"Anyone Who Runs Helen Thomas Stories Has A Credibility Issue" Rep Anthony Weiner

[SkyDaddy7]

Run time: 04:21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_M8hk9nbg4   Posted on YouTube: June 07, 2010 By YouTube Member: MoxNewsDotCom Views on YouTube: 2   Posted on DU: June 07, 2010 By DU Member: SkyDaddy7 Views on DU: 4333

 
Just curious to see what everyone thinks about this?

[xchrom]

1. I'm thinking not very nice things - that's what. Nt

[hlthe2b]

2. I'm just feeling sad...

Sad that she said it and that even if it was bubbling frustration that caused her to do so, that the genie is out of the bottle. Sad that it may mean the end of a very noteworthy career for someone who I respected a great deal. Sad that the pile-on seems to have a momentum of its own and even her closest colleagues seem unwilling to either remain silent or offer even a tiny thread of support, but rather seem to be running for the microphones to get their "me too moment". Just sad....

[ananda]

7. Well stated.

After 89 years of a stellar and courageous journalism, to end like this
is just so sad.

[paulkienitz]

30. that's how the DC "public discourse" works...

you treat everyone with respect, deserved or not, until the smell of blood hits the water, then you don't dare show any respect at all, deserved or not.

[arikara]

37. They are going to pile on Helen

because it takes the discourse away from the real story. Which is that Israeli military attacked a humanitarian vessel in international waters, killing, injuring and kidnapping the people on board.

Everybody falls for it and the real story falls down the memory hole.

[sabrina 1]

49. Exactly. But it will only work if people let it.

As far as Weiner is concerned, I have lost total respect for him. A U.S. citizen was murdered on that ship and he is more concerned about a comment made by Helen Thomas. That tells me a lot about someone I used to respect but not any more. His priorities are way off.

[Pastiche423]

55. When I saw this post...

I was hoping that Weiner would have changed his tune about this horrific attack. But, alas, he has clearly shown that he values his religion over his country. Any respect I once held for him disappeared the moment he chose to defend Israel over the country he supposedly represents.

I've been on his email list for quite while, but I am unsubscribing and will tell him why. I am tremendously saddened that Helen felt she had to resign.

Now, the left has no one that dares to ask the questions that we all desparately need answered. :cry:

[sabrina 1]

56. Yes, he is a terrible disappointment.

Good for you for unsubscribing. This faux outrage against Helen is merely a distraction to cover up the huge crime committed by Israel last week. And the crime of their occupation of Gaza. I think they are on life support as far as the rest of the world is concerned at this point. Other than the U.S. there is not a country that has not condemned them.

As for Weiner, he just another politician after all. But I have to admit, I was wary of him after he caved on the PO. It's getting to be a habit being disappointed in Democrats.

[lumpy]

68. Sick of US Jewish politicians who exhibit their bias for Israel, the

motherland, right or wrong.

[rucky]

69. Sad to me that a congressman I respect

is so closed off to seeing it your way.

[mikelgb]

3. sickening

[Wizard777]

4. Ands Weiner doesn't allow his proisrael bias to interfere with his job?

His job should be serving the AMERICAN people. He should be telling AIPAC to go back to Israel. Helen thomas apologized and she didn't kill anyone. Were still waiting to hear Israel's apology for killing one American and shooting eye out of another. Does Weiner also support Israel's attacks upon AMERICANS?

[iandhr]

5. Duel Loyalty...

... Is also long standing another anti-semestic claim Jews are loyalty to the tribe and not the nation.

[Wizard777]

10. Sedition bordering treason.

[atreides1]

16. I think it's true of some

But not all. There are Jewish American who advocate for the release of Jonathan Pollard, because they see him as a hero, and I'm sure that there are those who see for the traitor that he is.

Why is it anti-semetic when questioning the loyalty to America of Jewish Americans people, but it's not anti-Arab when the same thing is done to Arab Americans?

And why pray tell is it anti-semetic when questioning the policies of Israel, but it's "democracy in action" when we question the policies of our own government?

[jgraz]

53. Anthony Weiner clearly does NOT have divided loyalties.

He's 100% pro-Israel. America can go fuck herself.

