Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Don't Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out, Helen

Helen Thomas is no longer that "esteemed" dean of the White House press correspondents sitting in the front row of the WH briefing room barking out ridiculous, far left views thanks to her recent anti-Semitic rage caught on video. Tossing history aside, Thomas, who is of Lebanese-American descent, suggested they "get the hell out of Israel and go back to Poland and Germany" where they were once massacred by the millions for simply being Jewish. According to the Politico story linked to above, the WH press correspondents had become increasingly "unsettled" by her views and had long ago written her off, although you wouldn't have known that by the way so many of them have built her up over the years. I can't imagine a conservative-minded reporter with such extremist views as Helen being treated with kid gloves by those same reporters. She couldn't hold back her sheer hatred of George W. Bush, who stopped calling on her altogether, a move that only made her say even meaner things about him. President Barack Obama, not surprisingly, absolutely adored Helen, treating her to cupcakes on her recent birthday. She has earned her great fall from grace. Good riddance.

14 comments:

Marycatherine Barton said...

Helen Thonas is a Semite, a Lebanese-American. I certainly can understand her resigning, and hope she finds much happiness in retirement. Like President Theodore Roosevelt said, the American people do not want to be told the truth. Heck, Socrates was forced to take poison, to protect the children, don't you know.

Blog Admin said...

Even though she is an opinion writer, it is still a rule of thumb in journalism that you report and write stories, and you don't become one. Thomas has become the story with her remarks, and resigning was the right thing to do.

indyernie said...

I say its way past time for Helen to retire. Her left leaning reporting was getting old. Other than the far left I can't imagine anyone following her anymore.

Gary R. Welsh said...

The sad truth is that Helen's anti-Israeli views are not all that much different than many of her liberal colleagues in the media. It has become chic among liberals to bash Israel at every turn and always take the side of the Hezbollah terrorists.

Cato said...

So much for freedom of the press. Helen said what a lot of people know to be true, and she's run out of the press for speaking honestly.

This neocon infatuation with Israel makes the Republican party completely unelectable. Further, the neocon attacks on dissenting speech are downright terrifying.

dcrutch said...

Indy Student expresses it well that Thomas faltered by being honest in a venue that must have a charade. It's not that they disagree with her ideology, it's that she was explicit about it.

I have an opinion, but if somebody can recommend a book covering both sides of this eternal historical feud, I'd be interested in reading it. I don't know of anything comprehensively historical yet close to non-partisan on Israel's presence in the Middle East.

Please. Thanks.

Gary R. Welsh said...

I find more frightening, Cato, the liberals who attack anyone who speaks the truth about Islam as being bigoted. All religions have their dark sides their followers would rather not talk about, but Islam has them all beat.

M Theory said...

That 19 year old kid was held down and shot in the back of the head.

The Israeli's behaved like thugs.

I've read other research that points to the Mossad funding small arms to Hamas so that Israel can use the claim they were provoked.

Hoosier in the Heartland said...

I'm with Cato on this one.

She is entitled to her opinion (and, no, she's not alone).

The Israeli treatment of those who actually lived in Palestine before the creation of the modern state is reprehensible.

Historic mistreatment of a people never justifies contemporary mistreatment of another.

Hoosier in the Heartland said...

And, Advance Indiana, although there is no one "truth about Islam", it is disingenuous of all of us to ignore any culture's "dark side".

Ask Helen Thomas why her ancestors left Lebanon....

Gary R. Welsh said...

The Mossad knows how to conduct business. When the Islamic terrorists killed members of the Israelis olympic team in Munich, the Mossad hunted every damn one of the killers down and assassinated them. The Mossad doesn't pussy foot around with terrorists. Ninety-nine percent of the time the Israelis' actions are correct. Ninety-nine percent of the time their enemies actions are wrong. Some equate that 1% margin of error to the overwhelming margin of error by the enemies of Israel.

Unknown said...

"Anti-Semite" is a phrase that is tossed around so casually like "Nazi", "racist" or "homophobic". "Anti-semite" has begun to get drained of all meaning and is becoming a trivial charge. If you label everybody a "Nazi" pretty soon Godwin's Law kicks in and nobody is a "Nazi".

Were Thomas' comments really "anti-semitic"? She was not attacking the Jewish religion and people as being evil. Rather, she was attacking the occupation of Palestine and the historic events which led to the founding of modern Israel.

Unfortunately, anyone who questions the immaculate conception existence of the modern State of Israel and holds it morally responsible for its actions is labeled/smeared as an anti-Semite by AIPAC and its cheering section on the evangelical right, including two prominent Jewish professors, Mearsheimer & Walt (The Israel Lobby).

By the way you praise the Mossad for "taking care of business" by using worldwide assassination squads. Do you likewise praise the KGB for "taking care of business" in killing Trotsky and Markov and attempting to kill John Paul II? Or, do you praise, radical Islamists for "taking care of business" making Salman Rushdie a "marked man". If not, please explain your double standard.

Finally, I'm far from being a Helen Thomas lover, but agree with her sentiment on this issue although I do not agree with the way she expressed it.

Marycatherine Barton said...

Wayne Madsen reports that Helen did not know that she was being filmed (hidden camera) and was only meaning to answer the question that a rabbi asked her outside the White House. He thinks that this was engineered by Ari Fleischer, who also finagled to get rid of older female White House correspondent, his gang only wanting the stenographer types that the newspapers are now sending to cover President Obama.

Marycatherine Barton said...

corr: of 'another' older female...