Pajamas Media has done a ton of great things since their launch. Sending Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, to Gaza as a “reporter” was not one of them. Yesterday, Joe the Plumber embarrassed himself, and Pajamas when he had this to say from Gaza,
I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think journalists should be anywhere allowed war (sic). I mean, 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. You know, 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, you know, the screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for them. Now everyone’s got an opinion and wants to downer–and down soldiers. You know, American soldiers or Israeli soldiers.
I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting. You know, war is hell. And if you’re gonna sit there and say, “Well look at this atrocity,” well you don’t know the whole story behind it half the time, so I think the media should have no business in it.
Bill Roggio is one of the leading milbloggers and citizen journalists covering the war on terror. He has embedded with US troops multiple times in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Here is what he had to say about this travesty at the Weekly Standard blog,
Joe is advocating a 1940’s media strategy for wars that are being fought in the 21st Century. We can’t roll back the mass access to print, television, the Internet, cell phones, etc. and push the news on grainy films at the theater.
The real irony here is that PJTV, a 21st Century, Internet-based news organization is sending a reporter–who doesn’t want reporters to report on war–to report on a war. And apparently Joe would love to return to the days when the news was influenced by the government and seen at the theater.
Another outstanding milblogger and embedded reporter, JD Johannes, had this to say,
PJTV, the first majorly funded new media venture of its kind, hired, as its first star middle east reporter, a man who thinks the U.S. Military and IDF should yield the media battle space to the enemy.
I don’t know what fantasy world Joe lives in, but the media is going to cover a war however they can get access to it. If the U.S. military or IDF doesn’t allow access, you can bet the Taliban, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaida, Jaish al Mahdi, etc. will become the primary distributors of information. Heck, they already are.
Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive says this was a “National Enquirer level stunt” for Pajamas Media.
Sometimes, you have to hear hard truths from friends to realize the mistakes you have made. Let’s hope Pajamas Media is listening, and booking Joe the Bummer a flight home, ASAP.
With all of this Global Warming in the air, I thought last night was a perfect night for a fire. I went downstairs to grab some old newspaper and a few headlines jumped right off the page. It could have been yesterday’s paper, but it wasn’t.
It was the Boston Sunday Globe, April 15, 2001, page A15.
Mideast blasts kill 1, wound 6
Gaza explosion linked to Hamas
JERUSALEM-One Palestinian was killed and five, including a boy, were seriously wounded in an explosion yesterday in a home in Gaza City, Palestinian police said. Shortly afterward, two bombs explodeed in the Tel Aviv suburb of Kfar Saba, and one person was seriously wounded.
The second headline, again on page A15 in the April 15, 2001 Boston Sunday Globe,
Rocket attack kills one in Israel
KFAR CHOUBA-Lebanon- Hezbollah fighters hit an Israeli tank in the Glan heights with a rocket yesterday, killing a soldier and prompting Israeli airstrikes on suspected guerilla camps in southern Lebanon.
And some people today want you to believe that none of this would be happening if only Israel had worked harder for peace.
The agony comes courtesy of the slow motion train wreck that is Roger Clemens retirement,
Grand jury to consider Roger Clemens perjury evidence
A federal grand jury will begin hearing evidence as soon as Tuesday in Washington about whether Roger Clemens lied under oath before Congress last February when he vehemently denied using anabolic steroids and human growth hormone during his illustrious career.
After considering witness testimony and other evidence federal agents have gathered in the past year, evidence sources called “overwhelming,” the grand jurors will be asked to authorize prosecutors to issue a criminal indictment against the seven-time Cy Young Award winner.
The ecstasy came today for Jim Rice, who was selected to the MLB Hall of Fame in his last year of eligibility,
The fierce and feared slugger who spent his entire 16-year major league career with the Red Sox, was named on 76.4 percent of the ballots. Seventy-five percent is required for induction. Rice received 412 of 539 votes, just seven more than the minimum amount necessary…
…Rice, who batted .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs from 1974-89 while following Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski in the Red Sox tradition of superstar left fielders, is the first player to be elected in his final year of BBWAA eligibility since 1975, when longtime Pirates star Ralph Kiner was chosen.
“It was a big relief,” Rice said during a 4 p.m. press conference at Fenway Park. “I didn’t have any weight on my shoulders, per se. But when I got the call, it seemed like everything fell back.
“It’s like, I’m not nervous. It’s over with. I feel real good.”