[Raineyb]

60. Weiner just made it clear that Israel is more important to him that the

death of an American citizen. So I don't think the claim of antisemitism here is warranted considering that his loyalty to Israel has just been PROVEN to be more important to him than being a representative of THIS NATION.

I live in NY. I've known for years that Israel is more important than we are for him and many other politicians.

[Mosaic]

8. Good points

I used to like Wiener but his anti-free speech rant with joe "no credibility" scarboro made me lose respect for him. The main issue right now is the flotilla killings, not an old lady.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. Actually, his job is representing his district, and his district likes this kind of talk....

And I am constantly in awe of how we expect someone else's concresscritter to act as we would like them to.

Weiner may be overreacting here, but he's not gonna go into the synagogues in his district and defend Thomas. I grew up in one of those neighborhoods and knew many Jews who lost family in the holocaust-- as enlightened, liberal and tolerant as those neighbors were, the pain was too much for anyone to make light of those days.

[Wizard777]

18. So Germany is still stoking the ovens? Sure the Holocaust was horrible.

But it's over now. It sooooo last century. Soon there will no one Left alive from WW II. In Germany the Nazi Party has been outlawed. It's illegal to even Display Nazi Symbols of any kind. They made KISS change the S's on their albums. Not the case here in America. So why would they come here instead of Germany?

[TreasonousBastard]

27. Go tell it to Weiner and his district. I'm sure they will welcome your opinion.

[Raineyb]

61. You think his entire district supports this nonsense?

I don't think so. Incumbency and machine politics has its advantages. If you're in the good graces of those in power.

[TreasonousBastard]

64. I lived in his district, in Forest hills and in Hillcrest, and...

most of my neighbors back then would give him a parade. The ones who wouldn't like it wouldn't care much either way.

[ooglymoogly]

36. We expect congress critters to act accordingly, on what is right

and what is wrong....that is what we expect. Some congress critters from the south would gleefully bring back slavery if they could get away with it; Is that all well and good in your book?

[TreasonousBastard]

41. Slavery's too easy-- other than such universally condemned activities, who is to...

decide this right and wrong thing?

You say he is wrong, his constituents say otherwise (although I suspect a lot of them would rather drop the whole thing) so what makes you the authority and gives you the right to impose your interpretation of things?

[ooglymoogly]

44. Pretty much the world, except for the U,S. government, finds what Israel

is doing is very wrong. The entire world vote of condemnation was unanimous except for the U.S. Government's representative. This is not a, you say tomatoes, kind of thing.

[lumpy]

70. And we lost family members in WW2 fighting the people who

massed murdered people in concentration camps. We still feel severe pain, also, that our and allied lives were given in that horrifying but very necessary conflict.

[WileEcoyote]

6. Hell MSNBC still keeps Pat Buchanon around

So why not keep Helen Thomas in the Press corps?

The problems Helen has caused herself (and for the rest of us really) are exactly the ones I've been warning D/U about lately in the hideous overreaction to the Flotilla situation.

Even Cenk Uygur hasn't been immune from overreacting.

Watch out for the blow back on this one kids! You keep piling on the anti Israeli tackle and you will see GOP candidates tear you apart in the Fall. Both in campaign soundbites and huge amounts of money going from Jewish donors to assholes in the GOP. Watch for it!

Plus it's just plain bullying. Am disgusted with it. I am sure we're bigger than some of the anti Israeli sentiment that has reared its ugly head in bulk quantity lately. However a lot of you are testing my patience.

Stop it! Stop this NOW!!! Stop the God damned anti Israeli bashing. Let the Conservatives act like the cowardly, bullying pigs that they are. No need to emulate them.
.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

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

[Name removed]

67. Deleted message

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

[lumpy]

73. The proof is in the pudding, Jim.

x

[avaistheone1]

26. "There should be no criticism of Israel"

Didn't the Bush sheeple say something similar about Bush?

No thanks. Israel deserves plenty of criticism. Those Israeli commandos slaughtered and I do mean slaughtered totally innocent people who were on a humanitarian mission to Gaza. To say nothing of this evil is to be complicit with evil. I choose to speak up.

SPEAK UP. SPEAK UP LOUDLY. SPEAK UP PROUDLY. AND CONTINUE SPEAKING. What Israel did was unadulterated evil.

btw If we win an election because we kept silent about this evil, we won't win much. What kind of a country would that make us then?

