{"id":37396,"date":"2013-07-20T14:18:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-20T19:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=37396"},"modified":"2013-07-20T14:18:03","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T19:18:03","slug":"doubting-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=37396","title":{"rendered":"Doubting Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I censored myself for 50 years when I was a reporter. Now I wake up and ask myself, \u2018Who do I hate today?\u2019” – Helen Thomas<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Grand Dame of the Washington Press Corps files her last report<\/a>. \u00a0Will they regret giving her so much deference?<\/p>\n

——<\/p>\n

The memoriams to Helen Thomas<\/a>\u00a0have thus far ventured no where near hagiography-status, due largely to the anti-Semitic statements and acrimonious questions that defined her later years. \u00a0But to follow Thomas’ career trajectory is to follow the style and influence of the mainstream media. \u00a0Thomas admirably fought her way into the newsroom, asked probing questions with at least a veneer of respect (hence, her concluding remarks of “thank you, Mr. President” after every presidential press conference), and then devolved into a caricature of an angry, biased reporter holding some extremely ugly and racist views.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it would appear that most of Helen Thomas’ biography resides in her\u00a0later years as she viewed American foreign policy through\u00a0a Star of David lens<\/a>, leading even\u00a0prominent liberals to ostracize her<\/a>. \u00a0Much of the coverage of her passing,\u00a0from news reports<\/a>\u00a0to her Wikipedia page<\/a>,\u00a0focus largely on her 2010 comments on Israel, declaring that Israelis should “go home” to Europe and the United States.<\/p>\n