12, 2009 10:14:25 PM

This guy is a simpleton! Let's move on to more interesting and intelligent people and topics.

Posted by: Christine | Jan 12, 2009 10:15:22 PM

Joe the plumber, just before the cameras
were turned on:

"Gee guys, this looks like a great place
to put a leach field in, anybody do a
perk test yet ! "

Posted by: spacerook1 | Jan 12, 2009 10:16:57 PM

Like stepping in chewing gum. John will probably have to take this guy under his wing and say, "it's over joe". Nobody bought it.

Posted by: rightbehind | Jan 12, 2009 10:18:01 PM

Wow. This guy is a complete retard. If he really does represent the "average american" like some people here think, then I am really ashamed to be an America.

Posted by: The Truth | Jan 12, 2009 10:27:18 PM

God Bless Joe! God Bless Sarah!
God Bless the tin man and
toutou too!

Posted by: spacerook1 | Jan 12, 2009 10:30:12 PM

Did he actually say "I think media should be abolished from reporting"??? Really???

Posted by: Mark | Jan 12, 2009 10:30:57 PM

Joe the plumber is not even a licensed plumber. Being a right winged nut job he even lied about about being a real plumber. He is a plumbers helper at best and a moron at that. He is one of those trailer park republicans that was in trouble with the IRS for not paying his taxes.

Posted by: con me not | Jan 12, 2009 10:33:26 PM

And are we supposed to care what he has to say. He's an embarrassment for America. Go home Joe and get your apprentice plumbers license for a start.

Posted by: richard warren | Jan 12, 2009 10:34:01 PM

I can't believe this, maybe they'll blow him up!!

Posted by: Notta_Joe | Jan 12, 2009 10:46:48 PM

Look at the comments from the right wing folks that have posted here - they are against having a free press - one is against people even weighing in with opinions - one suggests that liberals probably deserve to die - theirs is a pretty strange version of America

you get the sense that they must be rooting for the guy with the funny mustache's side in the new Tom Cruise film about Nazi Germany.

Posted by: nh bob | Jan 12, 2009 10:48:02 PM

ABC and BBC are stupid for taking their time to talk about this Olosi Oloriburuku

Posted by: kolawole ojulari | Jan 12, 2009 10:56:38 PM

what an idiot

Posted by: eezzyy | Jan 12, 2009 10:59:11 PM

What an idiot. Go back and start cleaning out toilets again.

Posted by: Joe the real plumber | Jan 12, 2009 11:02:00 PM

Yes, let's get on to more important things, like skinny celebrities and a "fat" Oprah.

Posted by: Bedrock | Jan 12, 2009 11:04:30 PM

Hmm...plumbing is getting to be too much for this guy. I don't need to know the facts. Jack, all I have to do is work for a predetermined propaganda machine and say what I feel....to try to know the truth is wicked. I don't have to work...my job is to be a picture on a frame expousing Christian right-wing nut job views.

Posted by: Eric | Jan 12, 2009 11:09:06 PM

What the hell do you guys know about contractors licenses?

My employees build, install, and finish 3 million dollars worth of cabinets every year. How many of my guys have licenses. . .zero. How many of them are skilled cabinet makers, installers, and finishers. . .every one of them. Are we operating legally under state law . . .absolutely 100%. Get a clue. . . many entire homes are completely built by unlicensed workers, as long as the construction business holds the license. What do you call a plumber who plumbs an entire home on his own but works directly for a construction company? A helper?

I know several licensed contractors who literally couldn't build a dog house.

Posted by: Spread The Wealth | Jan 12, 2009 11:12:43 PM

Joe misses the lime light and wants the burning phosphorus, the silly hamas rockets and the Israel bombardment not to be shown to reporters so that he can say what he wants and deny the world viewers from watching any horrors of war. Good going Joe I guess you got flushed down from the USA into the midst of hell to try and get some lime light.

Posted by: gjkotw01 | Jan 12, 2009 11:29:33 PM

ABC must really not have anything better to do than to report on some idiot who McCain/Palin used for their campaign slogan. Who cares about Joe. There really is nothing that extraordinary about him. Get over it!!

Posted by: Andrew | Jan 12, 2009 11:32:12 PM

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