:puke: :puke: :puke:

[bitchkitty]

40. Oh, sure! Ignore them, they'll go away.

They'll stop killing peace activists and running over young women with bulldozers.

If we only just leave them alone.

It isn't bashing when you're pointing out the truth.

[Devil_Fish]

50. So what if Samali Pirates board a ship in international waters and kill 11 people?

Are they heros too? You don't want to seem anti-Samali do you?

[sabrina 1]

54. You've got to be kidding. Maybe to you the taking of life

is not big deal, but you are, thankfully, in the minority on this. 'Hideous over-reaction'? To the killing of nine unarmed people on a humanitarian mission? I would worry about anyone who was NOT outraged by such an act.

How dare you invoke the old 'anti-semitism' charge regarding this incident. Do you really think that will cause people to be silent in the face of such actions? If Israel can't take the world wide condemnation it has received, much of it from friends, then they need to apologize at the very least.

You may have become immune to this kind of brutality, if so, that is your problem. And no, people will not stop calling out countries that engage in such behavior.

Would you like us to stop demanding accountability for the crimes of the Bush administration also? Or like so many others who scream discrimination when the culprit is Israel, do you single out Israel for special treatment? The hypocrisy is stunning. You want Israel to be viewed as a sovereign nation, a part of the civilized world, yet you do not want them treated the same way as every other country who is part of that same world. It is YOU who is discriminatory, as the rest of us will treat Israel the same way we treat this country and any other that commits acts of brutality against others.

[FBI_Un_Sub]

66. What about

the PIRACY of the Achille Lauro -- without any color of law or right -- and the MURDER of Leon Klinghoffer -- a crippled old man in a wheel chair. What basis?

[lumpy]

71. No one here is cheering about the Achille Lauro. It was a

vicious act of cowardice and hatred. Does that excuse the IDF from doing ultimately the same thing ending in the death of humanitarian workers?

[Mass]

9. Both Wiener and Thomas are right about a lot of things and wrong on this particular topic.

Thomas was wrong when she said these things, and has apologized.

Wiener is wrong because why should Thomas be banned, but not all the idiots like Beck, O'Reilly, or Krauthammer? (TV would be empty with only people who never made offensive statements).

[iamthebandfanman]

22. i think we all know whos acting more like a nazi

and it aint helen.

[WileEcoyote]

31. Thomas isn't a moron

She is held to a higher standard than Beck and Krauthammer. Thus resignation was what was necessary. I saw this coming immediately after her dumb remarks and yet plenty of D/Uer's still jumped on the death to Israel bandwagon.

Stupid!

A point I'm having difficulty driving home here. All these anti Israeli posts we've been seeing lately. Sometimes it sucks to be associated with people so ill tempered and unreasonable.

[lumpy]

72. Weiner is held to a higher standard also. He has no problem

showing his bias toward Israel. His higher standard should also include showing concern for the humanitarians who were shot multiple times in the head as well as Israel's incarceration of the Palestinians. We have the right to call out Israel on it's agressive actions just as we have called out our own GOP leadership for it's agressive actions. It is not anti-Israel or anti-semitism, it is what we believe nations should not be doing.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

11. A news organization

that employs Pat Buchanan and has him on every day in my opinion has a credibility issue.

[midnight]

15. This is about the only thing on the post I can agree with.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

17. Me too actually. n/t

[Wizard777]

12. The America killed was from NY. Where is your loyalty to your constituents?

The Republican will eat him alive on this in the elections. Anthony Weiner(D)the defender of Israels right to maim and murder his constituents. A vote for Weiner is a vote for your own death at the hand of Israel.

The only way for this to get worse is for Obama to say, were not pressing the issue of the death of the american because the guy wasn't a real American. Then Democrats will be demanding to see his birth certificate.

[Raineyb]

62. The young man killed was from Troy New York. It's upstate and not

covered by Weiner's district. Not that it would matter anyway.

[BetterThanNoSN]

14. So sad...

that firstly she is judged by a 10 second snippet taking her words much further towards bigotry than was ever stated or intended. Secondly, in todays atmosphere, noone can have a rational discussion about israels'sovereign rights(or not)without being labeled an anti-semite. Her point, if they came from Germany, Poland, Russia, etc, those countries should provide haven instead of Palestine.

