Some Brigham Young Univ. Students Walk Out on Helen Thomas Lecture

[Catherine Vincent]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,515033920,00.html

You know it was the conservative ones that walked out. Just because Helen Thomas said a negative about Georgey Porgey. But she won over the audience with her humourous stories. They missed a good lecture. Helen Thomas is one of a kind.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. She's a national treasure

And they are idiots.

[displacedvermoter]

6. The One's That Walked Out Are

but I was pleased that Helen was pleased by the warm reception she received from people that disagreed with her. I find the comments from the students and faculty about the need to hear dissenting opinons in an institute of higher learning refreshing. The normal Repug line is that dissention is akin to treason. Sounds like Helen enjoyed herself! God bless her!

[CBHagman]

2. They might have learned something if they'd stayed.

I wonder what their motivation was. Was it coordinated? Did they belong to a particular group? Were they just shaken up by hearing a different perspective?

Ms. Thomas pulls no punches when it comes to discussing this administration or any other. Her bluntness may be a shock to people who are in a conservative cocoon, assuming that these students were.

[JHB]

10. Of course it was coordinated!

Those sorts of walkouts always are. They showed up there for the sole purpose of dramatically walking out.

[Cha]

3. monkey podheads never miss a chance to tune out ...

enlightenment.

I wish I could have heard what Helen Thomas had to say!

[davidinalameda]

4. they let her speak at BYU???

I bet good old Brigham is rolling over in his grave, as well as Orrin Hatch.

Wait, he just acts like a reanimated corpse

[Octafish]

21. Orrin Hatch must have a hell of an off-shore account...

... on Grand Cayman. He also probably has a Swiss bank account. I wonder which concubine or "wife" has the number?

Once he retires, Orrin's got the loot from BCCI, the Savings and Loan lootings, out-of-state drug money (Merck and Eli Lilly) and his other nice supporters to sustain him and his families all their unnatural days.

http://www.americanpolitics.com/092397ClintGoreLegal.html

Turd Orrin also is pals with Rev. Moon. And we all know how many wives and trust funds HE has.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/1990s/consor25.html

[wuushew]

26. Orin Hatch is still alive

You are saying that he is rolling over someone's grave?

[wtmusic]

5. Wasn't she the one who said

* is the worst American president in history?

[mikeysnot]

7. Yes

many times..

[Q]

8. Utah is going to party like it's 1965!

- Utah is one of the most conservative states in the union. Republicans can always count on Utah to uphold the faith and forsake common sense.

[Wednesdays]

13. They might even break out some

*gasp* Pepsi, or something. ;)

[einsteins stein]

27. Not on campus

Caffeine is not sold anywhere, or allowed anywhere on the BYU campus.

The must have been partying on root beer.

[DrWeird]

9. Did they have their degrees revoked?

Because that's apparently what happens when you walk out on republicans.

[JPace]

11. Wait till half of them lose their

jobs and the Mormon church goes broke
trying to support all the uninsured
and the unemployed. Maybe they'll
start seeing things differently.

[Clete]

12. Utah is a theocracy run by the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Not only that the residents have been so isolated from different ideas and societies that exposure to different ways of thinking are often met with culture shock and awe. I know there are DU'ers here who are from Utah, but I have been there so many times, that it becomes more and more obvious that beneath the seemingly American surface of the society, there is a religious structure as rigid as any you would find in any Muslim country .

[paulk]

15. Gosh, i sure hate to dump on Utah...

But back in 1985 I spent 3 months there. Three of the worst months of my life. I have never felt so alienated.

Doesn't seem like it's changed much.

[Hamlette]

16. dumping on Utah

is a great activity. We strongly encourage you to do so.

<happy 3rd generation godless commie pinko in Utah who wants you all to stop moving here!>

[Clete]

18. No problem with me, if I could fly over it I would, gladly.

The problem with Utah, it's in the way of a lot of other places you WANT to go to, so you have to go through it and make the best of it. But each time I go through, there is always a new nineteenth century way of thinking surprise waiting around the corner.

[haymaker]

23. I surre did love Bryce Canyon, and Moab, and

many others. Should we drill them now or wait a year?

[prolesunited]

14. I had the pleasure of hearing her speak

about 18 months ago. She is truly a phenomenal woman and a pioneer for women in the field of journalism. I even have an autographed copy of her book, Front Row at the White House : My Life and Times.

When I met her, she already was being hounded by the neocons and freeps. I told her that she had a TON of support on the Internet. If you send her a note, she usually responds.

