Plumb Crazy
Jennifer Flaten

I am positive that by now you have heard about Joe the Plumber. Poor guy, all he did was ask a presidential candidate a question.

The next thing you know the media is camped out on his front lawn and probing his background. I agree, the question seemed a little to smooth and pat, he may have been a plant from the other side. Believe it or not, I think people have a right know if he was paid to ask that question.

They just don't have a right to know where he grocery shops or whether his house is in foreclosure or not.

Leave it to the media to ferret out all the details of the guys past. Details that aren't really relevant to the question he asked. Once it was determined, he didn't work for a political group then he should have faded away.

Who cares whether he is a licensed plumber or not? Well, the media that's' who, so they keep digging and digging.

As far as I know, they haven't discovered some deep dark ties to the republican campaign. So it turns out this guy was mostly (except for the license thing) they guy he claimed to be.

I know that in itself, is very amazing. So why the hell is this guy's mug still on my TV set?

Whose fault is it exactly? Is it the fault of the media for making a somebody out of a nobody or is it the fault of the republican who keeps bringing his name up in every campaign speech?

Methinks that pretty soon Joe the Plumber is going to get a cease and desist order against the republican hopeful. Either that or Joe is going to license his name and start charging per utterance.

It is our right; some would say duty, to ask questions of those who would serve us. So why is it such a big deal when some person does exactly that? I don't think it should become the springboard for a multi-million dollar media contract.

Before you know it Joe will have a talk show of his own, his only claim to fame being his asking a simple question. I can see it now "The Plumber" only on FX. I have no idea what topics he would cover; I have no idea who would watch it. Yet, I am sure some TV drone is out there working up a treatment right now.

Welcome to the media circus, making stars out of those who don't want/or deserve it and managing to totally obscure the real meaning of everything they touch.

The point is the guy asked a good question of the candidate. The candidate answered it. Everything else is meaningless. I don't care what brand of T-shirts Joe likes and I really don't care about his business dilemma, enough already.

I think our ability to get our news from multiple outlets is part of what makes America great. We aren't getting our news from one government run source that spews out happy, happy, joy, joy while things are burning down around them. Yet, it is also one of our more annoying industries.

That's right the news is an industry just like anything else, they are out to make one thing-money.

We have solid news agencies that for some reason neglect to fact check stories or journalists and end up embarrassed as all hell. We have stories are worthy of maybe a five minute sound bite turning into a 2 week standoff.

The first to break the story is the first to make the money. Consequently, in their haste to get the news on the air, the truth becomes garbled. Sometimes it is so garbled that the final story bears no resemblance to the original story.

The worst has to be taking the average citizen and turning them into a media celebrity for the entertainment of the masses.

I don't know about you but I am getting real tired of "reality" shows and elevating people with no experience into media consultants or hosts. That is just plumb crazy.