[iamthebandfanman]

19. how are the comments deeply offensive?

why does everything against israel hafta be 'hating jewish people'?

israel should have never been formed the way it was formed.

[AlbertCat]

23. why does everything against israel hafta be 'hating jewish people'?

Why does the US support a religious state....something abhorrent to us, supposedly... so completely? I mean, we know the oil is why we support awful Muslim states, like Saudi Arabia.

If you leave all religion out of it, Israel is a dreadful state! As bad as any Muslim despotic country.

[greiner3]

21. Not anti-semitism;

Anti-zionism.

[teknomanzer]

65. Right.

There are anti-Zionist Jews - but they are conveniently ignored. They don't fit the narrative.

Quite frankly the more I learn about Israel the more I agree that the formation of that state was a serious mistake.

It is the first time in history that anyone has laid claim to a homeland after 2000 years. The Jews that emigrated to Israel were essentially Europeans - Poles, Germans, Russians, etc. How would the people in Weiner's district react if the Iroquois nation started building settlements in suburbia? Surely their claim is as valid if not stronger then the Zionists? Their claim to the land was based primarily on religious considerations and not practical or even historical considerations. Why should we ignore the cruelty that has resulted in people who have actually lived in these lands for generations suddenly being displaced by a group of people who are foreigners?

People may not like Helen's remarks, but is there anything untruthful in those remarks?

No. And that is why she must be silenced. If we accept the truth of the situation then we must realize that Israel's existence continues to punish a people who are not even remotely responsible for the history of oppression visited upon European Jews. How can that be considered just and fair?

[fascisthunter]

24. that's funny... because she has much more credibility than you do Anthony

and the Israeli governemnt you seem to work for.

[rexcat]

25. Nothing like a government official encouraging censorship.

I don't see Israel as a friend. They attacked a Navy ship years ago killing US Navy personnel but it was just a "mistake." I say bullshit on that. It looked deliberate to make a point to the US, stay out of our affairs. The Israel Army has killed Palestinian women, children and old men in the name of defense. They allowed a massacre in Lebanon of Palestinians years ago. They have imprisoned all who live in Gaza, denying proper medical attention to the sick and young to the point it looks like ethnic cleansing. They have bought off American government workers to spy on the US for them. What kind of friends are these. My standards for friendship are much higher than this.

I suppose some will consider me anti-semetic and so be it. If they don't interpret the facts as I do their is not much I can do about it. On the other hand Hamas is wrong is saying that Israel should not exist. I do think that the Palestinians were robbed of their land in 1948 but at this point it is moot and I do think that Helen Thomas was bring up that point.

For those interested in an overview of Palestine go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine

[PM Martin]

48. I would not vote for Mr. Weiner. A very fitting name indeed.

[Jim Sagle]

28. Anthony's from the prosemitic wing of the Democratic Party.

:headbang:

[ooglymoogly]

38. Prosemitic is a good word.

and Prosemitic in a quest for the injustice of occupying other folks homes and land and killing and destroying its rightful owners, seems to me, a good way to use it.

[Raineyb]

63. Anthony is from the Israeli apologist at all cost wing of the Democratic Party.

Quite a difference from what you've said.

[Joey Liberal]

29. I agree with Helen Thomas nt

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

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

[ooglymoogly]

33. She is talking about palestinian owned land that is being occupied.

She is not telling Israeli's to go home, and therein lies the straw man. She is talking about folks coming from all over the world to occupy Palestinian lands and building new settlements as we speak; On lands that do not belong to them. This is a straw man, a red herring and a gross misrepresentation of what Helen said. Notice "MSM" conveniently leaves out "go home to America". These are settlers she is talking about settling on other peoples land. Helen Is absolutely right on this. She does not need to apologize for the straw man the "MSM" is erecting. This is how powerful AIPAC is and how and who has a stranglehold on this country and who those in government and press are who can manipulate a story to suit their agenda. She made a mistake telling the truth in this crooked environment we now live in and that is her mistake for her very survival as a journalist. It is absurd to scream prejudice, antisemitism every tome Israel is called on for an obvious and gross injustice...shame on Anthony Wiener and others for pulling this straw man out of his ass and yelling anti Semite. This is not a case of prejudice, it is a case of what is right and what is wrong.

[madmax]

35. +10

Well said. No more donations from me, Tony.