I was glad to see Jim Rice get into the Hall for a couple of reasons. First, I never liked the idea that bitter sports writers could keep Rice out because he didn’t play enough grab ass with them in the clubhouse. Second, I think that Rice’s career has been underappreciated because it immediately preceeded the steroid era. When the cartoonish offensive numbers started happening the mid-1990s, Rice’s didn’t seem so great by comparison. Now, in the wake of the exposure of the steroid era in baseball, Rice is a Hall of Famer, Roger Clemens is in a photo finish with a grand jury and Mark McGuire’s percentrage of the vote fell for the third consecutive year, to 21.9 percent. It takes 75% to get in.
Speaking of sportswriters, here’s Dan Shaughnessy and Nick Cafardo,
Bruce McQuain from QandO joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce is a veteran of the Vietnam war and spent 28 years in the U.S. Army. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match.
Tonight Bruce told us about Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment and Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter,
They are heroes because thousands of pounds (of explosives) would’ve made its way through the gate and many more of us wouldn’t be here,†said Lance Cpl. Lawrence Tillery, a rifleman with 3rd Platoon. “I have a son back home, and I know if that truck would’ve made it to where it was going – I wouldn’t be here today. Because of Lance Cpl. Haerter and Cpl. Yale, I will be able to see my son again. They gave me that opportunity.
The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden's series at Blackfive. Bruce McQuain from QandO does an incredible job with the series every week.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 8-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
Jon Henke from The Next Right returned to Pundit Review Radio tonight for a discussion about what Republicans should do with the Obama stimulus proposal in the short term (it’s a trap), and what they need to do longer term to come back. We also discussed the next generation of GOP leaders and whether or not they had the critical media relations skills necessary to be effective today. Neither of us was very hopeful.
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 8-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
According to Morningstar, best CEO in 2008 was Warren Buffett. Way to go out on a limb!
Investors can learn a lot from studying Buffett’s actions, but his decisions to stay on the sidelines are also notable. Indeed, he steered Berkshire Hathaway from many of the temptations that have caused competitors to crash and burn this past year. For instance, Buffett warned back in 2003 that derivatives were “financial weapons of mass destruction” that are “time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system.” Given all that has transpired in 2008, these statements–and Berkshire’s actions–look especially prescient. While American International Group , Ambac (NYSE:ABK – News), and other competitors now wallow in bankruptcy or near-bankruptcy, Berkshire is as financially healthy as ever.
Beyond derivatives, Berkshire also avoided excessive leverage back when credit was flowing a little too easy and asset prices were too high. In mid-2007, the opening salvos of the credit crisis were being shot across the subprime mortgage market, and many financial firms were levered to the hilt. Yet Berkshire had $47 billion–over one third of its equity at the time–in cash and cash equivalents, most of it unencumbered. By practicing prudence and patience earlier in the decade, Berkshire was in a position to put large amounts of capital to work in 2008. In other words, rather than blowing its ammunition hunting squirrels a few years ago, Berkshire has been able to shoot the proverbial elephants now walking by.
Alice Schroeder’s Snowball: Warren Buffett and the business of life was one of the best books of 2008. The first authorized biography of Buffet was anything but a puff piece. This was a warts and all account of a fascinating man. I had the pleasure of spending about 40 minutes talking with Ms. Schroeder about this book.
UPDATE II: Here is my interview with Ret. Lt. Col. Michael Strobl and Gretchen Mack on Pundit Review Radio
UPDATE: As you will see in the comments below, Chance Phelps mother Gretchen Mack was kind enough to contact us. It was an honor to get the opportunity to speak with her on Pundit Review Radio,
The best thing we do at Pundit Review Radio is our weekly tribute to the troops, a segment called Someone You Should Know. The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Today, Bruce McQuain from QandO does an incredible job with the series every week. Bruce is a veteran of the Vietnam war and spent 28 years in the U.S. Army. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match.
Back in September 2006, Blackfive published a book called Blog of War: Frontline dispatches from Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the many amazing stories in the book was called Taking Chance Home,
Marine Lieutenant Colonel Strobl’s account of escorting the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps. It’s a long and beautifully written and it deserves to be read in it’s entirety. It’s about Valor, Honor and Respect.
I cannot recommend this post more. I can’t imagine that you will ever read anything that will make you more proud to be an American.
We interviewed Blackfive about the book and the story of Taking Chance Home came up during a phone call from a Gulf War vet. Listen to Blackfive’s moving description of the story,
Today, Blackfive has an update. Taking Chance Home has been made into an HBO movie starring Kevin Bacon as Marine Lieutenant Colonel Strobl. Here is the trailer,