HELEN THOMAS RETIRED (APPLAUSE)
LONG OVERDUE
Give someone enough rope, an open mike, an audience, and eventually they will shoot themselves. Helen Thomas finally said the wrong thing, which at times is normal for her, but this time of choosing at the wrong time and place, resulting in media death by verbal suicide.
Her anti-semitic remarks cutting deep and unabridged surfaced on a very open venue. More on that, but I am puzzled a bit. I just kept thinking if she hates the Jewish people that much what else does she think about the President being black, or his right hand man an Orthodox Jew? I find those that have the DNA for hate, are not limited in scope. They are equal opportunity haters.
President Obama must have been a cultural shock. After digging a bit, suspicions became reality, but to credit her she was tough with many Presidents and press spokespersons. Tough because in essence she was a wild card. You did not know what to expect. But as digging will do, I realized it was as long as the agenda suited hers, it was OK to do what she wanted, when she wanted. I could not find one White House Press secretary with positive feelings towards her.
Some like Tony Snow on occasion had to put her in her place. That really makes me wonder how much of what she created was slanted in her view. What of the others we have in the media and Congress with personal opinion overtaking reporting the news.
And when you look at her life, you are more puzzled. She was born in Winchester, Kentucky. Her parents, George and Mary immigrated to the U.S. from Tripoli, which was then Syria and today is Lebanon. Her parents were illiterate which lends credit to the educational system here.
Thomas said "I was very lucky to be born in America. My family was never hyphenated as Arab-Americans". Her parents adopted the name Thomas at Ellis island. We were American, and I have always rejected the hyphen and I believe all assimilated immigrants should not be designated ethnically."
She said, of growing up in Detroit in the 1920s, "I felt I was dropped from another planet. The wanted to make you feel you weren't 'American'..We were called 'garlic eaters'". She was called "foreigner" in Detroit schools, leading to her coming home in tears.
Here is the puzzle. She is one who should understand prejudice first hand. Here is someone who was the center of the attack. And now she is an attacker. Years ago, I did some research on child abuse and found commonality in those that had been abused, became abusers, a higher than normal ratio. Thats the only explanation I have.
BUTT PARKING SPACES
In her later years she was more of an Op-Ed columnist rather than a line reporter which many in the media questioned as the seat positions in the press room are like boxes at the Yankee stadium or pieces on the chess board.
Seats and positioning are important in press circles. Line reporters from major agencies and seniority or notoriety get the front rows. She had her own reserved chair for years. It had to be respect for her age and longevity.
Now I know how Seinfeld felt when Lady Gaga was given his seat at the Stadium and promptly used it to give hand signals. Not to steal a base, or a bunt signal but to where or whom the single finger salute was meant for, who knows. Certainly not the guy who got the picture, Lady Gaga is dead without the press covering her antics. By the way, it is suspect (by one of the conspiracy groups) that those bars under those seats are ejection devices (like in the Bond Cars) and on many occasions, White House spokespersons were tempted to use them. But the cameras were on.
FAIR AND BALANCED
In the media that is the difference between a staff reporter and an op-ed, columnist writer. One reports as accurately as possible what happened and the other adds an interpretation, their's, as to what happened.
It's simple enough to see. On CNN Wolf Blitzer reports the news, then he turns to his guests, familiar faces steeped in Political rhetoric. One is from the GOP's RNC and one from the DNC. The thing about CNN is it's red , white and blue. Wolf is the neutral white, but you will get, just like in billiards, the right spin and the left spin. The red and the blue get a shot at it. On cable, it's FOX (RED) vs. MSNBC (BLUE) with no holds barred and lots of spin. Thats why many like myself want the written reporter version of what happened so we can make the judgments.
LIKE YEAST INFECTIONS - THE SOUTH SHALL RISE AGAIN
Hate is not new it's just covered up better. What does the southern (R) coalition think? Obviously some are still fighting the war between the states. The truth will arise when the dry cleaners come forth with the pointy hoods and bedsheets.
I live in the south, I see and I hear the thoughts of those who smile and on the surface do a good job of hiding their real thoughts. I call it posing. I have acquaintances (NOT REAL FRIENDS) who if left to their own imagination could easily put this country back 100 years in time and freedoms fought and died for, and they would be happy. They'll tell you how non-bigoted they are. Two drinks and you get another version of the civil-rights bill.
Do we really know how much slant is in the news, and views and how much hate is in the hearts of those we elected?. Bring the papers back in full force and get the writers that are not biased, those that don't have agendas and simply report the news. Thats why I still get the paper every day.
TOUGH REPORTING INCLUDING A "LITTLE" HATE
Ms. Thomas, who returned to the White House in November 2008 after an extended illness greeted President Obama who was talking about the “economic crises,” with the following bomb.
THOMAS: Mr. President, do you think that Pakistanis are maintaining the safe haven in Afghanistan for these so-called terrorist, and also do you know of any place in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons?
The President: First to the issue of nuclear capabilities in the Middle East. Everyone knows that Israel is the only nuclear-weaponized country in the Middle East, but of course, it cannot be admitted publicly…because other countries might want to do the same.
