You GO, Joe!

LOTS of real truths - facts - out there, for those who bother to look!

As my readers know, I am constantly driven crazy by the overwhelming, obvious, media bias that passes for "news" in the msm. I DO have lots of stuff to share with you (including resources for directly supporting the IDF and their families.) I have to be out and about today, so that will all come later.

In the meantime, came across this piece about "Joe the Plumber" aka Samuel Wurzelbacher. You all know that within the current Operation Cast Lead, the msm has fallen over themselves to get the Hamas/Palestinian side out there. That's the truth, ya know!

It seems that "Joe" is telling the msm how to do their job. I found it first at Michelle Malkin here, and then went over to the Jerusalem Post to get the whole story. Unlike the msm, Joe doesn't "let the facts get in the way of a good story." (My long time readers know the story behind that little phrase.

Joe the Plumber is here, and he ain't happy

Samuel Wurzelbacher of Ohio, aka Joe the Plumber, arrived in Sderot at noon Sunday to show local and foreign reporters how to do it right.

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, has arrived in Israel to cover the war in Gaza.
Photo: AP

"You should be ashamed of yourself," he told foreign reporters.[emphasis mine, of course!]

"You should be patriotic, protect your family and children, not report like you have been doing for the past two weeks since this war has started," he said.

Wurzelbacher, the man who stole the limelight from Republican presidential candidate John McCain during the American election campaign, has found a new job - as a correspondent for the Internet Web sites PJTV and Pajamas Media.

Armed with a camera and a temporary Government Press Office card, he got a taste of reality in Sderot, visiting a house hit by a Kassam rocket two weeks ago and experiencing a "Code Red" alert first-hand. He also observed and reported from the house where a Kassam landed on Sunday afternoon.

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, Wurzelbacher said. "I'm sure they're taking quick showers. I know I would."

He also wondered why Israel waited so long to act. "I know if I were a citizen here, I'd be damned upset." He described himself as a "peaceloving man," but added, "when someone hits me, I'm going to unload on the boy. And if the rest of the world doesn't understand that, then I'm sorry."

Wurzelbacher had already announced that he would arrive in the area for 10 days to cover Operation Cast Lead and to assist in getting out the Israeli side of the story.

"I want the average American Joes to understand the story here from the point of view of someone like them," he told WNWO, a TV channel in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, before heading here.

During the election campaign, Wurzelbacher (who supported McCain) warned Jewish voters in America that voting for President-elect Barack Obama would be a death blow to Israel, saying, "Obama has offered to sit down with the enemies of Israel."

But in Sderot, he seemed just as intent on teaching a thing or two to the media. "Do you think this is normal, the way you cover this conflict and give away information to your enemy?" he asked the journalists that gathered around him.

"It makes me sick to see the way you behave - you guys need to be protective of your homes, your children, your family."

"I am angry," he said, "and this is why I came here." (here)

You tell it like it is, Joe!

As an added backgrounder on current events, take the time to read this piece by IsraeliSoldiersMother:

Sunday, January 11, 2009

An Obligatory War

There is a concept, in Judaism, of an "obligatory war" (known as melchemet mitzvah, in Hebrew). It means a war that must be fought, one where there is no choice. In Biblical times, the term was used most often in connection with defensive wars, when vital interests were at risk. Some incorrectly refer to this as a "religious war" with undertones of Jihad, but that isn't what the term means at all. There is no glory in death, no martyrdom.

Rather, it refers to a war that we are obligated to fight and as such, no one is exempt from it. Why do I mention this (when in truth, until tonight I'm not sure I ever even heard of the concept)?

I was sitting have dinner with my two youngest children, exhausted from another day of teaching and wondering where Elie was, what he was doing. Listening to news of more and more rockets hitting Ashkelon, Sderot, Ofakim, Ashdod and finally coming home to deal with dinner, questions, a stack of laundry that has to be folded and plans for tomorrow that need to be made.

It was easier to let them talk and remind them, no and again, to finish eating or pass me the ketchup or tell them no, you can't have soda today, but there's apple juice. My daughter finished another book. It's amazing how fast she reads. She told me the story, the whole story, of a mother who walked for hours and hours to get her son medicine. She warned me that it started off bad, even "very bad," but then ended "good."

She was getting ready to tell me another story when my youngest son interrupted. "Will Elie make it to my bar mitzvah?" he asked me. It's funny how he chose today to ask that question. Just this morning, an army officer said that it is very possible the war would last through to the end of the month and his bar mitzvah is before that. For the first time, earlier today, I began to contemplate a bar mitzvah without Elie there. No, I can't call it off. Yes, it will take place whether Elie is there or not and yes, the idea is killing me deep inside.

I looked at my son. Truth. I have to be honest. "I don't know," I said. "They said this morning that the war may not end in time. I just don't know."

My daughter was very upset, "that's not fair. He has to come home. Tell them it's for the bar mitzvah." Truth might work with a 12-year-old on the brink of maturity, but it has no place in the heart of an almost 9-year-old who misses her brother terribly.

Before I could say a word, my son turned to my daughter and answered, "It's a melchemet mitzvah," and then went on to explain, "even a chatan [a groom] under the chupah [wedding canopy] has to go if it's a melchemet mitzvah...."

Out of the mouths of babes. You will know I have ALWAYS maintained that our children have so much to teach us, if we are open to the learning. Go and read the rest of this here. You might also want to re-watch the Hamas video she has up there, which I posted a bit ago. THEN keep ALL the Israeli soldiers' families in your thoughts and prayers.