I didn’t realize that it would become such a huge deal.
Friday morning I received an email from a friend, Rabbi David Nessenoff which provided me my first look at the video of the now famous explosive interview with Helen Thomas. David had sent the video to a friend at a newspaper who didn’t think it was a big story. My response to David was, give me a few hours and the video would become viral, and given some luck the video would have a half of million views before the end of the weekend (there were a million).
I quickly posted it on my site The Lid, wrote it up for Big Journalism, gave it to Scott Baker who posted it on Breitbart TV , and sent out tweets and emails to most of the large sites. Before I left on a five hour car ride to my brother’s house for the weekend the video was posted on the Big sites on the net. By the end of the day it was on radio and TV and the calls Thomas’ head were all over the place.
Strangely, though I think that Ms. Thomas’ comments were horrible and very anti-Semitic, I do not necessarily agree that Ms. Thomas should be fired for her anti-Semitic rantings. Helen Thomas is merely a symptom of the problem, not the disease. Firing her would be like treating HIV with a band aid.
The mainstream media, which is politically correct about every other ethnic group, feature anti-Semites all of the time without barely a peep about their hatred. I wonder if there would be the same calls for Thomas’ head if she hadn’t already been considered something of a joke by the press corps, someone who has stayed on long past her time.
Just examine the facts; Pat Buchanan who is a holocaust revisionist has a daily gig on MSNBC. Some of Buchanan’s anti-Semitic greatest hits include being, labeled a Jew hater by William F Buckley, blaming the Iraq war on Jews in the American Government, saying the Mossad was behind 9/11 and claiming there were too many Jews on the Supreme court. By the way, Buchanan said the same thing about the Senate three years ago.
If you want to know ethnicity and power in the United States Senate, 13 members of the Senate are Jewish folks who are from 2 percent of the population. That is where real power is at.. (“The McLaughlin Group,” Feb. 2, 2007).
Nobody would dare take Buchanan off of MSNBC, or drop his column from Newsmax, Human Events, or World Net Daily, nor would they stop him from appearing as a guest on programs such as Hannity.
Helen Thomas has a tiny voice compared to Pat Buchanan, yet it is Thomas’ head being called for.
The Huffington Post quoted former Clinton adviser and Democratic Party big shot Lanny Davis as saying:
[H]er statement that Jews in Israel should leave Israel and go back to Poland or Germany is an ancient and well-known anti-Semitic stereotype of the Alien Jew not belonging in the ‘land of Israel’ — one that began 2,600 years ago with the first tragic and violent diaspora of the Jews at the hands of the Romans.
Why doesn’t Davis complain about Al Sharpton? The Reverend has been involved with two anti-Semitic pogroms, one in Crown Heights the other in Harlem. Each of the riots, the Crown Heights pogrom and the one at Freddie’s Fashion Mart in Harlem resulted in deaths. Sharpton has never apologized for either.
Ironically Sharpton recently appeared on Bill O’ Reilly’s show complaining that the Tea Party was inciting violence, but Mr. “No Spin Zone” did not have the guts to confront Sharpton. Unrepentant, the architect of the Tawana Brawley hoax is allowed to speak at the Democratic Convention, is regular guest on Cable News programs like O’ Reilly’s and is an adviser to the President.
There are Jew-haters in the Obama administration, yet the press ignores them. One of the frequently used anti-Semitic stereotypes used across the world is American Jews control the government, especially foreign policy. A few years ago when Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir said as much there was a world-wide outcry, today if anyone makes a similar comment they go work for President Obama, Samantha Power, Chuck Hagel, and unofficial adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, just a few of the Presidential confidantes who have made the charge. Yet the media ignores the President’s nasty habit of picking advisers who are not just anti-Israel, but anti-Jewish.
There are so many more examples of anti-Semites in and out of government, who appear on, or are covered regularly by the mainstream media. Rarely if ever is their hatred pointed out.
Helen Thomas is one of the smaller voices spewing that hatred. If she gets fired, so what, nothing changes. Bigger voices such Pat Buchanan will still be on “Morning Joe,” Al Sharpton will still be the media’s favorite token African American guest, and representatives of CAIR will still appear on Fox News every time there is a Muslim-related issue.
Those in the media do not really care about anti-Semitism; if they cared, there would have been staff changes, and people taken off the guest list long before Rabbi Nessenoff emailed me on Friday morning.
Firing Helen Thomas is the equivalent of giving a life sentence to the college freshman who gets caught selling a joint, when you have the head of the entire cartel served up to you on a silver platter. Ms. Thomas’ comments were disgusting, and this is not the first time she has made anti-Semitic comments. Still, firing her while ignoring the “cartel leaders” such as Sharpton, Buchanan, and the other big haters in the public eye is treating the symptom, but not the disease.
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I agree, however unpleasant her comments are she still has the freedom of speech.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vince Humphreys, Big Tweeting and TheDean&HeadMaster, BigJournalism. BigJournalism said: Helen Thomas Should Not Be Fired — the Real Problem Lies Elsewhere http://bit.ly/bUwpuK [...]
