Joe the ... you know what? Just shut up.

Joe the Stooge has just about worn out my welcome in the various news stories I frequent. This guy was newsworthy when he asked Obama a question at a campaign rally, and was launched into the spotlight when John McCain wouldn't stop mentioning his name.

Fair enough. We need an Everyman at certain times to bring things into perspective. But now he's a war correspondent that doesn't think journalists should cover wars? Here's a quote:

"To be honest with you, I don't think journalists should be anywhere allowed war [sic]. . . . I liked back in World War I and World War II, when you'd go to the theater and you'd see your troops on the screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for them," he said in an interview with the Associated Press.
"Now everyone's got an opinion and wants to down soldiers—our American soldiers, our Israeli soldiers. I think media should be abolished from reporting," he said.

So, where do you start with ignorance like this? I could point out various atrocities committed under the veil of secrecy when a free press isn't allowed into war zones, but maybe Joe likes the idea of a monolithic government doing whatever it likes during war time.

Or I might mention the films Joe mentioned, which were propaganda and not true reporting. Of course, there's nothing better than an ill-informed populace that the government fills with false reports and can then twist to its own devices. Maybe Joe should work for the Ministry of Truth.

But then again, I'd rather point out that Joe is essentially arguing why he shouldn't even have his current job. Here he is, working as a war correspondent, saying that his job should be abolished.

Say it ain't so, Joe.

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher has changed from an Everyman into a Lauren Conrad - someone who likely began their media blitz as a real person but has now been distorted into a caricature of themselves, an empty persona with nothing to add to the public discourse.

Read my lips - Joe the Plumber has no place on my TV or in my media. Neither does LC, for what that matters.