John Cole posts this video (an expanded version of the one stirring up all this controversy) of Helen Thomas answering some questions about Israel and journalism:
Well, it’s not exactly the most sensitive thing to say, obviously, and more to the point even though it’s obviously not a call for a second Holocaust it’s just not a terribly bright position to take publicly given the controversial nature of the Israel/Palestine debate. And John may be correct that this is a whole lot of sound and fury, but it certainly isn’t helpful to suggest the solution to the middle-east problem is to expel the Jews. That’s about as helpful as suggesting the Israelis should just keep occupying more and more land in the West Bank. Or, as Adam Serwer notes:
Any American who is going to argue that Israeli Jews should "get out" is going to have to be willing to advocate for the return of all the land west of the Mississippi River to Native Americans, since the provenance of the land on which America stands is far more legally dubious than that of the Jewish state.
Jon Chait has more on the outspoken Whitehouse correspondent. He doesn’t paint a very flattering picture. In the end, like Robert Byrd, I think it was probably time for Thomas to go one way or another.
when, and if i reach 89 freaking year old, i expect to say a lot of cranky, obscene and vulgar things. that seems to one of the benefits of being really old.
the other obvious point is that nobody is going to be fired for saying the Palestinians should get out or are all terrorists or are all scum. hell people get paid good money for that.
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