Bully to Helen Thomas. Ari Fleischer and CNN's "blind eye" hypocritical call for stiffling comment must be rebuffed.
Main Stream Media "a pox on both your houses" commentary, is like holding the Resistance in France during WWII equally responsible for the violence in Vichy as the occupying Waffen SS. There are conflicts that include a hefty amount of blame on both sides, but Israel's one-sided land grab, ethnic cleansing and genocidal campaign against the Palestinians who stubbornly refuse to give up the land of their families, communities and ancestors to invaders is not one of them.
The whole Palestinian process should be handed to the UN to mandate the borders for Palestine and then have UN peacekeepers come in and enforce the border. They should also man the border crossings etc.
The convening of an emergency session of the General Assembly where a US veto could not be invoked is necessary to impose on Israel an immediate lifting of the blockade backed by credible collective measures.
DT.
Not condemning evil is just about as good as abetting it.
To compare what Helen said to a freshman getting caught selling a joint is way off base,the very reason this site and others like it was set up is to expose the evil deeds of polititians and media,bring their deeds out into the open and let the reaping begin,all these hate mongers need to be cast out of the publics view and regulated into the back alley where they belong,just because we proclaim free speech you still reap the consequences for what you say,or rather you should,no one who is in the public marketplace should get a free ride concerning antisemetic,race or other forms of discrimination which leads to violence,that works on both sides the fence, what Helen said was bad and she will reap what she has sown,does she even care,I don't think so,she still needs to be held accountable because she just like the others mentioned in your article should,and if that means firing them all so be it.IMHO
The author's point that other people have made similarly outrageous statements is valid. I agree that if Helen Thomas should go (which she should) guys like Buchanan and Sharpton should also go.
I part company with the author when he claims that mentioning that AIPAC is a strong lobbying group is anti-semetic and not merely a statement of fact (AIPAC, the NRA and AARP normally top the lists of most powerful lobbying organizations).
Whether or not AIPAC or any other lobbying organization is 'too powerful' is a matter of perspective. Personally I am reluctant to label lobbying organizations too powerful (though some people like to label effective lobbying groups who support causes they are personally opposed to too powerful). If lobbying groups are pushing politicians in directions the public doesn't want to go, the politicians lose the next election. if the goals of lobbying groups are supported by the public, politicians who go against said groups tend to lose elections. Ultimate power is in the hands of the people.
Look at that top photo. Fox News obviously took its name in hopes of snagging Helen as its main anchor. Wowza!
And we need to get all these opinions out into the sunshine. If people are afraid to speak an opinion, anywhere and at any time, how will I know who it is that I want to invite into my home?
I may not the like the specific language someone uses (not necessary applicable in this case) but I by G-d want know what their thoughts are!
I guess when you live in a amoral society determining who judges right from wrong could be a problem.
Simply the unmasking of the MSM. Helen Thomas is openly stating their belief.
Jeff's point is well taken. It's not enough for me to simply change the channel whenever Al Sharpton or Pat Buchanan appear on FoxNews; I should be actively petitioning the managers to cease treating them like serious commentators OR I should demand of the opinion show hosts O'Reilly and Hannity that their guests' offensive views be aggressively challenged.
Anything else is complicity.
As for Buchanan, he is basically an editorialist. His opinions are offered respectfully. Helen Thomas is a journalist and is obliged to offer opinion free facts. Her statements were revealing and odious. Thanks to the Author for pointing several administration members who are obviously dangerous to the well being of Israel. This Administration has given these types safe cover to launch their hate revealing rhetoric.
You forgot to mention the part about Jewish people living in the land of THEIR families (AKA Jerusalem and Judea and all over the area now called Israel). "Land grab": What happened when Israelis vacated Gaza? Remember? The "Palestinians" were claiming that the whole reason they were launching rockets into Israel was because of Gaza. When the Israelis left, the rocket attacks increased.
The UN? You want to let the UN control borders? The UN is corrupt. Maybe you think we should stop our cruel quasi-enforcement of OUR Southern border with Mexico too?
The only way there will be "peace" in the Middle East is if Arabs grow up, or if they are made to submit through superior force, OR they are allowed to succeed in destroying Israel. I don't have a lot of hope for the "growing up" option.
Helen Thomas IS a symptom of the problem and while she has free speech rights, they do not entitle her to a platform to spout her hateful opinions.
She has become the face of the White House press corp. It needs a face lift and she needs to retire to a home for old biddies. The real story here is the extent to which the lame stream media have ignored her racist rant.
The LA Times waited until Sunday night to write that Lanny had commented on it. The Denver Post has yet to cover it.
The east coast papers have given it minimal coverage and the broadcast networks are silent.
Trotty (above) is a complete and total idiot. The UN is a worthless collection of do nothings and a waste of American tax payers money. They have had "Peace Keepers" on the Israeli-Lebanese border for a decade and they do nothing but watch Hezbollah build and arm bunkers and store rockets in civilian homes. Expecting anything productive from the UN is as foolish as expecting Obamacare to work.
