Monday, June 07, 2010

Helen Thomas Dropped From Whitman Commencement, Retires

Maybe everybody is sick of this story already, but it's got a local twist and I expect that our readers may have opinions on this subject. Helen Thomas is a venerable reporter, of Lebanese heritage, nearly ninety years old, she was shown disrespect by the Bush administration and kept her head up, she kept after them when she was right. Recently she was asked if she had any words for Israel, following the recent incident with a Turkish aid ship, and she said, into a video camera belonging to a web site called RabbiLive.com, "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied, and it's their land, not German and not Poland." The interviewer asked, "So where should they go, what should they do?" Thomas said, "They go home --" "Where's home?" "Poland, Germany --" "So the Jews should just go back to Poland and Germany?" "And America," she said, "And everywhere else."

She had been scheduled to give a graduation speech Monday, June 14th, at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, and the school canceled the speech after her controversial statement. Today she announced her retirement.

The Post:
Veteran journalist Helen Thomas announced Monday that she would retire immediately, amid a controversy over her comments that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go "home" to Germany, Poland and elsewhere, according to a report from her employer, Hearst News Service.

Thomas, 89, also canceled plans to speak at Bethesda's Walt Whitman High School graduation, after students and parents protested. On Monday, school officials searched for a new speaker and discussed the decision with underclassmen. Whitman seniors, who do not have class this week, debated the topic on Facebook.

Last week a video of Thomas's comments about Israelis and Palestinians circulated on YouTube and triggered a public outcry. On Monday the White House blasted the comments as "offensive and reprehensible."

Thomas, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, has covered the White House for almost half a century -- mostly as bureau chief for United Press International, but in the past decade as a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. She is well known to the television-watching American public because for years she had the honor, as dean of the White House press corps, of asking the opening question at presidential news conferences. White House blasts Helen Thomas comments on Jews, Israel

Thomas posted this statement on her website:
Helen Thomas issued the following statement today: “I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.” (June 4, 2010)

The MCPS graduation schedule online lists the commencement speakers for every school in the district except Whitman.

It will be interesting to see how history treats Helen Thomas.

19 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

history will ignore her

the only people that ever found her interesting were other reporters

"Obama's popularity ratings at the end of May fell to a new low, according to the weekly polling data of Gallup.

Obama's approval rating was at 45 percent. That compares with 77 percent in May of the second year for George W. Bush."

June 07, 2010 11:04 PM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

No discussion of George Bush's popularity and approval ratings is complete by his second year of eight in office.

During his third year in office, Bush launched his blunder on Iraq and his approval ratings fell for the next 5 years, never to return to the highs after 9/11, the worst terrorist attack on the US that might have been prevented had Bush heeded that August, 2001 PDB entitled "Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US.

CBS News reports how Bush will be remembered:

"...Mr. Bush's final approval rating is the lowest final rating for an outgoing president since Gallup began asking about presidential approval more than 70 years ago..."

June 08, 2010 8:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

fortunately, we won't be able to compare Bush to Obama after eight years because Barry won't get another bite at the apple

word!

June 08, 2010 11:01 AM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

Oh yeah! That'll work out about as well as your President Huckabee prediction did!

< eye roll >

June 08, 2010 12:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

weren't you predicting that Obama would be cheered endlessly by a grateful nation?

it hasn't worked that way but he's trying

this morning, he said he was going to "kick some ass" at BP

thanks, Barry

we feel better already

June 08, 2010 12:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

< snicker, snicker >

June 08, 2010 12:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

talk about predictions, remember when that seemingly nice Barack Obama promised that if we pass his stimulus plan, unemployment would top out at 8% and start falling?

what was that guy smokin'?:

‘A Very Deep Hole’
By BOB HERBERT
Published: June 7, 2010

I know the president has a lot on his mind, but the No. 1 problem facing the U.S. continues to fester, and that problem is unemployment.

The jobs report for May, released on Friday by the Labor Department, was grim. President Obama tried to put the best face on it, but it was undeniably bad news. The private sector created just 41,000 jobs in May, a dismal performance.

Unemployment is crushing families and stifling the prospects of young people. Given that reality, President Obama’s take on the May numbers seemed oddly out of touch. “This report,” he said, “is a sign that our economy is getting stronger by the day.”

