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10013. thoughtful - 6/7/2010 6:09:10 PM i don't understand why exxon and shell et al aren't in helping out bp in this oil spill...it is no longer a bp problem but an oil industry problem and it would be in all of their interests to see the damage minimized and the fix executed immediately. Certainly this is something obama should be pushing for and can suspend any laws against collusion to make it happen. 10014. thoughtful - 6/7/2010 6:10:59 PM so let me see...helen thomas has had to retire because someone asked her opinion and she stated it. People are claiming that she can't be objective given her feelings toward israel....excuse me. Is there anyone who things all other reporters have no opinion on anything they write about? Or are we realistic enough to recognize they do have opinions but hopefully professional enough to stick to the facts when they report...Sheesh!
10015. arkymalarky - 6/8/2010 2:09:32 AM I can't believe that a 90 year old veteran who's covered presidents since Kennedy would be so unceremoniously booted for a statement she apologized for. 10016. thoughtful - 6/8/2010 4:21:56 PM My antisemitic father always used to say jews run the world...in this case, given a lebanese woman chose to state her opinion which was viewed as antithetical to the state of israel and gets ousted for it...it would seem to be a point for his camp. (Of course I always used to counter him with, if jews really ran the world, don't you think they would've been able to prevent the extermination of 6 million of their own people?)
Of course, many people have gotten ousted for a statement or an action that was considered inappropriate only to be redeemed in the media a few years later (see g. gordon liddy or oliver north). Unfortunately for Helen, she's not got that many years left. 10017. judithathome - 6/8/2010 8:14:07 PM If you don't want an opinion, don't ask a 90 year old for one.
Had she made a statement favorable to Israel, do you think she'd have been lauded...or even ignored?
This is ridiculous...I may not agree with her but if you ask for an opinon, better be prepared for it not to jibe with your own...50% chance either way. 10018. thoughtful - 6/8/2010 9:28:38 PM I think a distinction should be made in what's said given the person's role in life.
It's one thing when someone in congress who is supposed to represent all his constituents makes a 'macaca' remark vs someone who has no power or decision making over other people. 10019. alistairConnor - 6/8/2010 9:58:39 PM Sorry, I disagree with you all, dears. I don't know the lady or her work, probably that helps.
Try this exercise : somebody says :
"XXX category of people cause YYY type of problem, they should all go back to ZZZ where they came from."
Plug in some variables, and see if you like any of the outcomes.
I'm reminded of the Abbé Pierre, who died a couple of years ago. He was voted most popular Frenchperson every year, for his outstanding humanitarian work over 60 years. In his nineties, he expressed anti-semitic opinions, in support of a negationist friend of his. He disappeared from public view after this; and rightly so.
I'm afraid that old people tend to lose it, and go back to their original prejudices. The ones they grew out of, moved on from, or at least kept in check.
I think it's indecent to go and solicit unacceptable opinions from old folks; but on the other hand, such opinions freely given are proof that it's time to retire from public view. It was right to fire her. 10020. thoughtful - 6/8/2010 10:37:24 PM OK, let me try it:
"Al Qaeda murdered thousands of innocent people....they should all go to hell where they came from."
Works for me!
if you're specifically asked an opinion then you are free to express it...it is entirely up to her readership if they choose to stop reading her material or not as a result of her opinion.
It's my choice to refuse to see any mel gibson movies anymore...but he is still has a box office despite his disgusting remarks.
Who said: “The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.” and “We need segregated buses… This is Obama’s America.”
And by the way he's still employed because his audience supports him.
It was Rush Limbaugh. 10021. Dubai Vol - 6/9/2010 5:45:18 AM Poor Helen Thomas; that'll teach her to have two mimosas and shoot her mouth off.
Seriously, kids, she's Lebanese. What on earth do you expect her opinion to be? Of course having an opinion and being stupid enough to say it out loud are two different things.
Go back to Germany and Poland? Really? Sure, as a crazy old lady you are welcome to think that. To sit front row center at White House press briefings and say that? Not so much. 10022. Dubai Vol - 6/9/2010 6:03:32 AM Poor Helen Thomas; that'll teach her to have two mimosas and shoot her mouth off.
Seriously, kids, she's Lebanese. What on earth do you expect her opinion to be? Of course having an opinion and being stupid enough to say it out loud are two different things.
Go back to Germany and Poland? Really? Sure, as a crazy old lady you are welcome to think that. To sit front row center at White House press briefings and say that? Not so much.