There are standards that should be followed in our White House, these people are stewart's and speak for the American people…although the White House is taken over by unAmerican's at this time…Isreal is a nation we protect and respect and has always been a friend to America. All this anti-Isreal trash going around is just that…Isreal has kepted the middle east from blowing the world up with the radical fools on all sides.Gaza Strip is getting out of hand..with Obama supporting Hamas and all the other radical countries its become worse…Impeach Obama now before he kills us all.
Yes she can spew whatever hatred she wants, but there can and should be consequences. I believe she should be put out to pasture.
Er, please, you all source these "free speech rights" you are talking about now. I know there's a little matter of "Congress shall make no…", but as this doesn't involve government power, not too sure what the issue is. She has no "free speech rights", as this is a PRIVATE matter, and she has no right to be HEARD, in either case.
As someone who one day wants to own and operate my own business: If Helen Thomas worked for me, she'd have been fired the minute i saw that video.
She should not be fired, shel should be sent back to where she came from.
Same old same old…
Typical Lib PC double standard crap.
Now if she were talking about Obama or Muslims, there'd be hell to pay!
Although her comments are a symptom of the greater problem and one which has been escalating over the decades since Israel was granted the lands after the war, Helens comments are not and should not be proper for a member of the media. If the media is to be the voice of political correctness such as the case of Imus or Rush, where the comments are taken OUT OF CONTEXT, then her comments which are in context are even more egregious.
Helen should be dismissed.
She has overstayed her usefulness.
Of course they keep Buchannan around because he's a conservative. In case you haven't noticed, they don't want conservatives to look good. Now all FOX has to do is give Helen her own show and let her say what she wants. Nobody who listens could possibly want to be a leftist after that. I'm pretty sure that's why Al Sharpton gets so much face time.
She should definitely have her White House press credentials revoked, as far as the question of firing is concerned I would prefer to see her retire and go silently into the night.
She has the right to say what she wants. She does NOT have the right to draw a paycheck for it.
Same old same old…
Typical Lib PC double standard crap.
Now if she were talking about Obama or Muslims, there'd be hell to pay!
Actually, she does, so long as her employer sees nothing wrong with her bigotry. Consumers can vote with THEIR money, however, and maybe force her employer to see things THEIR way.
So right about the UN, I mean, it's just criminal that one member of the security council can veto a resolution. Look at all the times China or Russia has blocked something everyone else was on board with.
/sarc
"Helen Thomas is a journalist and is obliged to offer opinion free facts. "
Haven't you heard that the Left decided long ago that it was unrealistic for journalists to keep their views separate from their reportage? Helen Thomas is an editorialist also; she just expects others to believe otherwise.
She has a Constitutionally-protected right to say whatever she likes, so long as her speech does not endanger anyone. And whomever wishes to hear her speech, may. I know many people (TOO many!) agree with her opinion that the Jews are trouble wherever they are and if they would only just go away, the world would be all unicorns and hot cocoa. I happen to disagree with her, and am exercising my Constitutionally-protected right to say so publicly.
No, you have the right to free speech anywhere, anytime. The problem is that she has a platform from which to launch her speech; no one is obligated to give her that. That she can make a statement like she made and will continue to have a platform for her speech after the matter of her two-week suspension is served is a symptom of the problem. Imagine what would have happened if she had chosen instead to tell all American blacks that they should just go home to Africa. Imagine anyone with a mass speech platform saying that. How long do you think they would have lasted no matter who they were? That she says something that is just as inherently hateful and will stil be given a mass speech platform is indicative of the level anti-semitism in our media today.
Being a liberal/progressive means only having to say you're sorry after casting the most demeaning of slurs and insults, then you'll be forgiven. It's time the old bag retired.
or if she were talking about one-legged, black, transgendered, earth-worshiping, vegan, lesbians; or closeted gay, half-white, Pancasila-stylee, Chicago-formed, communist cousin-campaigning, human teleprompters.
This article lays out the indicators of a "disease," with no identification of the disease and its cure.
It begs the question of we who write and we who opine. Will we be able to report on this disease and
be courageous to ferret out the cure?
If anti-semitism is the disease, if bigotry is the name of such cancer, will we have the guts to eradicate
it from our reporting and from our editorial linguistics? We will we cut out the tumors of calumny or have we let them
metastasize into acceptable behavior?
Freedom of speech should not absolve murder by tongue or pen or keystroke.
Matthew 5:21, 22 a
"Helen Thomas has a tiny voice compared to Pat Buchanan, yet it is Thomas’ head being called for."
I think you miss an important point regarding how deeply hateful Ms. Thomas's remarks truly are. She said that the Jews should go back to Germany, Poland, etc. It was common when I was a kid to hear people talk about how the "n-words" show go back to Africa. Her comments were the same, with one exception: no one saying that black people should go "back" to Africa thought that black people had left Africa to avoid genocide.
There are levels of racism and anti-semitism. Ms. Thomas has reached levels that Pat Buchanan has never approached. It's one thing to note that Jews have power disproportionate to their numbers in the Senate (or in banking , Hollywood, journalism, medicine, law firms, etc); it's quite another to want them to go "back" to places most have never seen, and from where they as a people were persecuted to a degree that is mind-boggling.
