Posted on 08/19/2008 10:13:47 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
Your must-read of the morning: Miami Herald TV critic Glenn Garvin’s barbecue of a fawning documentary about Helen Thomas.
Here’s a taste:
Multiple choice quiz: Helen Thomas has been covering the White House for 48 years. Which of the following stories did she break?A. President Kennedy’s plans to invade the Bay of Pigs.
B. President Nixon’s secret bombing of Cambodia.
C. The Pentagon Papers.
D. The Watergate scandal.
E. None of the above, or anything else, either.
The answer, of course, is E, though you might not guess it from the fawning HBO documentary Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas At The White House, the latest unfortunate example of the increasing tendency to confuse public temper tantrums with good journalism.
Though Thomas is routinely referred to these days as iconic, legendary and fearless, journalism has little to do with it. She’s celebrated not for her work as a journeyman reporter at a second-rate wire service or as a virtually unread political columnist for the Hearst newspapers.
Her reputation really derives from scolding, tendentious speeches nominally delivered as ”questions” like this one to George W. Bush, admiringly featured in Thank You, Mr. President: ”Why do you refuse to respect the wall between church and state? You know that the mixing of religion and government for centuries has led to slaughter.” Just in case you thought that was intended to produce an actual answer — the usual aim of reporters — Thomas interrupted Bush before he could even complete a sentence. Perhaps that’s because when presidents have gotten a chance to reply to Thomas’ tirades, they’ve often made her look like a fool.
(Excerpt) Read more at michellemalkin.com ...
Awww, no more pictures....PLEASE. I just had lunch.
Yuck!
Helen is the worst reporter ever. She doesn’t report, she just likes to here herself talk. As if we care more about her idiotic opinions than we do what the President of the United States actually thinks.
I may not like all of the presidents in office, but there is a social decorum. Tough questions can be asked ("So, President Clinton. Care to expound on what was traded to the Chinese for their campaign contributions? And be thorough, please.") but in a polite manner.
The press corps will be better off without her.
An image of Tom Sawyer whitewashing a fence flashed into my mind ... And there Helen was, being whitewashed.
Ever since Thomas lost her front row chair in all the WH briefings, MSM has been trying to make it up to her through all the phoney accolades.
In some circles, I think it’s like how JR permits Murray Mom to remain posting on FR.
Mediocrity, thy name is Helen. And, to the libs, she appears to be a woman of accomplishment. About says it all, eh?
I'm pretty sure it was Teapot Dome. Either that, or it was the scandal of Grover Cleveland's love child.
Maybe he’s getting a reverse sunburn.
“Which of the following stories did she break?”.....
Washington crossing the Delaware is my guess.....
Maybe he’s going to have to blame Gran’mama’s genes.
White wash? May I suggest a tarp?
Tarp? Roll her up in a rug and beat the lumps out of it.
Not a bad idea. If she was whitewashed, we wouldn't have to look at her.
I got my blindfold on.
The only reason Helen Thomas gets this fawning recognition from the MSM is that she has been a White House reporter since the Teddy Roosevelt administration and is as liberal as they come.
Here is a great example of HT in action, rationalizing Saddam's SCUD missile attacks on Israel (which was no part of Desert Shield and Desert Storm) as somehow justified:
=========================================================
"A classic example was with Bush’s father during the opening days of the first Gulf War, when she wondered why the president was making such a big deal about Saddam Hussein’s missile attacks on Israel. ”War inherently is a two-way street,” Thomas loftily informed Bush. ”Why should you be surprised or outraged when there is an act of retaliation?” To which the puzzled Bush replied: “To a country that’s innocent and not involved in it?”
"That exchange is not included in Thank You, Mr. President, which shamelessly cherry-picks White House briefings to enhance Thomas’ reputation and deprecate the rest of the White House press corps."
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