The headline “Joe the Plumber to become war correspondent” screams out for a laff track.

But it’s not a comedy line:

“Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter’s notebook,” reports the Associated Press from Ohio. “The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative website pjtv.com.”

AP says so-called plumber Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, the erstwhile John McCain presidential candidate booster who real reporters revealed lacks a plumbing licence and had failed to pay his taxes, will spend 10 days in the zone. AP quoted him telling a TV station that “he wants to let Israel’s “Average Joes share their story.””

But really, journalists shouldn’t sweat this development: we don’t have licences either. Cue lafftrack.