re: Helen Thomas, for anyone who wants to keep up with her

[DFW]

Whenever I'm in the DC area, I always have dinner or lunch with Helen, who, as many on DU know, has been
a family friend for over 4 decades. And so I did again last night, along with my brother.

Since she was exiled from the DC press corps, she became, as she described in her own words, "toxic."

Well, she wasn't toxic to those who know her (including at least half who are Jewish) and still appreciate her.

Helen now writes for a small northern Virginia paper, the Falls Church News Press. I see letters to the paper,
and half of them are from progressives, and the other half comes from rabid no-nothing, angry rightist extremists
who look for blogs on which to paste their hate 24/7, it seems.

But Helen has a regular opinion column there (www.FCNP.com) and gets comments posted, but not often enough. I post
replies when I can, but any DUers who wish to follow her writings can do so at the fcnp site. In the restaurant
last night, she was approached by two people who do local TV shows and begged her for interviews (she said OK).
At (almost) age 91, she is still out there, and still has plenty to say, in case anyone here chooses to listen.

*on edit--Falls Church, Virginia, way back at the dawn of time, is actually my home town!

[malaise]

1. Thanks

K & R

[hlthe2b]

2. I DO!!!!

Thank you, DFW... She is greatly appreciated for her long and very laudible career. Please tell her she is missed.

[DFW]

7. I do tell her that

Every time we meet or talk! Even when I'm on station overseas, we still talk at least once a month on the phone.

[femrap]

3. I love Helen!

A strong, brave woman. More spine than all the Democrats in DC put together!!!

[DFW]

10. Well, maybe with the exception of Anthony Wiener......

But Wiener and Bernie Sanders are carrying a good 75% of Democratic spine between them, this is for sure,
and Bernie Sanders isn't even officially a Democrat (probably leans a little too far toward the Democratic
wing of the Democratic Party).

[JI7]

30. what Anthony Weiner thinks of Helen Thomas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_M8hk9nbg4

[femrap]

46. You're right....

It just kills me that Unreconstituted Dems are now considered Radical Left.

[kpete]

4. I am such a huge fan

she is the best
saw it all

said too much?
i won't judge her
we all have flaws
mine are numerable

she signed a book for me,
years ago...

thank you Helen,
i still love you,
kpete

[calimary]

21. Me too.

Absolutely. She's a hero of mine and she was never afraid to speak the truth - even when it was harsh and unpopular truth. Which of course is the general state of affairs for the whole truth thing. Truth itself tends to be unpopular, just on general principles.

[Frosty1]

5. I miss her

:loveya:

[suffragette]

6. Thanks for the update

K&R

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Thanks for posting. K&R

[EFerrari]

9. Done & will do.

Thanks for the tip, DFW.

[DFW]

12. My pleasure

If she can start to get some regular positive comments on her columns in the FCNP, maybe one of the
national media outlets will realize their overreaction last year, and start to pick her up as well.

Kudos to the FCNP for having the guts to walk where the MSM feared to tread!

[liberal life]

11. love her!

:hug:

Doesn't she have her own website? She deserves her own website. I am sure someone would do it for free if she only asked. She should be posted at F U Corporate Media lol!


http://fucorporatemedia.com/

[Keith Bee]

13. Thank you for the link

Yer damn right I'll be reading!

[sabrina 1]

14. Thanks for the updates.

Will definitely check out her column and so glad she is back to writing.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BOG PERSON]

16. thank you!

i say she is a national treasure.

[cal04]

17. thank you DFW

:hi:

[truedelphi]

18. I think of Helen quite often,

In fact every time the Washington WH press corps is assembled, and I am scrambling for the remote so I can avoid watching that dog and pony show.

This one woman kept my faith in American journalism, when Bush and his people were running (and ruining) our nation.

I wish her the best of life's experiences, and salute her as being an American institution, one of the few that I am proud of.

[truedelphi]

19. K & R. n/t

[cali]

20. I'm sorry she made herself toxic, but that's what she did.

and not everyone who deplores some of what she's said in the last year is a reactionary rabid right winger.

I pity Helen Thomas but sadly, I no longer admire her. You can try and justify if six ways from Sunday, but she spouted some classic anti-semitic garbage. I understand that she's an old friend and that you can't see that, but it's undeniable.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sabrina 1]

26. No, she didn't, only to a very tiny minority of people led by

Ari Fleischer and his gang who were out to get her for a long time since she alone refused to go along with the war lies etc.

