Posted on 09/22/2004 10:19:08 PM PDT by ETERNAL WARMING
MEDIA MATTERS Helen Thomas defends Rather 'The real issue is why doesn't the president tell us the truth?'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 23, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas, the so-called "dean of the White House press corps," is not blasting up Dan Rather over his use of unreliable documents about President Bush's military record, but instead is targeting Bush himself.
"To me, the real issue is why doesn't the president tell us the truth?" Thomas said Tuesday at a Monmouth University forum on women and journalism in West Long Branch, N.J. "Why doesn't he put out all the documents? Because he can't, because there are too many gaps."
According to the Asbury Park Press, Thomas called Rather "a magnificent reporter" who experienced every reporter's nightmare in connection with his airing of unauthenticated material in a Sept. 8 broadcast of "60 Minutes II."
"Truth is our Holy Grail" she said. "I'm sure everybody is feeling bad about it."
The paper says Thomas wasn't alone in her defense of the CBS Evening News anchor, as her comments were echoed by longtime Associated Press reporter Linda Deutsch.
AP's Linda Deutsch
"This is all so symptomatic of kill-the-messenger mentality," Deutsch said. "They are interested more in Dan Rather. ... The underlying issue of Bush's National Guard Service is ignored. ... People are gloating over it. I find that very disturbing."
On Monday, after 11 days of widespread criticism, Rather apologized and issued a statement saying he no longer will defend the authenticity of documents he used in a report that raised questions about Bush's National Guard service.
Rather's statement said:
Last week, amid increasing questions about the authenticity of documents used in support of a '60 Minutes Wednesday' story about President Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News vowed to re-examine the documents in question and their source vigorously. And we promised that we would let the American public know what this examination turned up, whatever the outcome. Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers. That, combined with some of the questions that have been raised in public and in the press, leads me to a point whereif I knew then what I know nowI would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question.
But we did use the documents. We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry. It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism.
Please know that nothing is more important to us than people's trust in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully.
Thomas the 84-year-old journalist who admits she asks herself "Who do I hate today?" told the Press both the president and today's news media have fallen short of peak performance, especially when it comes to the amount of presidential press conferences, less than 20.
"I think this administration is the most inaccessible and most secretive that I have covered," Thomas said. "I feel a lot of information that should be in the public domain is hidden."
"I think the press rolled over and played dead," she continued. "Reporters are human beings. They're Americans, too. I think we fell down on the job. We were asleep at the switch.
"I just don't condemn my colleagues. All of us played ball when we should have questioned the president on a regular basis and held him accountable. We defaulted."
In her syndicated column for Hearst Newspapers last month, Thomas blasted Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry for his continued support of what she calls "the disastrous war against Iraq."
"Kerry has blown it big time," she wrote, "rising to Bush's bait and throwing away his ace in the hole Bush's shaky credibility on the profound question of war and peace."
I'm shocked.
Isn't it a little early for Halloween? That picture will give me nightmares.
That woman is among the scariest things I have ever seen. She and Janet Reno should get on one of those "extreme makeover" shows.
She's bitter due to her uglyness.
For that reason I cut her some slack, but why does GWB allow opinion columnists in the W.H. Press Room?
"I'm shocked."
To ward the vampires off - use our new and improved patented GARLIC SPRAY aerosol...
Errrrrr -- who, besides Helen Thomas, cares what Helen Thomas thinks?
Truth shouldn't be that hard to find... unless you are a liberal communist bovine dirt bag.
Did Dan have to sleep with Helen in order to get her to write this article?
Bite Me Helen
LOL! ;-D (#5)
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent miscellaneous ping list.
Hey Helen of Annoy, why don't YOU run for president since you have all the answers? What's the matter, don't think there's enough of the ugly old hag vote out there?
After our president has proven himself as commander in chief, do these fools really believe a few missed meetings matter? They don't care that a man turned on his country and comrades and that he illegally met with the enemy? They don't care that the previous one was a rapist who loathed the military?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.