Dinner with Helen Thomas last night

[DFW]

My brother and I were invited by an old (as in decades) friend to dinner
Sunday night. Helen Thomas has been around Washington since the Truman
administration, and has seen it all. Some of the stuff we discussed is
absolutely off the record, as she is an active professional journalist (87 years
old and still working full time!), and her personal opinions were for the table
only (even if you all can well imagine what some of them are!!). But some of the
stuff that was "public" knowledge was scary.

Stuff I didn't know: before Bush 2 got into office, he told a reporter that he
wanted to be a war president, because war presidents were the only ones that got
remembered. Minor crap like improving the lives of the people of the United States
apparently wasn't even on his agenda. This was before he was even inaugurated!!

Also, more recently, a group of big Texas Republicans came up to see Bush at the
White House. Far from receiving them with humility or even as equals, he told
them, "I'm president and I'm the most powerful man in the world, and I'm gonna do
whatever I want!" These (recently former) Bush supporters left the White House
pale and looking very shaken.

And a fun one from the early sixties: JFK once had some top tech guys over to the
White House and told them he wanted to put a man on the moon before the end of the
sixties. The Defense guys all said "yessir, Mr. President!" and nodded. When they
left JFK's presence, they were overheard to have said "this guy has lost his
mind, how does he think we'll ever be able to accomplish that?"

We even discussed the DU briefly. She was surprised to hear that there was
sometimes so much anger here directed at Democrats. It would be better directed
at Republicans, although giving Democrats a push when though to be needed was
certainly a legitimate and necessary thing to do. We both like John Conyers,
whose methodical but unwavering procedures seem to have borne fruit, what with
Gonzales resigning, and we weren't even aware of that last night.

I took along my brother and his two sons, both of whom were duely respectful and
grateful to have been taken along. By the way, one of them is 24, a champion swimmer, a rocket scientist (literally) and fabulously good-looking, in case there are any similar (rocket science not required, I'd bet--a nerd he isn't)
unattached DU women out there in the Bay area, where he is currently studying.

Helen was interrupted repeatedly at the restaurant by guests who recognized her
and just wanted to come over and express appreciation for her work. Helen brought
along some friends, one of whom is still with CNN. A fine, VERY informative and
stimulating evening, and if you are ever in Washington, D.C., man do I ever have
a restaurant recommendation for you!! This was a Lebanese place off Connecticut
Avenue that Helen had been telling me about for years. If you like Middle Eastern
food, don't miss this place if in DC!!

[Gman]

1. Thanks for sharing what you are able to share

And if anyone gives you some grief for not sharing more, they need to know that whatever was for the table only should stay at the table or you'll never have dinner with her again.

Interesting info about JFK and the race to the moon.

[GardeningGal]

2. I'm jealous.

I wish you could fill us in on her personal opinions - though, as you said I can make some guesses.

How is she treated by the rest of the Washington press corps? We all know how * treats her.

[tanyev]

3. George Bush will be definitely be remembered.

Bet it won't be the way he expected, though.

[King Coal]

4. You just made my day DFW. Thanks so much. 87? Wow.

I wish you could tell more.

[Not Me]

5. She will be speaking in Orlando on 9/21

at the Orlando Public Library Fall fundraiser.
Ticket info: 407.835.7323

[Cass]

6. What an evening! You are so very fortunate to have spent time with

Helen Thomas, she is an absolute treasure. Thank you for sharing what you could about your evening with her!

[liberal N proud]

7. I met Helen Thomas several years ago in Washington

My wife, daughter and I were walking down the street and recognized her. We introduced our selves.
She was very friendly and it was a fun conversation.
I can only imagine how much fun an "off the record" evening would be with her.

[Frustratedlady]

8. Ack! I will be green with jealousy all day long!

What a wonderful opportunity. Will you ever be able to tell us the "rest of the story"?

[DFW]

9. To address some of the replies:

People can give me all the grief they want. My dad was a respected member
of the Washington print press for 50 years. I grew up respecting "on-the-
record" and "off-the-record" as inviolate, and even though I never went
into journalism (my dad's shoes were too big for me to try to fill), I
respect those rules as ironclad. Besides, Helen is a friend, and that is
enough for me, even if my dad had been a plumber.

She is treated with considerable respect by most of the Washington press
corps. There aren't too many active journalists left who have asked
questions of President Harry Truman.

What is amazing about Helen is that despite her age, she remains totally
aware of what is going on, and can bring over a half-century of Washinigton
experience to bear on her questions to authority and her writing. None of
these guys (especially bush) that take her questions can possibly match her
in experience. Why they think they can fool her or put one past her is beyond
me. She has seen and heard it all, and had done so before Bush had even gotten
his first Daddy-bought diploma.

She is also completely NOT full of herself. She will indeed stop to talk to
strangers, and does answer emails from people she has never met. The wonderful
thing about her is that she does not see herself as "too important" to take time
for people. Too bad her example is not followed by more people in Washington,
whether press or government types.