The economy is sick, and all efforts to revive it that do not directly confront the staggering levels of joblessness are doomed. Even the meager job growth in the private sector last month was composed mostly of temporary work. Lawrence Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, had the right take when he said, “These new data do not present a picture of a healthy private sector and offer nothing even closely resembling the job growth we need to dig us out of a very deep hole.”

More than 15 million Americans are out of work, and nearly half have been jobless for six months or longer. New college graduates are having a terrible time finding work, and many are taking jobs that require only a high school education. Teachers are facing the worst employment market since the Depression.

Entire communities are going under. A remarkable article in The Times last week detailed what has happened in Memphis. It said the city epitomizes “how rising unemployment and growing foreclosures in the recession have combined to destroy black wealth and income and erase two decades of slow progress.”

The median income of black homeowners in Memphis has dropped to a level below that of 1990.

It’s impossible to overstate the threat that this crisis of unemployment poses to the well-being of the United States. With so many people out of work and so much of the rest of the population deeply in debt, where is the spending going to come from to power a true economic recovery?

Some inner-city neighborhoods, where joblessness is off the charts, are becoming islands of despair. Rural communities and rust belt cities and towns are experiencing their own economic nightmares.

There is no plan that I can see to get us out of this fix.

Obama should resign now and let qualified people take over.

June 08, 2010 2:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

‘A Very Deep Hole’

Everybody know who dug it.

June 08, 2010 5:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well, we sure know who has no clue how to get out

when Obama won the election, unemployment was 6.6%

last month, it was 9.9 and dropped to 9.7 this month almost entirely because of temporary census-related hiring

you guys keep on smiling and patting yourself on the back

we'll wake you up in November

Obama's only hope is to try some change we can believe in and follow JFK's lead by cutting capital gains taxes

how's that hopey, changey thing goin'?

June 08, 2010 6:03 PM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

this morning, he said he was going to "kick some ass" at BP

Is that what they reported over at your FAUX news network? You can't count on them for anything but spin. Here's the transcript of what Obama actually said about ass kicking:

Obama: "And I understand. And here's what -- I'm going to push back hard on this, because I think that this is just an idea that got in folks' heads and the media has run with it. I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf. A month ago I was meeting with fishermen down there standing in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be.

"And I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick, right?

"So, you know, this is not theater. Most of the decisions that I make on a day-to-day basis, I make because I have gathered the best information possible in very difficult situations, and my job is to figure out how can I move the federal government, the private sector, all the various players who are involved, to perform some very, very difficult tasks?

"And I don't always have time to perform for the benefit of the cable shows. What I do have is dedication and commitment to make sure that the people who are actually being affected by this are going to get the best possible service from me. And as long as I'm president, that's the approach that I'm going to take to this job."


Obama promised that if we pass his stimulus plan, unemployment would top out at 8% and start falling

What a lemming, repeating each and every bit of right wing spin (AKA lie) you hear. Obama never "promised" any such thing. If you think he made such a promise then prove it, find the quote of him making the promise and provide the URL to it for Vigilance readers, now tax season's over and you're back to goofing off at work.

Here's an excerpt from Politifact about the factoid Cantor has tried to create:

"Clearly the stimulus or so-called stimulus plan that spent almost $800 billion dollars has not worked," Cantor said in a PBS interview on July 8, 2009. "We were promised, the president said we would keep unemployment under 8.5 percent. We're now over 9.5 percent, on our way to 10 percent."

The claim that the Obama administration "promised" the stimulus would keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent is a popular talking point among Republican critics of the stimulus.

...however...We could find no instance of anyone in the administration directly making such a public pledge.

What we saw from the administration in January was a projection, not a promise. And it was a projection that came with heavy disclaimers.

"It should be understood that all of the estimates presented in this memo are subject to significant margins of error," the report states. "There is the more fundamental uncertainty that comes with any estimate of the effects of a program. Our estimates of economic relationships and rules of thumb are derived from historical experience and so will not apply exactly in any given episode. Furthermore, the uncertainty is surely higher than normal now because the current recession is unusual both in its fundamental causes and its severity."

There's also a footnote that goes along with the chart that states: "Forecasts of the unemployment rate without the recovery plan vary substantially. Some private forecasters anticipate unemployment rates as high as 11% in the absence of action."

That sure doesn't sound like a full-fledged promise to us.