All she did was say what most "progressives" really believe, that the Jews should get out of Palestine.
She should not be fired. In fact, she should be crowned Queen of Old Media, because that is exactly what she is.
What's kind of funny, is that I always assumed she was Jewish, I don't know why, but I did.
Actually, she should be sent back to where her parents came from: Lebanon. That would be more appropriate, given that she is saying that generations of people who have been born in Israel should be sent "back" to Germany and Poland.
It's a shame about Patrick J Buchanan…I like everything else about him. This anti Semitism and Jew hatred runs deep in some parts of the American Catholic community on the left and the Right…..
The source, from what I can surmise, is the Catholics blame the Jews for the sell-out murder and crucifiction of Christ..
But like I tell my crazy sister who feels this way…"according to Scripture" all of that was preordained necessary in order to eradicate "original sin"..So blaming any one group is senseless…
All falls on deaf ears…
And Helen Thomas should just retire…in GAZA
I say the U.S. should take the handcuffs off of Israel and let them throw down. Just watch their backs so no one jumps in… In three weeks the Mossad and IDF would have that entire region cleaned up, and all of their issues solved. It would be better for everyone.
I, too, as a rock-ribbed Conservative am quite tired of people talking about "free speech" out of context. The right to free speech in the First Amendment applies to government control over speech. We all have the right — the obligation, actually — to condemn any speech that we so strenuously disagree with. That's part of the free exchange of ideas that this country depends upon.
The trick is whether or not the government can do anything about her "free speech." Can they revoke her journalist's pass because of her comments? That is not something I can readily agree to. The government has a right to verbally condemn her speech, but to take official action against her because of it would cross a line that I, as a Conservative, do not feel comfortable with.
So, you're saying that she shouldn't be fired because everybody else does it too? It doesn't matter if she's a symptom of a larger problem. You have to start fixing it somewhere, and she's as good a place to start as anywhere else. Yes, other people should be taken to task for their comments too, but that doesn't negate what she said, and it doesn't change what the outcome should be. Racism is racism, and should be dealt with whenever it happens.
I don't recall seeing any calls for government action against Thomas. You are correct that they have no right noe authority to impinge on her right to free speech.
That responsibility lies with the lame stream media to police their own. The government does not even determine who is a member of the White House press corp. According to former press secretary Fleischer, even that would be considered and attempt to unduly influence the press.
That group of chattering libs decide who may sit among them, and they will have to decide if Thomas is to remain the face of their club.
First, its an outright lie that Buchanan said that the Mossad was 'behind' 9/11. He pointed out that the Mossad is suspected of spying in the US, particularly on Arab and Arab-Americans here. He showed the evidence that might lead to that conclusion.
Let's look at other charges. He had the bad taste to defend a retired autoworker from false charges, and eventually was proven right by the Israeli Supreme Court. He points out that Israel has spied on the US in the past — which it has. He points out that it has actually attack a US Navy ship, and killed American sailors — as it has. And he points out that Jews are way disproportionately represented in the Senate and now, the Supreme Court — which of course they are. That has consequences, the overwhelming number of Jews are liberal, I think around 80% voted for Obama. Jewish Supreme Court justices are generally moderate to liberal, (I can't think of Breyer even as conservative). Jewish Americans have a variety of organizations engaging in political action *as Jews*, claiming to speak for the Jewish community (the ADL, AIPAC, JINSA).
So ethnicity/religion are real issues, and it is legitimate of Buchanan to point them out. This columnist simply wants to shut up critics of an ethnoreligious group that organizes itself as such to participate in politics. Sorry, but if you want to play the game, you are subject to criticism.
You idiot. The "UN" should just go in and solve everything? The "UN"? Why not just hand off the entire problem to Iran and Ahmanutjob?
It seems that you are arguing for a Final Solution. Those don't seem to work out very well.
[...] » Helen Thomas Should Not Be Fired — the Real Problem Lies … [...]
I think you've got a good point here – Buchanan is obnoxious and often wrong, but because conservatives agree with some of the things he says he's put forth as some kind of conservative everyman.
Buchanan's stature with Newsmax and Human Events is a big reason I don't read either of those publications: it's one thing for MSNBC to keep a conservative firebrand to kick around, but another entirely for prominent conservative outlets to give him such a big platform.
A lot of the ancient animosity between the early Christian church and the Jews stems from the persecution of the early Christians by the Jews. In all cases, though, hatred of people is evil. The Bible teaches us to love even our enemies, and though we are to hate sin, we are not to hate those who sin against us.
All hatred against Israel is wrong, and anti-Biblical. Why did God send evangelists to convert Jews to Christianity if he did not love the Jews? There is no basis for anti-semitism in the Bible, and any religious group that harbors resentment against the Jews is flat-out wrong. And treading dangerously, if you ask me.
It is an interesting dichotomy that American Jews are overwhelmingly Liberal, whilst American supporters of Israel (a Jewish state) are overwhelmingly Conservative. It has made for some interesting politics, hasn't it?
