The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Helen Thomas Dogpile

Posted on | June 6, 2010 | 14 Comments

Why am I the last blogger on the planet to blog about this?

I dunno. It’s not as if there has been any shortage of blogospheric rage raining down on Helen’s hate-filled head. What’s the point of my running in to give her an extra kick? Besides, once she’s been called an old, ugly Jew-hater for the umpteenth million time, there’s just not much opportunity for originality.

It’s like calling Charles Manson “crazy.” Yeah. We already knew that.

Dan Riehl gives Helen a good kick, and Jimmie Bise makes a game effort:

Living fossil Helen Thomas lurched forth from the murk of the tar pits where she lives to issue her solution on the current unrest in the Middle East. . . . Apparently, she was not quite up to screaming them from a nearby balcony in the original German.

OK, should Helen be fired? Or maybe banished from the White House press corps? For crying out loud, she’s older than White House itself.

She wasn’t born in a log cabin. She was born before the log cabin was invented. As a matter of fact, Helen Thomas had a byline the day God invented trees. (“Exclusive: Jewish conspiracy suspected in latest development!”)

Helen Thomas should have retired at least 15 years ago. I’m all in favor of “institutional memory” in journalism, and despise the recent trend toward employing clever 20-somethings to cover national politics, when they should be paying their dues covering city council meetings in the sticks.

Nevertheless, I doubt that the White House press corps derives much value from Helen Thomas and her “institutional memory” of the Pleistocene Epoch.

Ba-da-boom!

You see? At some point, one more Helen Thomas joke becomes overkill. Another straw on the camel’s back. And speaking of Helen Thomas and camels . . .

Update(d) (Smitty): I was too busy flaking off contributing to the #HelenThomasMovies thread to blog this. Ed Driscoll reports that her agent, Diane Nine, (as quoted by Craig Crawford–thanks, Ed.), has given her the “Way to go, Helen”.
Justice in the court of public opinion picks up steam.

Update II (Smitty): What Uncle Jimbo said:

Category: Media Bias

Comments

14 Responses to “The Helen Thomas Dogpile”

  1. TAS
    June 6th, 2010 @ 8:43 pm

    I’ve never understood why conservatives spend so much time defending a group of people who overwhelmingly supported Obama and helped to lead or fund virtually every liberal movement that has wrecked this country

  2. TAS
    June 6th, 2010 @ 4:43 pm

    I’ve never understood why conservatives spend so much time defending a group of people who overwhelmingly supported Obama and helped to lead or fund virtually every liberal movement that has wrecked this country

  3. CountVikula
    June 6th, 2010 @ 10:00 pm

    lol I like her. She represents the real Old Left. I prefer people to wear their views on their sleeve, rather than bubbling under the surface.

    I don’t see why people are so scared of her. It’s not like her opinion is really news from her, though it does make for a good shock-value sound-byte.

  4. CountVikula
    June 6th, 2010 @ 6:00 pm

    lol I like her. She represents the real Old Left. I prefer people to wear their views on their sleeve, rather than bubbling under the surface.

    I don’t see why people are so scared of her. It’s not like her opinion is really news from her, though it does make for a good shock-value sound-byte.

  5. And more on Helen Thomas « DaTechguy's Blog
    June 6th, 2010 @ 6:49 pm

    […] while I don’t share the insult the woman’s looks bit at the other McCain (hey at that age simply being alive is pretty good) but I do agree with him concerning Rachel […]

  6. Rob Miller
    June 7th, 2010 @ 12:53 am

    I don’t believe she should be fired. She should stay right where she is.

    Helen Thomas, an Arab-American has been a raging anti-Semite for years, and it’s no secret. Not to the White House press corps, not her employers at Hearst, not to President Obama who was pictured cuddling this repulsive Jew hater.

    She’s a valuable symbol of how anti-Semitism has become part of the normal national discourse in a way no other hatred has.

  7. Rob Miller
    June 6th, 2010 @ 8:53 pm

    I don’t believe she should be fired. She should stay right where she is.

    Helen Thomas, an Arab-American has been a raging anti-Semite for years, and it’s no secret. Not to the White House press corps, not her employers at Hearst, not to President Obama who was pictured cuddling this repulsive Jew hater.

    She’s a valuable symbol of how anti-Semitism has become part of the normal national discourse in a way no other hatred has.

  8. RES
    June 7th, 2010 @ 5:21 am

    Looking at Helen’s make-up I find myself wondering what happened to all those who decided, in the aftermath of FL2000, that such topic was fair commentary game?

    As to what she said, really, how could anyone be surprised (except at the unsophisticated-ness of her expression?)

  9. RES
    June 7th, 2010 @ 1:21 am

    Looking at Helen’s make-up I find myself wondering what happened to all those who decided, in the aftermath of FL2000, that such topic was fair commentary game?

    As to what she said, really, how could anyone be surprised (except at the unsophisticated-ness of her expression?)

  10. Helen Thomas: Easy Target
    June 7th, 2010 @ 7:01 am

    […] that said, I’m with John Cole and Stacy McCain — a rather rare alignment of the poles! — in thinking it rather unsporting to continue […]

  11. Lucidity is skin deep, but senility goes straight to the bone
    June 7th, 2010 @ 10:21 am

    […] tip: Robert Stacy McCain. Tags: Germany, Helen Thomas, Israel, Judaism, Poland, RabbiLive.com, Robert Stacy […]

  12. Helen Thomas Would Approve « The Camp Of The Saints
    June 7th, 2010 @ 10:35 am

    […] The question you have to ask yourself is: What would Helen Thomas Do? […]

  13. John S
    June 7th, 2010 @ 5:10 pm

    I agree that the piling on is pointless, and in fact it’s more about the bloggers/commentators themselves than Helen Thomas (maybe a bit insecurity, a bit marking their ideological territory)…not that what she said was at all acceptable…but she’s been saying these sorts of things, veiled or not, for quite some time. This was just the final viral video in a long series of columns, conversations, and apparently, “deep-seated” thoughts.

  14. John S
    June 7th, 2010 @ 1:10 pm

    I agree that the piling on is pointless, and in fact it’s more about the bloggers/commentators themselves than Helen Thomas (maybe a bit insecurity, a bit marking their ideological territory)…not that what she said was at all acceptable…but she’s been saying these sorts of things, veiled or not, for quite some time. This was just the final viral video in a long series of columns, conversations, and apparently, “deep-seated” thoughts.