June 09, 2010 8:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you seem to be the only one who thinks Obama is doing well on the unemployment front

at this point, the only thing that might save Dems in November is an unprecedented rush of hiring over the next five months

in addition to it being unprecedented, it also is virtually impossible under the current Keynesian policies

"Sarah Palin batted three for four in primary endorsements Tuesday, and she's perfect so far in gubernatorial races."

June 09, 2010 11:56 AM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

you seem to be the only one who thinks Obama is doing well on the unemployment front

People who watch the Rachel Maddow show and people who are Vigilance readers have seen the "bikini graph" that clearly shows Obama's leadership has reduced the massive layoffs necessitated by Bush's budget blunders that turned the surplus created by Clinton into a more than trillion dollar deficit.

Anyone who watches the news (the real news, not the FAUX news) knows how many jobs bills since Obama was elected have relegated to the dustbin since by GOP members of Congress who's governing plan is to "just say no" to every change the Obama administration brings, even jobs for the unemployed in their own home districts.

Everybody knows it's the GOP's failure to cooperate in governing that is the reason more jobs bills haven't passed.

Rep. Rush Holt, D-NJ, reported that one such jobs bill, the COMPETES bill ...would put basic research programs—the Department of Energy Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology labs—on a path toward doubling funding over ten years. The bill would authorize programs like Innovative Technology Federal Loan Guarantees, which address the immediate needs of small- and medium-sized manufacturers to access capital to become more efficient and stay competitive. The bill would create Regional Innovation Clusters to leverage collaboration and communication between businesses.

The bill also includes authorization of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy and Energy Innovation Hubs to help advance the U.S.’s transition to a clean energy economy and to support the growth of new sectors in the economy, and the jobs that come with them. Additionally, the bill would expand and strengthen STEM education programs at all levels of education.

...More than 750 business, research, and academic organizations endorsed the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Business Roundtable, the Council on Competitiveness, the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the National Venture Capital Association, TechAmerica, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the American Chemical Society...


The GOP managed to block this bill from a full vote, twice, so far. I got over a million hits when I googled for 2010 jobs bills blocked by GOP.

The GOP doesn't want to govern, the GOP wants to prevent the Democrats from enacting the change Americans voted for and then to blame the Democrats for not doing what they said they'd do. I'm glad the GOP's skulduggery is being exposed and proud to do my part to shine the light to expose the GOP's 2010 "governing style."

Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly reported on the parliamentary shenanigans the GOP used to again scuttle yet another jobs bill proposed by Democrats and got it right when he said:

"I often wonder what Congress would be like if Republicans were serious about lawmaking and public policy. Maybe someday we'll find out, but I don't imagine that day will come soon."

June 10, 2010 9:14 AM  
Anonymous Derrick said...

Oh, look!

MCPS continues to be ranked among the best (number 1 in this case) for our outstanding graduation rate. I bet students using condoms to prevent pregnancies may be part of it. Just another reason why comprehensive sexual education programs are necessary and WORTH IT!



Read it here:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/press/index.aspx?page=showrelease&id=2780

June 10, 2010 9:21 AM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

Half-term Governor Palin's favorite tea party movement isn't going so well according to yesterday's WaPo:

"The national "tea party" movement's recent winning streak broke with Tuesday's primary results, providing fresh evidence of the decentralized conservative network's struggle to convert activist anger and energy into electoral results.

...From California to Virginia (with some notable exceptions), establishment-favored candidates won Tuesday in Republican primary battles for governor, House and Senate. In California, candidates who claimed the conservative mantle were outgunned by well-known and well-funded opponents. And in two congressional races in Virginia, where the tea party movement is popular and abundant, activists were unable to coalesce around a single candidate -- illustrating the organizational challenges facing the movement's grass roots.

...Even more demoralizing for activists, perhaps, is a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showing disapproval of the tea party at an all-time high; according to the poll, 50 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the movement, compared with 39 percent in March..."


And today Dana Milbank noted:

"Harry Reid is looking at life from a whole new Angle.

Only weeks ago, the Senate majority leader was a dead man walking, facing a seemingly inevitable defeat in his reelection battle in Nevada. But then came Tuesday's primary, and Republicans selected as their candidate Sharron Angle, a woman who, among other things, favors bringing more nuclear waste to Nevada, floated the idea of outlawing alcohol, and wants to abolish the Education Department, the Energy Department, the EPA, the United Nations and most of the IRS. She's not so keen on Social Security, Medicare or unemployment insurance, either.

That would explain the uncharacteristic smile on Reid's face as he opened Wednesday morning's Senate session.