Hahaha, they do catch heat for hiring sexy female anchors… the least Fox could do is show some love to the 90+ demographic!
Yeah, I always thought she was Jewish, too. Surprise!
If the situation was reversed, would the progressive and repressive left allow the same forgiveness? I would say NOT.If and when the left becomes more forgiving and tolerant then maybe. But as it stands, and not until then the right must play by the same rules and out every racist and distorter of truth. This mamby pampy attitude of conservatives in the face of the lying and the deceitful will not get us anywhere. The minute you turn yor back, the left spits in the face of conservative America.
I have left commentary on Breitbar sites as well as other assorted blogs to the effect that I don't think she should be fired because left where she is, she plays a prominent role as a symbotic and useful idiot reminding everyone daily how anti Semitic and anti Israel Obama, Clinton, Susan Rice, the entire State Dept., the UN, the entire MSM and Hollywood and Academia all are. They're one and the same. Leave her in place.
I have to agree to a point. It is not so much that she is a jew hater, such as Buchanan, but is it that SHE IS JUST a jew hater. I have noted that if anyone were to have said ALL Hispanics need to return to Mexico, They would be called a racist. If I said ALL blacks need to go back to africa, I am called a racist. if we said ALL Irish need to stop drinking, We would all be called a racist. But if I said anything about a Jew, It's okay. the Jewish folks have faced persecution since the time of the Egypt. So I guess that its okay to be a racist as long as it's against the Jewish people.
Are you talking about Demjanjuk, who was recently convicted of war crimes in Germany? yup, Pat was his pal! Pat hates Jews – let's get that straight. And he is not shy about showing it. He would be proud of you. He also believes that WWII was fought for nothing; that the Palis are just like Martin Luther King's followers, the Jews killed Jesus and that if the Jews would just go away (which is what Helen believes also) the world would be filled with lollipops and rainbows. The funny thing is that your pal, Pat, also hates Hispanics and blacks.
Its all moot now, she is effectively unemployed as her agent has dropped her.
The White House may not want to be associated with someone so openly anti-Zionist as Helen Thomas, not because they find her views offensive, but because their lack of a form of condemnation may cost them some liberal Jewish votes. Maybe.
The government can't really do anymore than we private citizens can about Helen Thomas. We can refuse to give her a venue, whether it's in the Press Corps or on our TVs. I can refuse to read anything she writes. And she can keep on spewing her hate. As long as she's not causing riots, or infringing on someone else's basic rights, yes, the government has no business impeding her speech.
oops, didn't mean to repost >.<
Ha! You guys thought she was a self-hating Jew but really she was just an anti-Semite!
Demjanjuk was found innocent of the original charges brought against him — that he had been an especially sadistic camp guard (Ivan the Terrible) at Treblinka. Now he is being tried (not yet convicted, as far as I know) again under totally different charges. Buchanan was right the first time, and this second prosecution seems like 'sore losing' — even prosecutors admit that at most he was a Nazi prisoner of war who cooperated by being a guard at a camp where Jews were killed. Not excusing that, but its pretty low level stuff for the US government, among others, to have spent millions of dollars on — prosecuting a man who was at the time a 19 year old *prisoner of war*.
Pat is an American, and likes to see American interests put first. It has become obvious to just about everyone that Israel's interests and ours are not the same — and in fact at times contrary to one another. I think you mean 'hates blacks, hispanics etc' you mean he stands up for white folks on issues like affirmative action (anti-white discrimination) and illegal immigration (which hurts the white, and black, working class). Blacks, Hispanics, Jews etc all have major voices out there, protecting their interests. Pat is the only major media guy advocating for white gentiles.
Remember Trent Lott's comments about Strom Thurmond…the Left went nuts and his own party threw him under the bus. His comments, to me, seemed innocent enough, just humoring an old guy on his birthday. But by twisting every which way people found enough racism in them to demand he resign, which he did.
That's what I meant earlier by "double standard."
The government shouldn't do anything about Helen, but it would be nice if the people around her would call her on it. Dreams… I know.
Agreed.
She just stated what the rest of her liberal brethren really think. That's why there has been no huge outcry from the Left.
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The greatest person in America – MUST SEE PHOTO: http://bit.ly/ceVZvg
Cognitive dissonance!
The UN did mandate borders – in 1948.
The Arabs invaded.
The UN did have peacekeepers on the borders – in 1967.
The Arabs ordered them out.
The UN also had peacekeepers in Lebanon in 2006.
They stood aside, and even connived, with Hizbshaitan in the kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldiers, leading to the Israeli military response. They remain there, and currently fail to perform their promised mission of disarming Hizbshaitan.
There is a Constitutional right to free speech.
There is no Constitutional mandate to an audience.
The Hearst organization is free to keep her on staff, as I am free to not buy anything they make as long as they do.
The media organizations are free to let her get a front seat at press conferences, as I am free to dismiss their claims of being unbiased.
The Obama regime is free to give her a platform during press conferences, as I am free to condemn them for giving said platform to an anti-Semite.
