On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 10:31 AM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> I won't defend Helen Thomas, except to say that what she said was > without question politically incorrect, but it didn't strike me as > racist. Her statement that Jewish people should "go home" to places > like Germany or Poland seems more geared towards those who believe the > Jews who were not born in Israel don't really have a claim to the > land, which is more an issue of territorial imperative than the rights > of a race of people. > > I'll add that for Ari Fleischer to speak out against anyone on the > basis of morality is about the most absurd thing I've ever heard in my > life. > I won't defend her because she deserves no defense - this goes way beyond political correctness. To say that Jews should leave Israel and return to Germany is to say that Jew should return to the Camps. I don't think that is literally what Thomas meant, she knew full well that was the baggage a statement like that would carry, and she meant to throw that kind of rhetorical weight behind her view that Jews should get out of the middle east. If a reporter for Fox News said that Obama should get out of the White House and go back to the cotton fields, I think you would find a lot of people at least as offended and outraged, and justifiably so. Ironically, that kind of anti-Semitic crap plays right into the hands of the tight assed hard-liners in Israel, who have a polarized world view that tells them the only two options for Jews is to be either victim or perpetrator of genocide. Helen Thomas has always been more the subject of more praise and more attacks than she has deserved. She is an example of someone who should have retired 20 years ago. I admired her standing up to the Bush (43) Administration, but often cringed at the way she did, and wished there was a more articulate and sharper person occupying her chair as doyen of the press core. I will be interested to see how Stewart and Colbert cover this story... -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
