Wednesday, August 05, 2009

President Obama Serenades Helen Thomas on Their Birthday.



Helen Thomas turned 89 yesterday, sharing her birthday with Obama. He surprised her by turning up at the press briefing with a birthday cake for her.

It's so nice to see Obama give Thomas the respect that she deserves, especially after the way she was snubbed by the previous holder of Obama's office. And let's face it, it's not as if she has been easy on Obama.

But he appears to recognise that she is a fine journalist, simply doing her job, even if her job sometimes puts her at odds with his agenda.

This is why I love her:

Q: Even after 9/11, when the press was really tame, there were still charges by some people in the press that there was a liberal media. Do you agree?

Thomas: I’m dying to find another friend. I am a liberal. I was a liberal the day I was born, and I will be until the day I die. What’s a liberal? I care about the poor, the sick, and the maimed. I care whether we go to war for unjust causes. I care whether we shoot people who are innocent. There’s no such thing as a liberal media. I think we have a very conservative press. Read the columnists. They are predominantly conservative. I don’t relate to them at all. I’m looking for another liberal.

Q: But there was a time when there were more liberal voices.

Thomas: There were more. But the press has moved with the country to the right. There was a Ronald Reagan revolution. There were many more liberals in the Great Depression, World War II. They had heart and soul and compassion. Reporters see so much more than anyone else, really, if they open their eyes. It’s their job to take a very human approach. I don’t see how you can see what’s all around you and not be liberal. You see the poor. You see the hungry. You see the suffering.

Still fighting the good fight at 89. What an example she is.

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