Freedom and rights apply to everyone.
She has exercised her rights, I will exercise mine.
You make too much sense. It is much more fun to call for her head…
She has retired and I'm sorry but not a single tear runs down my cheek.
Helen Thomas is retiring . : http://soc.li/cawr29B
Helen should not be fired. Some say she is being truthful and most likely that is so. However, I thin the main driver for her comments is her inability to contain an outburst of pure hatred. Keeping her around provides a teachable moment of what not to be and a reminder of what a dishonest and destructive press can be.
The curtains have been opened and sunlight has now exposed those on the left for what they are. This incident may be the precursor to even more sunlight. Without accountablility, the pampered left will only continue with more of the same. The left and progressives hate truth for it ruins the plans they have in store for America. Maybe now they will be a bit less biased for they understand the American people are watching like never before. I wish her peace and goodwill.
I though Buch was being sarcastic in his article.
[...] what it’s worth – and like fellow Big Journalism contributer Jeff Dunetz – I don’t think Helen Thomas should have been forced out. Now that she’s [...]
Gaza blockade: Iran offers escort to next aid convoy
• Aide threatens use of Revolutionary Guard
• Netanyahu warns of Jerusalem missile danger Ian Black, Middle East editor guardian.co.uk, Sunday 6 June 2010 21.20 BST Article history
Hojjatoleslam Ali Shirazi, an aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pledged Tehran would send Revolutionary Guard units to escort Gaza aid convoys. Photograph: Reuters
Iran has warned that it could send Revolutionary Guard naval units to escort humanitarian aid convoys seeking to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza – a move that would certainly be challenged by Israel.
Any such Iranian involvement, raised today by an aide to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would constitute a serious escalation of already high tensions with Israel, which accuses Tehran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon and of backing Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza.
\”Iran's Revolutionary Guard naval forces are prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys that carry humanitarian assistance for the defenceless and oppressed people of Gaza with all their strength,\” pledged Hojjatoleslam Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's personal representative to the guards corps.
The threat came as the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, dismissed a UN proposal for an international commission to investigate last week's commando assault on aid ships, in which nine people died. Another aid ship, the Rachel Corrie, carrying Irish and other peace activists, was boarded peacefully by Israeli forces on Saturday, escorted to the port of Ashdod, and its passengers deported.
Netanyahu has defended Israel's right to maintain the blockade by arguing that without it Gaza would become an \”Iranian port\” and Hamas missiles would strike Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israel's undeclared aim is to weaken or bring down the Hamas government.
Iran continued to exploit the \”freedom flotilla\” affair to lambast Israel. Its foreign minister, Manuchehr Mottaki, told the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Jeddah on Sunday that Israel's crime was \”another instance of the Zionist regime's brazen and merciless treatment of Muslims, especially the oppressed Palestinian people.\”
Mottaki also called for a UN resolution condemning Israel. The security council is discussing imposing new sanctions on Iran because of its failure to meet international demands over its nuclear programme.
Iran and Israel have had no diplomatic relations since the 1979 revolution and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly predicts the disappearance of the Jewish state as well as denying the Holocaust.
Excerpt:
Atlantic Free Press
THE REAL AXIS OF EVIL – A STATE WITHOUT MERCY
Written by (Click Name for BIO) William A. Cook
Nothing in the past 60 years revealed the true face of Israel to the world at large (and perhaps to the Lord above) as its illegal invasion of Lebanon. Never before has the Israeli government allowed the world to witness the depth of its brutal aggression as it defied international law with its collective punishment of the innocent. At no time in the past has Israel lost control of the flow of information allowed into or out of Israel and the occupied territories until it abandoned its borders and invaded Lebanon. That mistake ripped away the veil of “victim hood” that the Israeli propaganda machine had constructed around the tiny, beleaguered state beset with fanatics intent on erasing it “from the map” and suicide bombers that threatened death in the streets.
No one sees inside Gaza; no TV anchor man or woman goes to Gaza to show the world what true terror is; nothing seeps through the locked gates that strangle the people inside; nothing reveals to the outside world that Israel and the U.S. are systematically and silently starving over a million people who suffer intense malnutrition; no statistics reveal the rate of unemployment that devastates a people unable to send its produce out or bring goods in; no information tells the world that Israel prevents medical supplies from reaching the people, that hospitals operate on generators only, that medical staff have been murdered, that access to care has been curbed; no one explains to the world the crippling impact this imprisonment has on the minds and souls of children who live in constant fear beneath the boots of an occupying army; no one talks about this calculated genocide behind walls as impenetrable as those at Auschwitz-Birkenau. No one is witness to this nation without mercy.
So I guess Buchanan isn't anti -Semite but he politically disagrees with liberals who are Jewish and he's not pro Israel ?
Who is the newspaper reporter who declined the video because it was "not a big thing".
The public has a right to know, and so do the editors he/she works for and those who might consider hiring him/her in the future.
