Where Helen Thomas' 57-year career is tossed under the bus alongside her apology

[backscatter712]

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/where-helen-thomas-57-year-career-tossed-un

The first part of this is a recap. Let's skip to the money quotes...

I am not going to defend what she said. I understand that it is hurtful and offensive to many. However...

She apologized, folks. This pile-on looks to me to be opportunistic and driven by RedStaters and Freepers out there who have a long-standing hate on for Helen.

I just did a little search here on Crooks and Liars. I found references made by Fox News personalities to her as the "wicked witch" (no apology). Tony Snow paints her as a representative of Hezbollah. No apology. Ann Coulter called her an "old Arab" and scrubbed her website of all reference when it was caught. No apology.

Helen Thomas is the one who asked the tough questions of the Bush Administration about why we're in Iraq, why torture was sanctioned by Bush appointees, why it was okay for President Bush to dismiss the bloodshed in Iraq as a comma, and the White House's support for Tom Delay when he was charged with money laundering.

So ask yourself. Is this about an insult to Israel or an opportunity for wingnuts to USE an insult to Israel as a way to squelch Thomas' first amendment rights?

When you consider that question, also remember this was said in the context of an informal interview. She didn't say it in the press room; she answered a question as a citizen with an opinion. Her opinion may not be acceptable, but does she not have the right to one?

[geek tragedy]

1. If she wanted one, she could probably land a cable gig. nt

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

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

[Fozzledick]

13. Fox News?

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

3. Neither

"So ask yourself. Is this about an insult to Israel or an opportunity for wingnuts to USE an insult to Israel as a way to squelch Thomas' first amendment rights?"

Neither... She's just retiring.

[AndyA]

7. If you really believe that, I have a Gulf coast vacation special for you!

You can swim in the Gulf! It's safe!! Ignore the dead fish, the brown film will wash off when you get back to your room...

:eyes:

[CoffeeCat]

4. I do not blame Helen...

We all make mistakes. We all say things that we shouldn't.

The sad aspect of all of this, is that the neocon, Fascist contingent
that has choked our democracy, is looking for ANY reason to rid the
planet of media members who speak the truth.

They couldn't touch Helen, until now, because their primary gripe with her, was
her policy positions and her unwillingness to let politicians bs their way through
an interview.

Helen's remarks allowed these slime balls to demonize her, destroy her and possibly
get her fired.

Look how many times Rush Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan, O'Reilly, Savage, Hannity and
others have made racist or horrible remarks. Don't get me started on Glenn
Beck. The difference is--our side doesn't fight back--other than blogging
our outrage. The neocon Fascists won't stop until Helen is fired and living
under a rock somewhere.

[Bumblebee]

5. too bad you don't blame her for an utterly racist remark.

[HelenWheels]

6. Not racist

She was speaking the truth. The Israelis are occupying a country that does not belong to them. When was it ever right to move a group of people onto land that belonged to someone else? And again, Rush, Beck, Buchanan, etc. have said things that were really racist and more than once.

[ColesCountyDem]

8. The UN partitioned it.

Tread carefully.

[kas125]

12. Really? Tread carefully? Then you must be saying that

the way the UN partitioned it is still the way it's partitioned today, right? If not, nobody should be treading carefully when speaking of this matter.

[ColesCountyDem]

14. Not what I meant at all

I simply meant that those who lament the loss of Palestinian land 60+ years ago need to remember who partitioned Palestine in the beginning.

[backscatter712]

11. She said something stupid, but seeing that she does not make a habit of it,

I have accepted her apology.

[Tesha]

9. The difference *ISN'T* that "our side doesn't fight back".

The difference is that our side gleefully *JOINED IN THE CHARACTER
ASSASSINATION*.

Tesha

[FarrenH]

10. The thing that surprises me

is the analogies being flung around all involve minorities who are discriminated against in their country of birth. "It's like telling black people go back to Africa" is a common refrain. But its not like that. Its like saying white Americans should "go back to Europe". There are a some people who would see that as racist, but that might be missing the point.

Even here, in South Africa, as a white person, I've had perfectly civilised discussions with people who believed whites should go back to Europe. Their position was that whites are colonists, who currently still own most of the land and resources of South Africa while millions of black people still live in poverty. This is fundamentally different from telling someone in, say the US "go back to Africa" because you think the US should be "white" America.

And it strikes me, acutely aware as I have been for many years of how implications change depending on whether you're talking about hegemons or their oppressed minorities, that the "obviousness" of the bigotry of her statement is the product of almost pavlovian conditioning in American political discourse to always contextualise Jews as the oppressed minority, even when speaking about a militarily powerful state where they are a majority.

For the record, I think its seldom a good idea to tell third or fourth generation descendants of colonists to pick up and leave again. People grow roots. Unmaking things that way only creates further displacement and turbulence. In a recent conversation a Jewish friend in London speculated that my leftward tilt would inevitably lead to me disputing whether Israel should exist at all. When I challenged this he asked if I accepted the legitimacy of its foundation. My reply was that I did not, that it was founded on economic colonialism, grown through conquest and it was certainly not legitimate, but that would no more lead me to expect millions of people born there to displace themselves than I would ask such of white Americans. America, by the same logic, was after all not founded in a legitimate manner.

So I'm not agreeing with what she said. But I do believe the analogies being thrown around are entirely wrong. This is not equivalent to a white person in a predominantly white country in which whites hold most power saying black people should "go back to Africa". Its a specious comparison.

[FarrenH]

15. Having said this

Its been pointed out to me elsewhere that she specifically said "Germany and Poland", rather than "France", "England", "The USA" or any number of other countries that Jews came from to settle in Israel. Given the obvious implications, I now realise that it could not be interpreted as anything but anti-Semitic *blush*

[azurnoir]

16. she did also say America

she said Poland, Germany, America, where ever which could also mean Israel because she was talking about Palestine

[FarrenH]

17. Yeah I've just watched the whole clip at balloon juice

and realised its clear she was saying exactly what I suggested in my first post. She's been very selectively quoted. IOW, her remarks were not informed by anti-Semitism as in a general dislike for Jews, but the belief that most of the Jewish population of Israel are colonists who have taken land and resources in an unjust fashion. I don't agree with her proposal, but like most sound-bite scandals, its not what its portrayed to be.

[azurnoir]

18. It still was not about Jews leaving Israel unless one considers Palestine and

Israel the same place, I do not.