Here's an article that might be of interest:
Journalist Helen Thomas condemns Bush administration
Veteran journalist Helen Thomas brought the grit and whir of a White House press conference to Bartos Theater on Monday evening, speaking with passion about the media's role in a democracy whose leaders seem eager for war.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/2002/nov06/thomas.html

[SaintLouisBlues]

17. They probably went home crying to their multiple moms

"Some mean lady said: 'Worst President Ever'"

Another BYU Walker Outer asked his dad whether he could attend. "Go ask your mothers" was his reply.

Sorry about the lame attempt at Morman humor, but I'm going for triple digits.

[einsteins stein]

28. This joke of plural wives in Utah is old...Yawn.. No offense...

only the fringe support that, and Utah state pursues the fringe with all legal powere at its disposal.

[Arcturus]

19. Wish she would come up north.

If you guys think that BYU Provo is bad, BYU Idaho is worse. We desperately need a liberal voice up here.

[bluestateguy]

20. Because she dares to criticize their "good moral President"

and THAT is not allowed, unless his name is Clinton.

[neebob]

22. Well, here's a coincidence

I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, went to BYU Idaho when it was called Ricks College. (Oh, man, don't get me started about that experience.) The wingnut mother I've been complaining about is a practicing Mormon. I blew off the church 25 years ago, and until today thought I had pretty much gotten past being traumatized by it.

I've been reading Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer, which is about Mormon fundamentalists and polygamy and violence. A co-worker found it fascinating and lent it to me. The author keeps linking the fundamentalists with the mainstream LDS church. It's making me uncomfortable, and I keep asking myself why. I think it's because it goes against my early programming.

THAT is why those students walked out.

[neebob]

24. And now that I've read the article

I'll add that it's a thinly veiled piece of propaganda designed to make the church and the school look fair and balanced. As far as I know, the Deseret News is still owned or at least controlled by the church.

Here's what the less Mormon paper had to say: http://www.sltrib.com/2003/sep/09242003/utah/95289.asp

[dobak]

25. Helen Thomas vs. Ari Fleischer

This was a classic

January 6, 2003

12:35 P.M. EST

MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon and happy New Year to everybody. The President began his day with an intelligence briefing, followed by an FBI briefing. Then he had a series of policy briefings. And this afternoon, the President will look forward to a Cabinet meeting where the President will discuss with members of his Cabinet his agenda for the year. The President is going to focus on economic growth, making America a more compassionate country, and providing for the security of our nation abroad and on the homefront.

And with that, I'm more than happy to take your questions. Helen.

THOMAS: At the earlier briefing, Ari, you said that the President deplored the taking of innocent lives. Does that apply to all innocent lives in the world? And I have a follow-up.

MR. FLEISCHER: I refer specifically to a horrible terrorist attack on Tel Aviv that killed scores and wounded hundreds. And the President, as he said in his statement yesterday, deplores in the strongest terms the taking of those lives and the wounding of those people, innocents in Israel.

THOMAS: My follow-up is, why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, the question is how to protect Americans, and our allies and friends --

THOMAS: They're not attacking you.

MR. FLEISCHER: -- from a country --

THOMAS: Have they laid the glove on you or on the United States, the Iraqis, in 11 years?

MR. FLEISCHER: I guess you have forgotten about the Americans who were killed in the first Gulf War as a result of Saddam Hussein's aggression then.

THOMAS: Is this revenge, 11 years of revenge?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, I think you know very well that the President's position is that he wants to avert war, and that the President has asked the United Nations to go into Iraq to help with the purpose of averting war.

THOMAS: Would the President attack innocent Iraqi lives?

MR. FLEISCHER: The President wants to make certain that he can defend our country, defend our interests, defend the region, and make certain that American lives are not lost.

THOMAS: And he thinks they are a threat to us?

MR. FLEISCHER: There is no question that the President thinks that Iraq is a threat to the United States.

THOMAS: The Iraqi people?

MR. FLEISCHER: The Iraqi people are represented by their government. If there was regime change, the Iraqi --

THOMAS: So they will be vulnerable?

MR. FLEISCHER: Actually, the President has made it very clear that he has not dispute with the people of Iraq. That's why the American policy remains a policy of regime change. There is no question the people of Iraq --

THOMAS: That's a decision for them to make, isn't it? It's their country.

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, if you think that the people of Iraq are in a position to dictate who their dictator is, I don't think that has been what history has shown.

THOMAS: I think many countries don't have -- people don't have the decision -- including us.

[stickdog]

29. Just the Mor(m)ans (NT)