She is a great journalist and will go down in the history of journalism as such, and recorded in that history will be the witch hunt against her. History has plenty of other examples of how these witch hunts attempted to silence, and often did, great journalists.

Reading around the globe on what happened to her, support for her was overwhelming, just about everywhere.

[cali]

28. She will go down in history as someone who flamed out and that's sad

and no, support for her has certainly not been overwhelming. that's an absurd claim.

[sabrina 1]

29. She didn't flame out. She offered her opinions and

the usual censorship crowd, flamed out. As they always do. And Americans are growing very tired, as are people around the world, of this kind of censorship.

I'm not worried about her place in history. And I doubt she is either.

[cali]

39. sure she did. she left under a cloud and even Wayne State

pulled an award named for her.

There was NO censorship- but you've made abundantly clear that you haven't the foggiest re the 1st amendment. And I do so hate to break this to you, but YOU don't speak for Americans any more than, say, Eric Cantor, with whom you seem to share that delusion.

As for her place in history, I simply don't particularly care. As I said, I pity her.

[sabrina 1]

47. No, that's YOUR opinion.

You are of the belief that if you form an opinion, that is the way things are. A lot of people suffer from that delusion, so it's not uncommon.

I'm sure she doesn't care what you think. Why would she?

As for the 1st Amendment, I am very certain I know a great deal more about it than those who support the silencing of journalists.

[cali]

57. uh, no. that's the general consensus in this country.

I've read your posts about the 1st amendment. I know you know zip, zilch, nada, jackshit about it. YOU think Thomas has a 1st amendment case against her ex-employers. ludicrous. Laughable. Absurd.

[sabrina 1]

60. Well, okay if you say so.

Wait! Before I take your word for it, do you have a degree in Constitutional law? :eyes:

[uppityperson]

71. uh, no. That is your opinion. Unless you can prove "that's the general consensus in this country"

Which also seems to be your opinion.

[cali]

79. try google.

[uppityperson]

114. Those who make claims are responsible for backing them up. eom

[Warren DeMontague]

42. Right. They're simply begging for 'truth-tellers' who will talk about the global Jewish conspiracy.

:eyes:

[sabrina 1]

43. They don't have any problem with 'truth tellers'

who believe in the Global Conspiracy that all Muslims are out to kill us.

[cali]

45. I have a huge problem with that as well as with the crap that Thomas pushed

about Jews. YOU have a problem with any slur on Muslims. Not so much when it comes to Jews.

[sabrina 1]

52. I have a problem with prejudice period.

What I see is an acceptance of the prejudice against Muslims in this country right now.

As for your false assumptions, or was it an attempt at an accusation? Whatever, they are your problem, but they are revealing. Someone who so easily makes false assumptions, shouldn't expect their opinions to be taken too seriously.

[cali]

53. no, you clearly have a selective problem with it. You've defended

Thomas' bigoted statements about a Jewish conspiracy vociferously.

[sabrina 1]

58. Do you always make stuff up just for the fun of it?

All my comments are available. Did you think they weren't or something?

You're very entertaining, I'll say that for you ~


not to be taken too seriously though, as you prove once again :hi:

[cali]

66. so there's another sabrina 1 on DU. I post this link

for your, um, interesting comments on the 1st amendment. No, I don't make stuff up. You, on the other hand.....

:hi:

oh, and you're not particularly amusing.

[sabrina 1]

67. Thank you, I wasn't trying to be amusing, I'm sure neither were

you, but as it turns out, you are!

[uppityperson]

72. "you post this link"? What link? No, you don't make stuff up? Where is this link?

You insult then post :hi:
incredible.

[cali]

84. here you go

dear. sorry I didn't post it. thought I did.

do enjoy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=124&topic_id=346598&mesg_id=346598

[uppityperson]

116. Thank you for a link to a thread.

I see sabrina expressing outrage at her firing for using her 1st amendment right to free speech. I see posts questioning why Thomas was vilified yet Juan Williams was not.

I also see you being oh so civil with "Obviously you know fuck all about the 1st amendment" and sabrina answering "She has been slandered, libeled, speech that is not protected btw, and yes, she does have a case. And if she was pressured to quit, and we do not know what was said to her by the Hearst Corp., she certainly does have a case."

I see both of your points there, one arguing the word and one the ideas that the lawmakers had wished to implement. Do you always stop at a stop sign because the law says you must, or do you slow down, look both ways and go on if that stop sign is in a very rural area where cars are very rare?