And I'm sorry, but saying that we should tolerate bigotry on the part of Helen Thomas because the right wing are a bunch of bigots and Rush is their voice? No. Just no. 10023. thoughtful - 6/9/2010 2:41:49 PM First of all she did not say it from the front row of the white house press briefing. Second, her reporting has never revealed her personal sentiments, thus she has been doing her job well and did it extremely well for many decades. Third, like it or not there are bigots in this world. They have the right to speak their bigotry...otherwise how will we know who they are? That doesn't mean we have to like what they are saying. But if rush can be an idiot and a racist all the time and keep his job then why should the standards be more stringent for helen who not only has a far greater track record than rush ever did, but who, given her position, has far less influence in the world than rush does. 10024. vonKreedon - 6/9/2010 4:08:44 PM I think that Helen's statement was easily reason enough for Hearst to fire her. Come on, telling the citizens of Israel that they should go back to where they came from? And that the places they should go are Germany and Poland? It's one thing to say that Israel needs to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, or that there needs to be a one state solution in Palestine, or even that the UN resolution legitimizing the state of Israel was a mistake, but it is purely anti-semetic to say that the citizens of Israel are all outsiders and should all return to the scene of the Shoah.
Yes, Rush et al say as bad on a variety of fronts and it is their meat and potatoes, but I'm really not going to take Rush's ethics as my benchmark in evaluating journalists. 10025. arkymalarky - 6/9/2010 6:40:42 PM There's a whole lot of space between tolerating it and allowing it to override 50 years of respected service where opinions have been allowed, even offensive ones. I think a 90 year old in those circumstances should be able to atone for that remark without losing everything. 50 years vs a bad statement for which she apologized is hardly an equivalent exchange. 10026. vonKreedon - 6/9/2010 8:34:06 PM Her statement, irregardless of subsequent apology, was offensive and incendiary enough to make her completely ineffective as a journalist going forward and so she was, IMO, appropriately retired. If Hearst had kept her on she would have been the story rather than covering a story. 10027. arkymalarky - 6/10/2010 4:41:32 AM I think we need to remember some important context here: the woman is 90 freakin years old! For anyone who saw tonight, Jon Stewart, as usual, gets it and expresses his insights better than anyone out there, imho. 10028. wabbit - 6/10/2010 2:20:39 PM Was she even still a journalist? I thought she had been moved to op-ed. 10029. thoughtful - 6/10/2010 2:47:31 PM Apparently she joined hearst newspapers as a columnist after upi was taken over by the moonies.
From wikipedia: Since leaving UPI, Thomas has been more likely to air her personal views. In a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Thomas quipped, "I censored myself for 50 years when I was a reporter. Now I wake up and ask myself, ‘Who do I hate today?’" 10030. judithathome - 6/10/2010 6:53:32 PM And that the places they should go are Germany and Poland?
Not that it matters but she also said "Or to America"...of course, the part that's getting all publicity and creating such high dudgeon is the Germany and Poland part. 10031. thoughtful - 6/10/2010 7:35:56 PM This oil spill is unbelievable and I can't believe how a bright guy like obama is missing perhaps the best opportunity of his presidency to change this country.
If I were czarina, I'd 1) change whatever laws, add whatever liability protections, etc in place to get exxon and shell in there to help out bp...this is not just a bp problem but an industry problem and it is in all their interests to fix this thing as fast as possible.
Aside: what's this bs about needing a new ship? you mean to tell me they aren't anticipating the amount of oil captured and lining up ships to take care of it????
2) I'd have the biggest wpa program going so there is not one person unemployed all along the gulf coast...if you have a boat, get out there and clean or spread booms or whatever...if you don't have a boat, hit the beaches and start cleaning up tar balls and birds and whatever else. This would not only boost the economy but help minimize the damage from this spill
3) i'd put a $1/gallon tax on petroleum based fuels to start getting the price of petrol products somewhere near the actual cost of acquiring them
And i'm sick of hearing all this bs about how this would be different in 200' water vs 5000' water. Rachel maddow had a nice comparison with the undersea well blowout that happened 30 years ago and guess what...they tried all the same things...top kill, containment, etc. and the only thing that worked was drilling a relief well....that'll be the same now.
Idiots.
And obama should be in there cleaning house not just on the mms and energy side, but on all the regulatory bodies...clean out all the bush leftovers who don't believe govt can do any good and get in qualified thoughtful people who don't spend their days downloading porn.
This is just another example of a missed opportunity by this guy...so disappointing. 10032. vonKreedon - 6/11/2010 3:24:38 PM Thoughtful - Yeah, Obama's response, or more accurately dearth of response, has been very dissapointing and very much a missed opportunity, one in a series of dissapointing missed opportunities.
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