
We caught Tiny in a Rembrandt Moment this afternoon as she stared atop Tuck's computer at things we don't see in the countdown to supper. Update from Tuck in the comments: "Here is a masterpiece. This portrait speaks to the wonder of our beloved companions; here is a thinking, compassionate, responsive, introspective being."
Alpha blogger Ann Althouse may protest — too much? — but we have never felt prouder of our association with Pajamas Media than we are at the thought of Roger L. Simon & Company's inspired decision to hire Joe the Plumber as Israel war correspondent for PJTV. Once there, JTP's hooking up with our sub rosa blogfriend Richard Landes and Danny Seaman, Israel’s GPO (Government Press Office) director, reports Roger. Being a bit behind in our blog reading, we happened to first hear about it all last night from the lips of Bret Baier, cutie-pie new host of Fox News's "Special Report with Brit Hume,"** and delving further today were delighted to see that everyone's talking about it, from the straight-reporting Times of India to a predictably snickering NYT. The usual suspects are horrified, as Roger explains:
This has created quite a brouhaha in the media — cable television, newspapers, wire services, etc. Everyone from CNN to gawker.com has something to say about Joe heading for the Middle East …
To be honest, some (maybe much) of this reportage is pretty snotty. Nora O’Donnell of MSNBC — herself an MA in international relations, lahdeedah — fairly frothed at the mouth at the prospect of the unqualified Joe having the temerity to report news in a foreign land. Those hipoisie over at Gawker weren’t too charitable either.
Evidently, a lot of people are annoyed that Joe’s fifteen Warhol minutes aren’t quite over yet. Or perhaps they’re threatened that a common man can be a reporter simply by asking common sense questions — no Columbia J-school degree required.

Self Portrait as a Young Man by Rembrandt van Rijn. 1634, Oil on canvas. Uffizi, Florence, "It shows the artist with a strong-willed expression, in an extremely natural, uneffected three-quarter pose; the figure is illuminated by a light coming from the left whose spreading glow enlarges the space which serves as a background." Compare Tiny's natural, uneffected three-quarter pose with light coming from the right, above.
We totally agree with Althouse commenter ricpic, who asks rhetorically why Ann is not amused:
Why? Because he isn't credentialed? Intelligence and good sense — which Joe has in abundance — are fungible. He'll make an excellent war correspondent.
Ann has her reasons, discernible in a parsing of her own comments following her post, but we haven't been so energized since the moment last summer when Sarah Palin sprung full blown into our consciousness in a Larry Kudlow interview we stumbled upon at YouTube when rumors were rumbling that the Alaska Governor would be McCain's VP pick. And now Garbo Palin talks in a totally awesome exclusive interview with John Ziegler of howobamagotelected.com, featured today at Andrew Breitbart's spanking new run-against-the-cultural-herd Big Hollywood. Ziegler leaves Gibson and Couric and their fellow-traveling Northeast Corridor conservatives in the dust.
Now back to the cultural left's apoplexy at the idea of Joe the Plumber in Israel, from an imail conversation this evening:
We: You are known by your enemies. They feel threatened.
She: I am heartsick for Israel. I hope they stick to their rockets, and continue to STAND AND FIGHT!
We: They MUST.
She: The lying spinning that has become the mantra … "Israel is inhumane." The world has, indeed been co-opted by insane ideologies.
We: It is SO medieval. It is more important for leftists to be in solidarity with their "tribe" than to seek truth.
Speaking of truth seekers, here's Roger L. Simon with the next-to-the-last word:
I must say I find amusing the idea of Joe lined up with all the telephoto cameras at that Gaza media overlook with Cooper, Amanpour, et al. It’s certainly the stuff of Frank Capra.
And now the last word, from a post of ours back in March of 2005:
The importance of being noticed makes the world go 'round, from al-Queda types who intimidate through cold-blooded murder of innocents to impress their "brothers," to internet hackers who wreak havoc amongst online innocents to impress their own fellow travelers. On the good side, each one of us seeks, through our accomplishments, to earn a place of honor among our peers. The real issue is, whom do we select as our peers.
We're throwing in our lot with the brothers and sisters of Pajamas Media and Big Hollywood.
Update: Roger tickles our funny bone in the comments:
Thanks, Sissy. I have sent this post to my mother.
That's her Barney!*

Update II: Ziegler's Palin interview at Breitbart's Big Hollywood gets the red-link treatment at Drudge (screenshot above). You go, boys!
Update III: Unlike Althouse, Instapundit is amused:
WELL, DUH. Still, there’s a value to stating the obvious.
Thanks for the link, Professor.
Update IV: Michelle Malkin asks — and answers —"Who’s afraid of Joe the Journalist?"
Update VI: Lots more amusements at Modulator's Friday Ark #225.
*"That's my Barney" is one of our sis's favorite quotations from her favorite musical, "The Music Man," the words every proud mother calls out when she sees the flesh of her flesh doing her proud.
** Thanks to readers kimsch of Musing Minds and megrez 80 in the comments for FoxNews corrections.
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