On today's CNN Newsroom, anchor Kyra Phillips let viewers know exactly what she thinks of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber. On the 2:00 PM (ET) segment she teased the story:
PHILLIPS: 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.
And later again:
PHILLIPS: You've seen the last of this guy? Not. Now Joe The Plumber wants to flush out the truth as a war correspondent. I know, there are just no words. Stay here for details on his Middle East trip.
Minutes later she reported:
Hey, Joe, what do you know? No, seriously, what do you know? Since that whole plumbing thing didn't work out, I mean. Now, Joe Wurzelbacher is decamping to the Middle East. That's right, the plumber slash author slash singer.
His latest career gambit? War correspondent. He's going spend ten days in Israel reporting for the conservative Web site pjtv.com. And he says he hopes to air Israelis' views on the Gaza offensive. Lord, help us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE WURZELBACHER, WAR CORRESPONDENT FOR PJTV.COM: And it's tragic. I mean, it really is. I don't say that in any little way. It's very tragic.
But at the same time, what are the Israel people supposed to do? I get to go over their and let their average Joes show their story, what they think, how they feel. Especially with, you know, world opinion. Maybe get a real story out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Get a real story out there. 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?
Kyra just had to remind viewers that Joe has no journalism experience. Unlike the Washington Post's Janet Cooke, the Chicago Tribune's Bob Greene, the Boston Globe's Mike Barnicle, the New York Times's Jayson Blair and the many others who've shown how crucial that experience is.
I wouldn't think Phillips, who gained considerable notoriety in a restroom, would think "flush" jokes are all that humorous. Apparently, Kyra didn't exhaust her invective on her "control freak" sister-in-law. She's saved some for a guy imprudent enough to have challenged The One, a man so non-professional as to say something good about Sarah Palin.
Lord, there are just no words, Kyra.
