6/08/2010

Fallout from Helen Thomas controversy

It is interesting to see who is withdrawing their support for Helen Thomas after her controversial remarks over Jews on May 27th. First, it is clear that others knew about her views on Jews. As Howard Kurtz notes, "her hostility toward Israel has been no secret within the Beltway." Here are a couple of places that

Society of Professional Journalists

Similarly, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) are now considering renaming the “Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement,” which was first given to Helen Thomas in 2000. The board of the SPJ will be meeting in July to discuss a variety of issues, including renaming the award. . . .


Even though he was quite late to the party, even Mr. Obama finally weighed in on the controversy this morning:

"Her comments were offensive," Obama said. "It's a shame because Helen's someone who has been a correspondent through I don't know how many presidents - was a real institution in Washington. But I think she made the right decision."


A commencement speech was cancelled.

A high school graduation speech by veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas has been canceled because of controversial remarks she made about Israel, the school's principal said in an e-mail Sunday.
Thomas had been scheduled to speak at the June 14 graduation of Walt Whitman High School, but Principal Alan Goodwin wrote in the e-mail to students and parents that she was being replaced. The school in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Md., hasn't picked a new speaker.
"Graduation celebrations are not the venue for divisiveness," Goodwin wrote. . . .


Not everyone is really upset. The Brady Campaign, which just gave her the Sarah Brady Visionary Award on May 18th, is not backing away from giving it to her.



Her acceptance speech is here.


On MSNBC some were upset about her leaving.

Apparently, the Rabbi who recorded Helen Thomas' latest outburst that got her in so much trouble has gotten 25,000 hate emails. The Rabbi, David Nesenoff, was also attacked by Keith Olbermann: “If an opinion writer had to retire from opinion writing because she gave an opinion, shouldn’t a man of God have to retire from being a man of God when he starts insulting some of God’s children?”

The Washington Post sarcastically attacks the Washington Times editorial on Thomas: "The Washington Times reveals that it's one classy organization with this headline:."

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2 Comments:

Blogger MathewK said...

She's just another msm journalist who has been exposed to be a biased, Israel-hating leftist. I know she won't be the last, but shame on her for disgracing her profession.

6/08/2010 5:33 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Flip her remark --to an "entrapment" camera--suppose she, or anyone said the exact same thing about Muslims,
They would be treated as truthtellers?

6/09/2010 9:47 AM  

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