patfromlogan
3/09/2005 11:56am,
http://www.freep.com/news/politics/thomas8e_20050308.htm
In her column, Ann Coulter was exonerating the presidential press club ringer,Jeff Gannon, who was caught red-handed asking friendly questions at a White House press briefing , she made the following remark.
" Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president."
The Middle Eastern papers and blogs have, for some odd reason, picked this up, as have Arab-Americans.
The right wing tries to paint her as senile. As Helen said in an address in MIT, "I censored myself for 50 years when I was a reporter," said Thomas, who is now a columnist for Hearst News Service. "Now I wake up and ask myself, 'Who do I hate today?'" Her short list of answers seems not to vary from war, President Bush, timid office-holders, a muffled press and cowed citizens, pretty much in that order. "I have never covered a president who actually wanted to go to war. Bush's policy of pre-emptive war is immoral - such a policy would legitimize Pearl Harbor. It's as if they learned none of the lessons from Vietnam,"
More Helen quotes:
"Everything that's done by the government is done in your name. You are responsible whether you like it or not."
"My God, the man is a fascist -- a fascist, I tell you." (on Bush)
"I tell you, the woman is a monster, a monster, a monster. The lady is a goddamn liar." (on Condi Rice)
"I've covered nine presidents, all men, and I always believed that a woman could do their job, even better. It's not a question of muscle."
and check out this exchange with Ari Fleisher if you think she might be senile:
http://www.antiwar.com/comment/helen.html
and here's an Helen Thomas interview:
Q: This President has not had many press conferences. Do you think the Bush Administration values the opportunity to talk with the press?
Thomas: Hell, no. He's forced to. It's absolutely necessary because we are there in their face. But he doesn't hold enough news conferences. It's far short of anybody else. And when he appears with a head of state and they try to act like it's a news conference, it's not. He says, "I'll take two questions here and two questions on that side," and there's no follow-up. He gets mad if it is a two-part question. I mean, c'mon. The President of the United States should be able to answer any question, or at least dance around one. At some time--early and often--he should submit to questioning and be held accountable, because if you don't have that then you only have one side of the story. The Presidential news conference is the only forum in our society, the only institution, where a President can be questioned. If a leader is not questioned, he can rule by edict or executive order. He can be a king or a dictator. Who's to challenge him? We're there to pull his chain and to ask the questions that should be asked every day, for every move.
Q: Has President Bush given you a nickname?
Thomas: I'm sure it's profane, but I don't know what it is. I don't blame him for not liking me; I ask very tough questions. He doesn't have to like me. I would prefer that he respect me. We don't have to be liked. We didn't go into this business to be liked or loved. If we did, we're making a big mistake. It's not the point. You cannot have a democracy without an informed people.
Q: In a June 2003 column, you wrote that we should have an open mind while asking tough questions of the Bush Administration regarding its credibility on weapons of mass destruction. A year later, do you think the Bush Administration is losing credibility?
Thomas: Absolutely. Where are the weapons? Where's the smoking gun? Where's the mushroom cloud? Where's the imminent threat? Where was ever the threat? Are you kidding?
In her column, Ann Coulter was exonerating the presidential press club ringer,Jeff Gannon, who was caught red-handed asking friendly questions at a White House press briefing , she made the following remark.
" Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president."
The Middle Eastern papers and blogs have, for some odd reason, picked this up, as have Arab-Americans.
The right wing tries to paint her as senile. As Helen said in an address in MIT, "I censored myself for 50 years when I was a reporter," said Thomas, who is now a columnist for Hearst News Service. "Now I wake up and ask myself, 'Who do I hate today?'" Her short list of answers seems not to vary from war, President Bush, timid office-holders, a muffled press and cowed citizens, pretty much in that order. "I have never covered a president who actually wanted to go to war. Bush's policy of pre-emptive war is immoral - such a policy would legitimize Pearl Harbor. It's as if they learned none of the lessons from Vietnam,"
More Helen quotes:
"Everything that's done by the government is done in your name. You are responsible whether you like it or not."
"My God, the man is a fascist -- a fascist, I tell you." (on Bush)
"I tell you, the woman is a monster, a monster, a monster. The lady is a goddamn liar." (on Condi Rice)
"I've covered nine presidents, all men, and I always believed that a woman could do their job, even better. It's not a question of muscle."
and check out this exchange with Ari Fleisher if you think she might be senile:
http://www.antiwar.com/comment/helen.html
and here's an Helen Thomas interview:
Q: This President has not had many press conferences. Do you think the Bush Administration values the opportunity to talk with the press?
Thomas: Hell, no. He's forced to. It's absolutely necessary because we are there in their face. But he doesn't hold enough news conferences. It's far short of anybody else. And when he appears with a head of state and they try to act like it's a news conference, it's not. He says, "I'll take two questions here and two questions on that side," and there's no follow-up. He gets mad if it is a two-part question. I mean, c'mon. The President of the United States should be able to answer any question, or at least dance around one. At some time--early and often--he should submit to questioning and be held accountable, because if you don't have that then you only have one side of the story. The Presidential news conference is the only forum in our society, the only institution, where a President can be questioned. If a leader is not questioned, he can rule by edict or executive order. He can be a king or a dictator. Who's to challenge him? We're there to pull his chain and to ask the questions that should be asked every day, for every move.
Q: Has President Bush given you a nickname?
Thomas: I'm sure it's profane, but I don't know what it is. I don't blame him for not liking me; I ask very tough questions. He doesn't have to like me. I would prefer that he respect me. We don't have to be liked. We didn't go into this business to be liked or loved. If we did, we're making a big mistake. It's not the point. You cannot have a democracy without an informed people.
Q: In a June 2003 column, you wrote that we should have an open mind while asking tough questions of the Bush Administration regarding its credibility on weapons of mass destruction. A year later, do you think the Bush Administration is losing credibility?
Thomas: Absolutely. Where are the weapons? Where's the smoking gun? Where's the mushroom cloud? Where's the imminent threat? Where was ever the threat? Are you kidding?