Monday, January 19, 2009

Go Away Joe

So Joe the pseudo plumber is now going to be Joe the pseudo journalist? I’m going to be sick – and not in the pseudo sense.

Seems that anybody with a pen, paper, and a decent set of eyes is calling themselves a journalist. Adding your voice to the public dialogue is a civic duty to be sure, but that doesn’t translate into every voice claiming the professional title. Don’t misunderstand – anyone and everyone should and must participate in a public dialogue about the issues we face. Everyone must be a part of the conversation if we are to find real, sustainable solutions. Democracy is about all voices being heard.

But Joe? This character embodies everything that is divisive and hollow about politics and the media today. What could have been an insightful dialogue between a candidate and a voter was distorted and aggrandized into a sound bite feeding frenzy that has forever embeded “Joe the Plumber” into our vernacular. What value has that contributed to the public dialogue? It’s just another distraction that sucks up so much air in the room that the real issues – a broken health care system, failing schools, a shattered economy – lie suffocating and straining to be heard.

I wish Joe’s 15 minutes were up already. I’m tired of the distraction when we’ve got work to do.

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