Thomas has a personal relationship with Obama…evidenced by his bringing her birthday cake…she was front and center at every WH briefing. The worlds image is one of her speaking for the WH…which I have no doubt she did. That is what differentiates her from Buchanan and Sharpton. Remember it took Obama at least three days to have Gibbs to speak out against her comments…longer than the Cambridge police incident.
darn right!
Forced eviction of people from their homes based on their race, religion or ethnic identity is next best thing and often the same thing as murder.
That said it is hard to be an anti-Semite if you are for Arabs and against Jews, because they are all Semites.
On the other hand to be a Jew can mean your race, ethnicity and/or Religion.
So Helen could have been a atheist ethnic Jew who hated Semites who practiced the Jewish religion in Israel.
In reality she was a liberal who believed in evicting only Jewish Semites from their homes in Israel based solely on them being what she considered to be a Jew.
The evil part, and the reason she should have been fired, is that she believed it was perfectly OK for a government to decide based solely on religion and race that some people should be forced out of their homes by the government and forced into exile in another part of the world by a government.
[...] what it’s worth – and like fellow Big Journalism contributer Jeff Dunetz – I don’t think Helen Thomas should have been forced out. Now that she’s resigned, the story [...]
Quite true. And I won't deny being immune to the allure of such enjoyments, or indeed not having indulged in them in the past. But at the end of the day we must remember and promote our values, not theirs.
Yeah, Buchanan and his demand for a quota against Jews in government has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. Not that he is demanding the removal of the surplus Catholic Justices on the Supreme Court, or a minimum number of Atheists in Congress, or affirmative action to get more black Senators, or anything like that.
No, that is just good old Pat being completely unbiased.
Of course you casually leave out mentioning that the Israeli Supreme Court also ruled that he was most likely at both the Trawniki and Sobibor Camps, but because of considerations of due process and the fact that he had been extradited to be tried for the crimes at Treblinka, he had to be released.
But hey, full disclosure of facts and all, right?
No, there isn't a "Constitutional right to free speech." There is a constitutional prohibition against the Federal government (and as applied to the states through incorporation) restricting speech (with certain narrowly-tailored, exceptions). They are NOT the same thing.
People also confuse liberty and freedom, just as they confuse fair and just, but what the hell.
Sorry, she retired, she wasn't "fired". Twenty years too late if you ask me..
True again… but seeing that you are singing to the choir it is much more fun to be in tune.
There was a war and Israel came out the winner. Those are the spoils of war, dude. Like it or not.
What a one-sided piece of crap posing a journalism. They have food. They have medicines. They could have anything they wanted if they'd just stop shooting missiles at and bombing people in Israel. The Palestinians are refugees by choice, because it gives unrest in the middle east a reason to exist, when they only exist for war because of their religion. If you asked any person in the middle east of Islamic faith, they'd tell you Israel can never be left in peace by definition of their religion. Without any peace possible, why would you even expect anyone to restrain themselves? One day, we'll get it, and we'll outlaw Islam in this country, and when we do, Israel and the US will stand alone. Cause we'll have to nuke all the other countries since they've been taken over by Islam already.
Mr. Dunetz, I really enjoyed your post and I appreciate that you have helped to expose this woman for what she really is. The modern age of video and the Internet surely have made people more accountable for their words than ever.
However, I fail to follow your logic that Ms. Thomas should not be fired because she is a small player in the arena of anti-semitism. If her employer feels that her statements do not reflect what they represent and that her statements are damaging to their image, then by all means they should fire her. Just because the bigger players are not being held accountable for what they say and do does not mean that everyone else should get a free pass.
Sorry, Sarah. I didn't read your post and said almost the exact thing as you did. I'm not trying to steal your thunder, believe me!
[...] Radical Leftists that she is. But what about Patrick Buchanan, who has some pretty crude, rude and socially unacceptable choice words for Israel and Zionism along with his other racial statements towards blacks over the [...]
It is curious that you think the President has a "nasty habit of picking advisers who are not just anti-Israel, but anti-Jewish." As listed in the Jewish Virtual Library website http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Is... following are "Jews in the Obama Administration." All listed are in advisory and influential positions. Are you saying they are anti-Jewish? Can't one disagree with Israel's foreign policy and not be called anti-Jewish already? Israel is a country and, while American Jews have great affection for Israel, they are still American and entitled to disagree with Israeli policy.
David Axelrod (2009- ) Senior Advisor to the President
Jared Bernstein (2009- ) Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor to the Vice President
Rahm Emanuel (2009- ) Chief of Staff
Lee Feinstein (2009- ) Foreign Policy Advisor
Gary Gensler (2009- ) Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Elena Kagan (2009- ) Solicitor General of the United States
Ronald Klain (2009- ) Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Jack Lew (2009- ) Deputy Secretary of State
Eric Lynn (2009- ) Middle East Policy Advisor
Peter Orszag (2009- ) Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Dennis Ross (2009- ) Special Advisor for the Gulf and Southwest Asia to the Secretary of State
Mara Rudman (2009- ) Foreign Policy Advisor
Mary Schapiro (2009- ) Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Dan Shapiro (2009- ) Head of Middle East desk at the National Security Council
James B. Steinberg (2009- ) Deputy Secretary of State
Lawrence Summers (2009- ) Director National Economic Council
Mona Sutphen (2009- ) Deputy White House Chief of Staff
One can quite easily oppose an Israeli policy without being anti-Jewish. For example, many people oppose the Israeli policy of being willing to trade the majority of Judea and Samaria for peace as they did with Gaza, and instead would support Israel annexing those lands.