...It's a measure of this strange political year that Harry Reid, thanks to the tea party, now has a solid chance to win a fifth term in the Senate. More than half of Nevadans have an unfavorable opinion of Reid -- which means he should have been an easy target for Republicans as they forced him to defend the economy and the national debt. Instead, the campaign now seems more likely to revolve around Angle's oddities. Gee whiz.

Within minutes of the primary win by the tea-party-backed Angle, a gleeful Nevada Democratic Party sent out a news release calling Reid's opponent "Sharron 'Wacky' Angle." Following that was a list of some of the stranger things Angle has said and done over the years: supporting the view that abortion causes breast cancer, proposing a program created by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard to give massages and saunas to prisoners, and making the odd statement that drug sales "supported the attack" on 9/11 "and the attack of terror continues against our children in the form of club drugs, particularly Ecstasy"..."

June 10, 2010 10:09 AM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

Thanks Derrick! What a great showing for MCPS!!

Click on the link to Graduation Rate for 50 Largest Districts and note that three Maryland county public school systems are in the top 10, more than any other state!

WTG MCPS and Maryland!! I am proud to live in a true blue progressive state that so successfully prepares our public school students to continue their education in college.

June 10, 2010 10:22 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

don't get too excited

the average income and educational level of the parents in ythe region creates a perfect storm of success that has nothing to do with the school

note that Fairfax County, right across the river and with a different system, is more successful

June 10, 2010 11:33 AM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

the average income and educational level of the parents in ythe region creates a perfect storm of success that has nothing to do with the school

note that Fairfax County, right across the river and with a different system, is more successful


Oh please!

Do tell us how you **imagine** the "average income and educational level of the parents" in Fairfax County -- the only county in VA to make it into the top 10 list (#2) of the 50 largest public high school districts with high graduation rates -- differs from the "average income and educational level of parents" in the three Maryland counties -- Montgomery (#1), Baltimore (#6), and Anne Arundel (#7) -- that also made it into that top 10 list.

Do you **think** the public schools in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties use the same "system" as Montgomery county does, and that only Fairfax county uses a "different system?"

After you're done with that, I suggest you do some research and tell us how those "average incomes and educational level of parents" **actually do** differ among those four counties.

June 10, 2010 12:57 PM  
Anonymous Derrick said...

The NEA has a great article that tells us what TEENS think about sexual eduation (copy and paste link at bottom for the entire article):


Let's Talk About Sex (Education)

What your students think about sex ed and abstinence.


By Cindy Long



For the first time in a decade, teen pregnancy is on the rise.

A Guttmacher Institute report found that pregnancy rates among 15-to-19-year-olds rose by 3 percent between 2005 and 2006, after a steep decline in the 1990s. It instantly sparked claims that the abstinence-only sex education programs of the past 10 years are ineffective. But just a few days after the Guttmacher report, another study—this one from the University of Pennsylvania—showed adolescents who took abstinence-only sex education classes were more likely to delay having sex.

So what really works?

As the debate among educators, policymakers, and parents rages on like a teenager’s hormones, NEA Today talked to some students to hear what they think.

Read the rest here:

http://www.nea.org/home/38787.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=nea_today_express&utm_campaign=20100609YourJobIsAtRisk&utm_content=SexEd&utm_term=YourJobIsAtRisk

June 10, 2010 1:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Do tell us how you **imagine** the "average income and educational level of the parents" in Fairfax County -- the only county in VA to make it into the top 10 list (#2) of the 50 largest public high school districts with high graduation rates -- differs from the "average income and educational level of parents" in the three Maryland counties -- Montgomery (#1), Baltimore (#6), and Anne Arundel (#7) -- that also made it into that top 10 list."

I don't recall saying it did. Fairfax and Montgomery have similar demographics and roughly equivalent success, showing that the success is likely from a source external to the system.

"For the first time in a decade, teen pregnancy is on the rise.

A Guttmacher Institute report found that pregnancy rates among 15-to-19-year-olds rose by 3 percent between 2005 and 2006, after a steep decline in the 1990s. It instantly sparked claims that the abstinence-only sex education programs of the past 10 years are ineffective."

The campaign, of which TTF is a small part, to discredit ab-only, preceded the rise. The effect of parents and educators publicly saying that they expect kids to have sex diluted the ab-only effort, which started longer than 10 years ago, btw.

June 11, 2010 9:16 AM  

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