Obama Calls Helen Thomas' Israel Comments "Offensive"
President Barack Obama, marking his 48th birthday, takes a break from his official duties to bring birthday greetings to veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas, left, who shares the same birthday and turns 89, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, in the White House Press Briefing Room in Washington. Thomas has covered every president since John F. Kennedy.
/ APJournalist Helen Thomas' recent remarks about Jews in Israel were "offensive," President Obama said in an interview that aired this morning.
The 89-year-old White House correspondent retired yesterday after coming under scrutiny for saying that Jews in Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home" to Germany and Poland.
Mr. Obama said on NBC's "Today Show" that Thomas' comments were "out of line" but added that it was a "shame" her long, much-celebrated career had to end in controversy. He called her retirement "the right decision."
Thomas had covered the White House since 1960 but served as a columnist for Hearst News Service for about the past decade. She was known as a trailblazer for women. As a columnist, she was also known for expressing her liberal views.
In the interview, the president also emphasized how seriously he took the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, remarking that if BP CEO Tony Hayward were working for him, he would have fired him by now. When asked by Matt Lauer if this was the time to "kick some butt," Mr. Obama said he's working with experts to address the oil spill and to find out "whose ass to kick."
Mr. Obama also weighed in on lighter issues like the botched umpire call that ruined Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga's perfect baseball game last week. The umpire mistakenly called a baserunner safe in what would have been the final out of a game in which no runners made it on base.
The incident puts the spotlight on whether Major League Baseball should "take a look" at its instant replay policy, the president said, but he said Commissioner Bud Selig "made the right call" in not awarding a perfect game after the fact.
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There is no state called Israel. State of thieves called Israel a basis of the displacement and killing of Innocent nation of thieves basis bloodshed and war And the arrest of people for tens of years to prevent him from claiming The right to life . basis steal the land of the Palestinian people And then steal the land of the Arab-Muslim the entire .State of the thieves do not know the law ..... Does not recognize the law of the United Nations, a state that considers itself above the law . the law is the siege of Gaza And the bloodshed and destruction of houses and killing innocent people and occupying the country This is a country named Israel thieves.This is the Zionist terrorism
by Tehran as their official spokesperson. She will be Amadingbatjahd's
right-hand uh, "person".
Usually, it is not "hateful and bigoted" to point out hateful and bigoted actions by a rogue state which operates by its own rules.
No, I do not speak of the United States (in this case) but Israel.
If you believe Thomas mis-characterized Israelis working for Netanyahu as Nazis, you are mistaken. Thomas said explicitly, "They may not be Nazis, but they certainly do act like them..."
Thomas, in her remarks, did not create a disaster, but recognized one-- one already created for both this country and for Israel by the fringe-right hawks Netanyahu runs through virtually-occupied territories.
If your house were bulldozed down to make way for Israeli herrenvolk, God's chosen, you would understand what "hateful and bigoted" means.
Then you would share with those in the Warsaw ghetto as well as in Gaza a true sense of how a legitimate quest for survival has become "Israel uber alles".
How sad to see Helen Thomas go, though better to go with a bang
of bracing political warning than a whimpered farewell-- we always
desperately need the truth.
Here is what Thomas said, in her famous comments about Israel,
They may not be Nazis, but they certainly do act like them.
If the Israeli squatters in Palestinian territory were to actually
go back to Europe, the Middle East would indeed be a much
more peaceful place.
I say overboard with Israel. They are indeed a terrorist state
committing genocide against Palestinians. The evidence is
overwhelming.
Hers was as much a stern rebuke to an American congress in the
subsidy of AIPAC, as about Israel, itself. As Thomas insists, we need
to recognize Israel's pernicious influence over our own congress,
presidency and foreign policy. We will not have lasting peace in the
MidEast until we promote justice there, first.
Helen Thomas, herself, has become almost an institution to this
country over the decades. As an important voice of conscience,
especially when unpopular, she forced us to confront the darker side
of our policies.
As a chief thorn in the sides of Nixon, Reagan and G.W. Bush, Thomas
could be counted on to reserve praise, and lavish her criticism. For her
trouble with Bush-- whom she privately confided was our worst president
in history-- Thomas was abruptly dropped in 2003 from customary
presidential deference during a press conference. Bush pointedly
snubbed her many times thereafter, as if to punish her for staying from
the appointed course.
Thomas was put in virtual exile as Bush invaded Iraq, left for three years to ponder the wisdom of her conduct in the White House press room. Her absence was noted by many in the national press, who wondered aloud
whether Bush was becoming a bit defensive to criticism about Iraq. As
the observation running through Washington put it, when Bush tries to
silence a Helen Thomas, something must be truly wrong.
When the Bush embargo on Thomas was finally lifted in 2006, Thomas
was ready with her trademark hardball question, guaranteed to stampede
most ordinary presidents into desperate qualification and backpedaling.
Bush, himself, was almost grateful to receive, once again, the negative
benediction of the Fourth Estate's First Lady.
As a professional journalist, Thomas matters most when traditional
journalism is in steady decline-- eclipsed by corporate interests, Safe-
Speak, and aversion to unpleasant facts. The sight of a frail lady in her 80's, standing before the emperor to challenge his most arrogant
presumptions, was a marvel to not only Americans but the entire world.
For Thomas, this was her moment, the opportunity for which she had
worked all her professional life. No banal corporate politics could resist her plain-spoken challenge of truth to power.
Criticized as too liberal by self-styled "mainstream" talking heads,
Thomas carried an authentically progressive viewpoint from the FDR era,
when Americans dared hope for real change in politics-as-usual. As a
matter of public record, that is the same Thomas who registered her
disappointment in some Obama policies-- she believed Obama had
distanced himself from the historic American reformist impulse which
lifted him to office.
Yet, Thomas remains hopeful for our country. To retire at the top of her
career is more than a professional triumph, it is her embrace of a new
and rewarding role as emeritus editor to the national press, along with
Daniel Schorr and a few others. Although Thomas never expected the
gesture, our country owes this daughter of Lebanese immigrants a profound bow of gratitude for a lifetime of service to our country-- her native land.
You confuse nationality with religion, janke.
You seem to get confused a lot.
I didn't change my name.
Reply to this comment ...by slow-news-day June 8, 2010 5:36 PM EDT
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Do I? So then you hate 80% of Americans because they believe in God
(cenus stats) but you Like America?. Again, great logic!
You did'nt change your name? Ok, you added the word "day", thats a change Why?
I can pull up a recent post where you are "slownews" if needed.
Stand Tall Helen, its millions of us WorldWide who back you unconditionally. You'll get another job as a journalist, I'm confident
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Who exactly are us? Terrorists?,radical islamics? palestinians? Iranians?
All of the above!
---
"Who are us?" That is alien grammar-- are you an outside agitator, son?
Your papers, please. Now, step out of the car and put your hands on the hood. Feet apart... spread 'em, spread 'em. Hold it right there, boy, until I tell you to move!
Now, in answer to your alien, unAmerican question, "Who are us?" the answer is "None of the Above".
And no fringe extremists among us, either, like Faux News talking heads. And that anti-patriot, Oxycontin Rush abu Limbaugh, who-- like bin Laden-- hates Obama and hopes he fails.
In fact, we are your American neighbors, who lawfully disagree with you and your diminished-capacity, shrinking circle of Archie Bunkers. All our papers are in order.
Get used to it, Bubba.