The issue is when opposition to Israeli policy comes with overt or implied denial of basic national and ethnic rights, or the abolition of the nation as a whole, particularly its Jewish identity. When you endorse the Palestinian Authority's claims that Jews have no historic connection to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, or Rachel's Tomb by Bethlehem, then the full blown anti-Jewish aspect of the statements is obvious, denials notwithstanding.
She has the right to seek out or work for an employer who wishes to give her a paycheck, but a paycheck is not an inalienable right.
Well, on the face of it, the difference between Pat Buchanan being able to continue broadcasting his anti-Semitic views and Helen Thomas losing her career for expressing hers is this: Mr. Buchanan is a man and Ms. Thomas is an old woman. Also timing and context is needed in today's discussion of Helen Thomas. Let's not forget the rapid unraveling and end to Ms. Thomas' career was initiated by her June 1st questioning of the US-Israel special relationship– a very politically sensitive subject and now, apparently, the third-rail for the US press. While the rest of the nation was not paying attention to the international aid flotilla's attempt at breaking the Gaza blockade, she had been following the events and resultant international outcry and condemnation of Israel's Shayetet 13 botched assault on the Mavi Marmara in international waters. In the June 1st White House presser, Ms. Thomas chided the administration for not condemning the May 31st assault of the Turkish ship, an operation that, whatever the reason, resulted in the death of 9 civilians, "Our initial reaction to this flotilla massacre – deliberate massacre and international crime was pitiful. What do you mean "…we regret…" when something should be so strongly condemned and if any other nation in the world had done it we would be up in arms? What is this sacrosanct, iron-clad, relationship with a country that deliberately kills people and boycotts every aid and abets the boycott?" After those questions were asked, the readers' comments in Haaretz.com, The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com), and US conservative websites were vicious, ad hominem, attacks. They wanted Helen Thomas fired, dead, called her an ugly witch etc. This is not to say I agree with Ms. Thomas' comments, I don't, but she is entitled to her opinion. Regrettably her otherwise legendary career ended in ridicule and condemnation. This is a sad day both for Ms. Thomas and the US press. We have lost someone who dared to say the President had no clothes and to ask the hard questions, not just repeat whatever administration's official line.
Right but, to stay on point, I was addressing the author's statement that the President has a "nasty habit of picking advisers who are not just anti-Israel, but anti-Jewish." Surely you are not suggesting that the Jews in the Obama administration, listed in my comment above, are anti-Israel and anti-Jewish because they espouse,"…opposition to Israeli policy comes with overt or implied denial of basic national and ethnic rights, or the abolition of the nation as a whole, particularly its Jewish identity…." and endorse "… the Palestinian Authority's claims that Jews have no historic connection to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, or Rachel's Tomb by Bethlehem, then the full blown anti-Jewish aspect of the statements is obvious, denials notwithstanding."
Obama just happened to be the President when Helen Thomas had her 89th birthday, hence his presenting the cup cakes to the WH press corp doyenne. She was front and center of every WH briefing because of her seniority– remember she was in the same seat during the Bush administration etc. As far as a putative personal relationship between Thomas and Obama don't forget that she took him to task on more occasions than not and that at her last, June 1st, presser she let loose this zinger, "Our initial reaction to this flotilla massacre – deliberate massacre and international crime was pitiful. What do you mean "…we regret…" when something should be so strongly condemned and if any other nation in the world had done it we would be up in arms? What is this sacrosanct, iron-clad, relationship with a country that deliberately kills people and boycotts every aid and abets the boycott?" Not exactly a warm and fuzzy embrace of the Obama administration.
[...] » Helen Thomas Should Not Be Fired — the Real Problem Lies … [...]
Actually, several of them do.
However, that is actually secondary to the irrelevance of your coming up with a list of Jews in the administration and thinking it somehow proves there is absolutely no one in the administration who is not a raving anti-Semite and overt enemy of Israel.
"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights"
"or abridging the freedom of speech,"
Hmmm . . . Bill of Rights, freedom of speech . . .
That's pretty much a Constitutional right to free speech, parsing notwithstanding.
You are confusing a reference to the Constitutional acknowledgment of a right with whatever you imagine it to be, but what the hell.
Ref. "The Obama regime is free to give her a platform during press conferences, as I am free to condemn them for giving said platform to an anti-Semite.": each administration inherits the WH press corp comprised of whomever has the press credentials at the time. For an administration to meddle in who gets in or out of the WH press corp for any reason other than security etc. would be considered interfering with the freedom of the press. So the Obama administration did not choose to give Helen Thomas a "platform during press conferences" and, due to her seniority, she was sitting front and center in previous administrations as well.
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