Seems that aside from your disagreement of whether a person should be judged entirely on a vile or stupid statement or if what they have done in their life and career should be taken into account, you 2 are arguing spirit of the law vs word of the law.

[sabrina 1]

127. Thank you. I wasn't worried actually as I have rarely said

anything online that I would not stand by, and knew that the claims being made were false and assumed that was the reason for 'no link'. And you are correct, I believe in the spirit of the law and also that some speech is not protected, as proven by the civil suits against slander and libel. :-)

[Warren DeMontague]

48. Actually, they do.

But the difference is, very few are asserting that Muslims run the US government and the media. And if they did, DU wouldn't have a big weepy pity party for them when they got fired.

[sabrina 1]

61. No, they are asserting much, much worst than that. They

are asserting that Muslims want to totally destroy America. And that includes MSM personel and many elected officials.

So fearful are many Americans of Muslims that they admit they are afraid to get on a plane, and in fact some have caused Muslims to be removed from planes, if they see a Muslim in traditional clothing.

[Warren DeMontague]

68. And this excuses Helen Thomas's anti-Semitism, how?

So which elected officials that enjoy widespread support on DU have asserted that, quote, "Muslims want to totally destroy America"?

[sabrina 1]

69. My comment was about DU??

Mmm, just went back and read it, and no, it wasn't. I assume you meant to address someone else.

[Warren DeMontague]

73. So Helen Thomas being a raging anti-semite is okay because someone, somewhere, said something bad

about Muslims.




Gotcha.

[sabrina 1]

74. I think we all 'gotchU'. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

83. Well, okay then.

[LeftishBrit]

78. I don't know about the US government...

but there are certainly people prepared to imply that Muslims are taking over Europe, turning it into 'Eurabia', about to impose Sharia law on everyone (in countries where they constitute less than 5% of the population), etc.

Which does not excuse the vile antisemitic conspiracy theories - quite often the same people hold both the antisemitic and anti-Muslim ones.

[LeftishBrit]

49. Same sort of thing - and they aren't alternatives

In fact, quite often the same people believe in both types of global conspiracy.

[BOG PERSON]

38. flaming out in her 90s...

we should all be so lucky

[cali]

40. true enough, but it's a sad way to end an illustrious career.

[RZM]

92. Is a 'witch hunt' a bad thing if its object casts harmful spells?

She has lent credence to this anti-Semitic bunk about Jews 'pulling the strings.' I wonder many people there are who are now thinking: 'maybe Jews DO belong in Poland . . . maybe Zionists DO control the US government?' Because one more than there already was is one too many. Any person who encourages such bullshit should be excoriated for it. I don't think what she said should necessarily diminish her accomplishments, but it works both ways. Her career should in no way distract from the vileness of her comments.

Sure, there are people on the right who have hated her all along and were waiting for an opportunity to pounce. But there are plenty of others who never hated her (or actually greatly admired her) and are still sickened by her recent comments. The second group is quite distinct from the first.

She brought this on herself. Don't hate on people who refuse to shove this down the memory hole or make excuses for it.

[pacalo]

22. Thanks, DFW. K&R.

[stuntcat]

24. good to read

glad I caught this thread :)

[Melissa G]

25. Love to Helen

:hug:

[Enthusiast]

27. I love Helen Thomas.

Too many Americans think Israel is above criticism. It is ridiculous. One word of criticism is met with frothing at the mouth claims of anti-Semitism. Well, Palestinians are Semitic also.

[sabrina 1]

32. Couldn't agree more ~ and it's getting old.

[crickets]

75. Well said. -nt

[LeftishBrit]

76. There's a difference between criticizing Israel...

and saying that 'Zionists' own the White House and Hollywood.

[Enthusiast]

81. 'Own' was probably a

poor choice of words. Maybe 'has a disproportionate amount of influence' might have been a better choice of words.

[cali]

85. hahahahaha.

I love watching people defend blatant ugly bigotry. Not.

[uppityperson]

119. If that statement you call "blatant ugly bigotry" is true, then why can no politician

criticize Israeli's policies? Why does the white house/administration continue to support them while they use that support in negative ways?

[cali]

123. wait a minute, are you actually saying that you don't think that

saying that Jews control the White House, etc, is bigoted? wowzer. And saying that AIPAC has too much influence is entirely different. I can't believe you don't grasp that.

