You gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em, as
they say. Some people don’t — Dan Rather comes to mind, or
Senators Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy. Then there is Helen Thomas,
called by admirers “the First Lady of the Press” and, by the
World Almanac, “one of the 25 most influential women in
America.” You will not be surprised to hear that she is also
blatantly liberal in her every point of view.
At age 82, Ms. Thomas is the “most senior member of the White
House press corps.” She’s been at it since JFK was president. She
spent 57 years as White House correspondent for United Press
International. She went to China with President Nixon; she has
written several books; she has long sat on the front row at the
White House; and it was she who closed press conferences with the
traditional “thank you, Mr. President.”
Not a bad career — one that should be enough to do any
octogenarian proud. But after leaving UPI in protest, Ms. T. did
not rest. Instead she headed for Hearst News Service, from which
she pens scathing columns about everything related to the Bush
administration. According to Jack Shafer of Slate
magazine, only a couple of Hearst papers publish her pieces with
any regularity.
We will get to those columns shortly, but first let’s consider
Helen Thomas the questioner in the front row. A recent exchange
with Press Secretary Tony Snow made news. Ms. T’s subject was the
appointment of Karl Zinsmeister as presidential domestic policy
advisor, and, calling Zinsmeister “so contemptible [sic] of the
public servants in Washington,” she inquired repeatedly as to why
he was appointed and whether Tony Snow agreed with Zinsmeister’s
“pure contempt.”
This is nothing new. In 2002 it was Admiral John Poindexter who
was in her sights as “associated with the dark side of the
Iran-Contra scandal.” Here are some other gems:
“Why does the president want to drop bombs on innocent
Iraqis?”
(To the president) “Why do you refuse to accept the wall between
church and state?” Or “Are [your corporate donors] more important
than the American people’s health and safety?”
And best: (to the press secretary) “Does the president think he
should obey the law?”
These are not the questions of a serious person. They are not
questions at all, in fact, but absurdities with a question mark.
The real question becomes: why does a woman once considered the
grande dame of liberal journalism stay on only to make herself so
irrelevant and foolish? Embarrassingly, the title of Helen’s latest
book is Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President: Wit and Wisdom
from the Front Row at the White House. Spare me.
Back to Jack Shafer of Slate: “When [former White House
press secretary Ari] Fleischer calls on her, he hopes she’ll heckle
him and savage Bush with her eccentric, combative, accusatory, and
unreasonably phrased questions — because they’re so easily evaded.
‘We will temporarily suspend the Q & A portion of today’s
briefing to bring you this advocacy minute,’ Fleischer responded to
a line of Thomas questioning….The moment of comic relief lifts
Fleischer and soils Thomas.” These are the comments of a writer
with good liberal credentials. Sad.
Now for those columns, where the beat goes on. “Lap Dogs of the
Press” declares that the media does not question Bush enough —
they should be more like Helen. In “Bush acting as Imperial
President” H.T. explains “…he [Bush] has the nerve to tell other
people that they should get rid of their current leaders.” (Would
that be the Taliban and Saddam?) Nor are “the great constitutional
law experts” protesting — like Helen is. In another she lists the
sins of a favorite bete noir, Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld: he helped found the Project for the New American Century;
he “strutted” at news conferences; he “alienated France and
Germany” — and he must go. Yet another column calls the USA a
“laughing stock” for “rejecting” the election of Hamas in
Palestine. (Palestine good; Israel bad — always). Just one more:
“Snow Dispenses Storm of Spin.” Here Ms. T. reports, “After asking
[current White House Press Secretary Tony] Snow how he was going to
make this administration more credible…I persisted: ‘Are you
always going to tell the truth?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied. Where have I
heard that before?” (So much for that lyin’ Tony Snow.)
In 2002 Thomas told a college audience, “I censored myself for
50 years when I was a reporter. Now I wake up and ask myself, who
do I hate today?”
Hate is not much of a recipe for living, or for questioning,
writing, instructing, or enlightening for that matter. Once again,
Jack Shafer: “Which brings us to the saddest part of Thomas’
decline: She often raises serious questions that are on lots of
people’s minds — questions that other critical journalists in the
press corps might want to pose. But when spoken by Thomas’
lecturing lips first, the questions sound absurd. She ends up
taking the air out of the room for intelligent criticism of the
president and helps make the press corps look like a Saturday
Night Live skit.” And those are the words of a fellow
liberal.
Enough, Ms. T.! You’ve had a great run, but you’re not holding
‘em any longer. It’s time to fold ‘em.