So Helen was hoping for a bombshell (or a laid egg) from this new President but she didn’t get it. She interrupted him mid-sentence a couple of times, and while it isn’t clear what she was saying, Obama didn’t want to go there. He didn’t allow the follow-up. He has reason to sidestep her.
THOMAS: While running for the presidency she declared “he’s no Martin Luther King:” He’s galvanized the youth vote of this country, but I have yet to see what he has done to take the highest office in the land. He is no Martin Luther King and his campaign, like all others, is backed by people with deep pockets.
The President: About the “so-called terrorists” in Pakistan-Afghanistan. Ms. Thomas has her own unique, ever-present way of showing her rabid anti-Semitism, and Islamist appeasing ways, and has no shame for beaming aid and comfort to the “so-called terrorists,” each and every time the camera swings her way.
When Tony Snow was Press Secretary for the Bush White House, she relentlessly badgered him about the Israel-Lebanon ‘Summer War,’ until he thanked her for her “Hezbollah view.” The exchange went on and on, until Snow ended it with “All right, this is hectoring now.
... In the back of Obama’s mind, he must have been thinking about how he would handle Helen Thomas.
THE LADDER: "If it were me the choices were evident. strangulation, or suffocation".
THE NEW GAFF CAUGHT ON TAPE (Condensed)
David F. Nesenoff is a Rabbi in New York. His Web site is RabbiLIVE.com. "We were on the White House front lawn when I told the teenagers that approaching us was the most famous reporter in the world, Helen Thomas, a veteran who had covered presidents from Kennedy to Obama".
We stopped her. I told Thomas that the young men were starting out in the press corps and hoped to be reporters. She kindly shared notes about journalism with us. "You'll always keep learning," she said. It was an honor.
Then I asked: "Any comments on Israel? We're asking everybody today." Like saying a password to enter a new, secret place. "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," she replied, and "go home" to Poland and Germany.
The gentle give and take has now been broadcast, transcribed and thoroughly dissected. I merely asked a question with a video camera to a columnist. She answered me with an opinion that was unacceptable not just to me but to former and current press secretaries, politicians, the president, her agent and a great many other people. Her freedom of speech was not stifled; on the contrary, it was respected.
She didn't say that the blockade was unjust, or that aid was not getting to Gaza, or that there was a massacre on the high seas, or that East Jerusalem is occupied, or that the settlements are immoral . . . and get out and go back to West Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Eilat. No. This was not the two-state solution. This was get the hell out and go back to the places of the final solution, Poland and Germany. The Jew has no connection with the land of Israel. And why? Because, as Thomas went on to explain to me, "I'm from Arab descent."
That's it? That's all you got? Do we all travel with only our parents' stereotypes to guide us, never going beyond them to get to a peaceful destination? One may disagree on fences and rights of return. There have been handshakes, summits, accords, cease-fires, negotiations and boycotts. It's all been on the table, under the table or sometimes tabled.
But the connection between the Jew and Israel is valid, historical, ancient, modern, spiritual and eternal. The relationship is beyond the state of Israel. It is a unique relationship of a religion to a land. The Jews are "bnai yisroel," the children of Israel. Even when they are away, they are connected. Even during exiles and diasporas, they are connected. Even during inquisitions, pogroms and a Holocaust, they are connected.
He has received over 25,000 hate letters and death threats since the article. hate is alive, and doing quite well in the United States of America.
END OF AN ERROR ERA
It came fast and it was enveloping.
Thomas's agency, Nine Speakers, Inc., dropped her as a client because of her remarks. Craig Crawford, who co-authored Listen up, Mr. President, said "I ... will no longer be working with Helen on our book projects.”
A commencement speech at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, was canceled by the school. • The White House Correspondents' Association, over which she once presided, called her remarks "indefensible". On June 7, Thomas abruptly tendered her resignation from Hearst Newspapers.
On June 8, in an interview on NBC's Today Show, President Obama said her remarks were "offensive" and "out of line", and called her retirement "the right decision". He said that it was a "shame" her celebrated career had to end in such controversy, and at the same time he recognized her long service covering U.S. presidents, calling her "a real institution in Washington."
THE LADDER - "I thought to myself, maybe she belonged in an institution.."
Her comments also garnered rebukes from numerous others, including White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson. The President of the Society of Professional Journalists said Thomas’s comments were “offensive” and “inexcusable,” and that the Society is considering renaming its Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement. Her alma mater, Wayne State University, said it would keep the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in the Media award, while strongly condemning what it called her "wholly inappropriate comments.".
THE LADDER: You got to be kidding me. "Spirit of Diversity"? Thats about the most Oxymoronic statement I have ever heard since birth seventy eight years ago.. In the land of the free, even the most sacred piece of real estate reflecting our virtues, the White House lawn, has it's moments of hurtful discourse. Our free speech guarantees, even the haters have a voice. The incident even made it to the cartoon artists whom I admire the most for taking a picture and avoiding 1000 words, yet saying it all.
SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE 06-07-2010 MORE POLITICAL SATIRE
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