[uppityperson]

124. No that is not what I am saying. wowzer back at you. It would be nice if you'd quit accusing

others of things like that. AIPAC has too much influence is what I am saying.

[uppityperson]

120. I agree with that.

[Modern_Matthew]

31. Recc. I admire anyone that's ostracized for speaking their mind. Even if it's not populist. nt

[cali]

37. wow. so you must admire David Duke and

holocaust deniers and any number of repugnant bigots who speak their mind.

[Codeine]

51. Big fan of David Irving, I bet.

Say hi to the folks over at IHR for us, k?

[shanti]

33. k&r

i will always admire her courage, and the haters can KMA. you know who you are.

[Warren DeMontague]

34. OMG! Some of her best friends are Jews? Wow!

They must not be part of the conspiracy that she thinks runs the government and the media, I guess.

[Name removed]

99. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[midnight]

35. I agree with Helen..At some point Obama is going to have to stop appeasing the very rich,

the oligarchs who were denounced by Theodore Roosevelt. http://www.fcnp.com/commentary/national/8927-obama-shine-dulled-in-re-election-bid.html

[lildreamer316]

36. I vote for a Helen Thomas & Dan Rather collaboration.

THe things they both have seen....

[Enthusiast]

44. That would be the "A" team. nt

[Canuckistanian]

41. I was appalled at the way she was treated

40 years of tough questioning of presidents - the pinnacle of the journalist's profession - and utterly discarded because of one poorly phrased response to a personal opinion question.

To me, it was the destruction of an entire profession.

[Dorian Gray]

87. One poorly phrased

answer to a question:

http://www.playboy.com/articles/helen-thomas-playboy-interview

[Very_Boring_Name]

50. If I cared about Helen Thomas's views, I'd go visit stormfront

or have a chat with david duke

[sabrina 1]

54. You'd be wasting your time as you wouldn't find her there.

[cali]

56. no, but you'd find lots of praise for her and lots of comments echoing her

Jewish conspiracy crap.

[sabrina 1]

59. I wouldn't know about that as I don't frequent hate sites.

[cali]

63. well, now you know.

[Keith Bee]

77. You're very boring,

Name...

[madrchsod]

90. the troopers would never agree with anything she`d write...

equating helen to a stromtropper is really disgusting. since you do`t actually read stromfront you can not make that judgement.

yes, i read strormfront and have for the last 6 years.

[Terra Alta]

55. Thank you!

I love Helen -- she is a national treasure.

[greytdemocrat]

62. Cool

Helen is a special gift, there is no question of that!

[jannyk]

64. Tell her she is missed and needed more than ever. K&R

[DeSwiss]

65. K&R!!! n/t

[uppityperson]

70. Thank you, I appreciate the news and very much appreciate Helen.

[emsimon33]

80. Thank you! I have missed Helen terribly

Helen Thomas is not toxic but those who removed her from the press corps sure are!

[cali]

82. really? so saying Jews own the White House

is just fine and dandy with you? Ugh.

[DemReadingDU]

86. +++

[TurningPointTime]

88. Remember many right wingers get paid

to post online, it's the Koch brothers job plan for America.

[cali]

100. hello new duer.

yeah, that's the ticket, long time posters with thousands of posts to YOUR ten are Koch operatives. what dog shit.

welcome to DU.

[madrchsod]

89. i think she`s one of the best we have...

thanks for the link!

[westerebus]

91. Good to know...

I've always admired her candor.

[Nye Bevan]

105. I bet you admired Mel Gibson's "candor" too (nt)

[westerebus]

129. Typical Met's fan.

Adding nothing to the discussion but snark.

[TygrBright]

93. DFW, is there any way of getting Helen to blog?

I would happily set her up with an easy-to-use personal blog/webpage, if she were interested, and arrange at least a startup Google Ads package to get her going. If she invited a few friends to guest blog from time to time I think it would eventually become quite a popular site--enough for some revenue to start coming in.

Her voice is too wonderful and too important not to have a regular outlet widely available to her many, many fans.

wistfully,
Bright

[DFW]

121. She is not into it. I did ask.

I even asked her if she wanted to do opinion columns on DU or any other internet group I belong to.

But much as as she is aware of most new technology, she remains a print journalist, and that remains
her main calling and interest. I'm sure she could have gotten onto plenty of "big" blogs if she had
been so inclined. She's not. She's not in need of any influx of money, either. She lives very modestly
(I've been there a number of times, of course). She has an outlet at the FCNP, and writes for them for
now. The latest piece of hers I saw was on atomic power, btw.