Her taste in restaurants is not too shabby either!

[King Coal]

14. What did you eat? Just curious.

[DFW]

17. The menu:

The last time we met up was in May, and I secretly paid the bill
before Helen could grab it, so this time, she pulled a fast(er)
one on me: she wouldn't let the staff bring us menus, but instead
just told us what there was.

Appetizers: they brought over plates of small pita bread, cut into
quarters, hummus, rice in grape leaves, falafel minis fried and
with mint yoghurt sauce, and chopped tomatoes to put on top of the
hummus. That stuff was so good, I could have gone on all night eating
just the appetizers.

Then there was lamb shish-kebab, chicken broiled in onions on pita
bread, and garlic chicken (which I had) on saffron rice. No one had
anything else, although there were more selections.

For dessert, they brought 2 trays of baklava served with cinnamon
rice pudding. Afterwards, I had Arab style strong mint tea, and others
had Turkish-style coffee.

This time she got the bill, and there was no way I could grab it. She
was on home turf (she is Lebanese, herself), so I'll grab it next time.

Helen, if you end up reading this, next time, I will have my revenge!

[King Coal]

19. Thanks. It sounds exotic. Tell Helen King says "Hey".

[underpants]

10. Wow

That sounds like a great dinner.

[spooky3]

11. Thanks for a great post--and did you invite HT to join us here at DU?

[DFW]

16. No, I didn't invite her to join DU

As an active journalist, posting on a blog as a journalist
could risk compromising stuff she writes for her employer.

One of the reasons that no one takes Fox hacks seriously is
because they proclaim their bias to anyone who will listen,
and then pretend to be journalists. She knows about blogs, of
course. After Helderheid's action last year, it would be hard
to forget!! But Helen is of the old school of journalistic
integrity, and keeps her written comments for her own publication,
and her private comments as just that.

I think we can all respect that and just be happy she is still out
there asking the tough questions.

She told me one time when a Bush administration official was wavering
about telling some budget figures that they didn't want known. The
clown was saying it was difficult to calculate. Helen said that she
sweetly asked him "would you like a paper and pencil?"

[spooky3]

26. I think one huge advantage of DU is that one remains anonymous

unless one wants to reveal more about him/herself.

Any journalist could adopt a screen name and post on his/her spare time (not on the employer's time). There are quite a few people who say they are journalists who are part of the DU community.

On edit--the point of the above is not to disrespect any decision anyone makes--it is just to note that anonymity is available, which is why I had suggested the invitation.

Also, I might take issue a bit with the notion that Fox people openly self-identify their biases. I think part of the problem is that they refuse to do so. They claim to be "fair and balanced" yet don't behave that way, and insult people who call them on their inaccuracies and biases.

In any case, glad you are here and thanks again for sharing the interesting stories.

[DFW]

35. About Fox--I think we only disagree on the terminology

They don't acknowledge their bias as being what it is, preferring to
deny it by their "balanced" label, but fooling no one. They show their
bias for all the world to see. Where their advertising slogan may say
"fair," when their chief, Roger Ailes, was interviewed years ago about
this very subject, he replied in all honesty, "We have an agenda." You
can't get much more direct than that. Their hate and insults are out
there in the open for all to see. I'm sure that a great many of those
who cheer them on have no illusions about what they are seeing. They
tune in to hear what they want to hear, not because it's unbiased or true.
Much like Bush, himself.

As for Helen--she has spent 61 years behind a byline with her name
on it. I don't think that she's about to bother to change that now!

[lonestarnot]

12. ewwwww! Lucky you! Thanks for sharing.

[progressoid]

13. Toooo cooool!

[monmouth]

15. Wish I knew where HT gets the energy. She needs to bottle it. Lover her...

[Lugnut]

18. Ms Thomas is a national treasure

You are very fortunate to have had such a memorable evening. Thank you for sharing it. :)

[bear425]

20. What a wonderful evening! Next time, take me! n/t

[DFW]

23. Well, if you would let us know in time, of course!

[PCIntern]

21. Isn't it fun to do that?

I had dinner with Joe Wilson over a year ago and it was just fabulous...much like your experience. These folks do transcend the usual suspects with which most of us associate. Congratulations.

[DFW]

22. I have to admit, it sure is!

The hard part is trying to remember everything you want to bring up.
We were there for four hours, and were still gabbing away. Helen is
more of a known factor for my family, as she was a colleague of my
father's for 40+ years, so congratulations aren't really in order.
Now getting her to FINALLY take me to this Lebanese restaurant she has
been telling me about all these years--for that you CAN congratulate me.
What a feast that was!

[CoffeeCat]

24. Junior's "I want to be a war President"...

...is so childish and myopic.

He reminds me of that drunk oaf in the movie "Bachelor Party".

"Let's have a party...with CHICKS! and GUNS! and FIRETRUCKS!".