[ooglymoogly]

34. KR, to front page.

[modestybl]

39. So it's okay to do crimes against humanity...

... if grandma died in a concentration camp? So does the Likud Party think that THEY are entitled to 12 millions deaths of innocents just to "even things up".

I wish the state of Israel would disappear. It would be better for EVERYONE if it did, and those on this site and others that wish to put the Likud Party's interests over their country's interest should emigrate and renounce U.S. citizenship.

[activa8tr]

45. I think you make some great points. The state of Israel needs to

join the 21st century, and learn how to live among her neighbors in peace. Israel, by virtue of her location where she took land from people who had been there for hundreds of years, has to take that risk just because of her location and her actions over the last 60 years.

[jjewell]

42. This is a "Tempest in a Teapot"...

I don't see Helen Thomas' comment as any different than someone saying "The Australians ought to give Australia back to the Aborigines", or "The United States ought to give America back to the Native Americans".

I may agree or disagree with the statement, but since neither Australia, America nor Israel are ever going to be returned to their original occupants anyway, this is a non-controversy in my opinion and no big deal.

It's a damn shame that Thomas' long career has to end for expressing an unpopular opinion.

[activa8tr]

46. Agreed n/t

[Althaia]

43. she has retired because of this.

I agree with her idea - that Israel is wrong to steal land from Palestine for new Jewish settlers from other countries. It is unfortunate that she expressed the idea in a way that offended so many people.

the news story of her resignation

Anthony Weiner was overreacting. Helen Thomas switched from reporting to writing opinion columns some time ago. She didn't write news stories. Accusing news services that carried her stories of lacking credibility was overdone. It's like saying that MSNBC lacks credibility for broadcasting Rachel Maddow.

[activa8tr]

47. I am with you, but actually I think Rachel Maddow is much more credible and factual than

Morning Joke, (dead intern) whateverhisnameis, and his blondie sidekick.

[JI7]

51. Joe Scarbourough came off a lot better in that than Weiner

Joe actually seemed kind of sympathetic to Helen and put her age as the issue and suggested she get a good send off.

Joe seemed uncomfortable with Weiner's harsh comments about her.

while Weiner's comments very just very anti Helen Thomas.

[jgraz]

52. Weiner's lost my support over his psychotic views on Israel

This is someone who is smart enough to know what's really going on, yet he continually lies about Israel. He's incapable of representing American interests on this issue.

[mmonk]

57. What do I think?

In the past, she has asked the right questions of less than honest politicians. For that alone, Weiner is wrong in his comment. He exercised no grace, did not take the high road, but decided to score more political points. That is what I think. Trying to express what Helen was trying to say, that many of the settlements and further displacement of Palestinians, has happened because of further expansion of migrations from Europe to Israel (causing more Palestinian resentment) is problematic. While that is true, it is difficult to say without causing consternation or appearing anti-Semitic. She should not have gone there, but to say her volume of work as a journalist had no credibility over the years is not true.

[Althaia]

58. I found a story on the Rabbi who recorded that controversial exchange.

More proof that most "news" stories in current media have some bias, to a greater or lesser degree.

http://www.racewire.org/archives/2010/06/rabbi_who_brought_down_helen_thomas_has_great_mexican_impression.html

Nesenoff’s Thomas video ends with the text “How can Helen possibly report unbiased?” Perhaps a better question is, who polices our press, and for what? We live in an age in which Fox News draws an uneasy distinction between its ‘news’ and ‘opinion’ programming, BP is easily able to limit press access to Gulf beaches, RedState.com’s Erick Erickson is a regular on CNN, and David Gregory shrugs off the idea of factchecking Meet the Press. So who’s in charge of holding our fourth estate to its highest ideals, if not its audience, employers, or advertisers? Well, there’s the Daily Show, and Colbert… and, more and more, there’s random dudes with small cameras and big dreams, and the news brokers who choose to highlight them on an agenda-by-agenda basis. One doesn’t need to justify or condemn the actions of Thomas, or Nesenoff, to question the system that brought us all to Youtube on this day.

[Raineyb]

59. Anthony Weiner never lets his bias for Israel get short shrift. And not

all his constituents agree with him.

Typical bullshit statement by those who want to pretend that Israel is NOT committing atrocities.