Jupiter: Jedi or Sith?

Does Jupiter deserve its reputation as the protector of Earth? Perhaps you've heard of this idea: There's a lot of junk floating around in the outer solar system, icy and/or rocky chunks out past Jupiter, that sometimes fall in to the inner solar system, becoming comets. There used to be a lot more of that material, but over the eons Jupiter's immense gravity either drew them into Jupiter itself, or flung them away, ejecting them from the solar system altogether. In this way, Jupiter prevents th...