[fried eggs]

94. There seems to be a disregard for the feelings of

Those who were hurt and /or offended by Ms. Thomas' remarks.

[gateley]

95. Thanks for the link! I'll enjoy reading Helen's column. I miss her! nt

[on point]

96. She is NOT toxic. People need to listen instead of having knee jerk close minded thoughts.

[RZM]

98. Why should we listen to bullshit about Jews controlling the government and the media?

Does not wanting to hear that kind of thing make me 'close minded?'

[Nye Bevan]

97. Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home to Poland and Germany".

As the Guardian put it, "Good riddance to a garden-variety anti-semite".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jun/08/helen-thomas-antisemite-retirement

BTW I'm sure there are several people who still suck up to Mel Gibson.

[cali]

101. It is just sad that a thread about someone who made multiple bigoted comments

is on top of the greatest page. shame on DU.

[Nye Bevan]

104. As Skinner put it:

Helen Thomas did have a long and distinguished career.

But comments (by her or anyone else) about how "Zionists" control the government, the media, and financial industry -- and references to their money -- are UGLY. At the very least, they reference UGLY STEREOTYPES. We are better than this.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9680652&mesg_id=9683016

[defendandprotect]

111. As someone else is commenting, many don't understand Zionism as a political movement....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=859595&mesg_id=865436

[DFW]

122. If Skinner wants an interview with her to find what she really thinks and means

He's in Washington, too, probably a 20 minute taxi ride from her home. I'd be happy to set it up for him.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

128. 1st and 14!

[westerebus]

130. THE BILL'S?

That's that Canadian team, right?

LOL. Just messin' with ya.

1st and 14.

Well said, very well said.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

131. Hey, give me a break! I don't know that much about American Football.

That was the only pic that seemed to apply for a play description like that. Did I get it right? :hi:

[westerebus]

132. Close enough for government work.

:toast:

[sellitman]

102. I think many here have no idea what Zionism is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism


http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/zionism.html

[L. Coyote]

103. She should become a syndicated opinion columnist with a national audience.

[Nye Bevan]

108. She could call it "Father Coughlin 2.0" (nt)

[disillusioned73]

106. K&R

;)

[mntleo2]

107. My problem is my Jewish brothers and sisters agreed with her ...

...as do I, all of us who actively stand for the Palestinians and the cruel treatment they have gotten, the apartheid they live under. Sorry it is wrong and good people of all faiths and non-faith can not but see it. Our questions are, "For a people whose nation began because of their own persecution, how is it that they can then do the same to others?" Then we have the legacy of Rachael Cory from our area, run over by a buldozer for simply standing for the "wrong" side.

We of all faiths and non-faiths stand together against the treatment of these people because we know that God is Love (and for our atheist friends who say love is Peace): http://www.palestineinformation.org/racism.htm and http://www.palestineinformation.org/main.htm

I might add that my friend and hero is Bert Sachs, a Holocaust survivor who went to Iraq in the 1990s in defiance of the sanctions, who is also active in the group above. Because he knows and he LIVES the message that this kind of occupation is not Jewish nor is it human.

Cat in Seattle <--- a christian

[defendandprotect]

110. Bravo -- !! K/R --

[cali]

117. you can actively stand for the Palestinians without saying shit like

Jews own the White House.

[swilton]

109. Thanks for the update!

[defendandprotect]

112. Thank you -- good to hear news of Helen -- and would comment again ...

that nothing that Helen said hasn't been said by JEWS themselves in regard

to Israel -- !! Mainly this is a discussion which must be brought out into the

open -- as Noam Chomsky has been trying to do for decades!!

We all need to think about what is really going on with Israeli policies in Palestine.

And it shouldn't be an isolated/taboo subject here -- though many want to keep it

that way!!

Questioning Israel policy in Palestine is not "anti-semitic" --

anymore than questioning Obama's policies re corporations is racist -- !!


There's a lot of US taxpayer money involved in supporting Israel -- !!

And the MIC weapons production which joins US/Israel to the point where you can barely

tell the difference between them!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

113. I love Helen. The wingnuts finally ran her out of town with Dems' help.

[Shining Jack]

115. K&R

Helen Thomas = Integrity. Love her!

[defendandprotect]

118. kicky

[Eyerish]

125. K&R

[Michigan-Arizona]

126. K&R n/t