And Junior claims (and has stated to Woodward), that he doesn't
"think much about his legacy". Oh please.

The man entered his presidency, hell bent on being War Boy, so
he could carve out some sort of indelible place in history. He
never gave a damn about the American people or had any understanding
of what it meant to the a President.

Well, congratulations ass clown, you've f*cked that up. That's for sure.

[DeepModem Mom]

25. THANK YOU for this report! nt

[riona]

27. Enjoyed your post.

She is such a favorite of mine - I do like feisty women who aren't afraid to tell it like it is. If she retires one day, I wonder if there will ever be anyone that comes near to filling her shoes?

[DFW]

29. Helen may be of small stature,

....but I know of no one in Washington currently able to fill her shoes.

She doesn't mean to come across as feisty. In person, she is serenity in
the flesh. But at age 87, she doesn't feel like she has to take shit from
a bunch of liars in office who were getting their diapers changed while
she was out there busting her chops learning the ropes of the Washington
scene. If she didn't take any crap from minds like JFK, she sure isn't
going to take any from someone as intellectually lame as Bush. The difference
is that previous presidents respected her for her tenacity. The current one
fears it more than Ichabod Crane feared the Headless Horseman.

Will anyone take her place some day? Maybe, but if so, they are keeping one
hell of a low profile for the moment.

[Hekate]

28. Swoooon. Thanks for sharing!

:hi:

Hekate

[DFW]

30. Absolutely!!

I know that Helen has more than a few admirers here at DU, and
thought that those people would appreciate my sharing those parts
of the evening that I could. As the first reply acknowledged, and
I hope is understood by the rest, when you have an evening with
someone who is as much a public figure as Helen is, you can't just
go repeating everything verbatim on a public forum. It just wouldn't
be fair, and would really be abusing a friendship, which is not on my schedule.

On the other hand, repeating things that are a matter of public (or close to it)
record already, well that is fair game, and she has forgotten more than most of
us (including me) will probably ever get to hear.

[1776Forever]

32. Is Helen going to write a book about the W years? Hope so!!!!

:party:

[DFW]

33. I don't think she writes horror stories

Stephen King is more like the one to do that one.
Actually Helen is involved in a months-long documentary
about her. It's not done yet. I don't know of any print
memoirs, but if she were to quit her job tomorrow and just
write about her career, it would be a saga so long, it would
make the Lord of the Rings trilogy seem like a short story!

[1776Forever]

31. Wow - Dinner with my heroine - how cool is that?

:bounce: :toast: :yourock:

Helen should hold a raffle for her favorite charity and let us buy in for a chance at dinner with her. I would go for that!:pals:

[DFW]

34. I don't know if she'd go for that

But hey, I'll bring it up with her next time.
Why not? The worst she could say is "no thanks," right?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

36. Which restaurant was it? Will have to check it out next time I'm in town. Isn't Helen of Lebanese

descent?

[DFW]

37. She is indeed of Lebanese descent.

As is Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas (no relation that I know of).
She is originally from the Detroit area.

The restaurant is called Mama Ayesha, and it's at 1967 Calvert Street
not far from the Omni Shoreham. Really cool old decor inside.

HIGHLY recommended!!! And watch out for the appetizers. They're so good,
there is a high risk of being full by the time the main course arrives!!!
202-232-5431 if you want to make reservations.

[mopinko]

38. no relation to each other, or to helen?

danny is marlo's dad.

[DFW]

42. No relation to Helen

I knew that Marlo was Danny's daughter. I remember "That Girl" very well!

[Cabcere]

39. That is so cool!

I have a lot of respect for Helen Thomas - she is truly an amazing woman, and that's so awesome that you got to have dinner with her. :) Thanks for sharing your experience with us! :hi: :yourock:

[mzmolly]

40. Wow, what an amazing experience. Thanks for sharing.

She was surprised to hear that there was sometimes so much anger here directed at Democrats.

I too am surprised, however I consider the source. Many of the disruptors here are Nader supporters of days gone by. They never actually supported Democrats. They are eternal malcontents.

Thanks again for sharing. :hi:

[Garbo 2004]

41. She's amazing. Thanks for telling us about your dinner with Helen. n/t

[burrowowl]

43. You lucky DOG!

I love Helen and I love Lebanese food!
Did you die and go to heaven!?

[DFW]

44. LOL!!!

Neither. The one is a sure thing, but hopefully not in the near future,
and the other is doubtful at best.

On the other hand, the next time I'm in Washington, Helen has promised me
that we're on for an encore, and that's better than dying or going to
heaven anyway, right?

[burrowowl]

45. From an agnostic,

sure is! Get good food and good conversation while ye may!

CHEERS! :toast:

On edit: thanks for address, if I ever get to DC, will go there, a Lebanese fried of mine made a cone of wheat filled with minced lamb, pinon nuts and raisons! Divine!