In the wake of her controversial remarks about Israel, Hearst columnist Helen Thomas is retiring effective immediately. Thomas, 89, drew condemnation after saying that Jews should “Go back to Poland or Germany” and that Israel should “get the hell out of Palestine.” A rabbi with two students asked her thoughts on Israel at a White House Jewish Heritage Celebration on May 27, and he videotaped Thomas giving her reply. The video made its way around the web quickly, and Thomas soon found herself having to apologize. Still, that was not enough for the Obama administration. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, in his daily briefing, called Helen’s remarks “offensive and reprehensible.” Here at LR, we were surprised at the dearth of coverage the Thomas story initially received. It seems as though the blogosphere and Twittersphere kept the story alive until it couldn’t be ignored. Helen Thomas leaves behind a legacy of 40 years of White House reporting and 67 years of overall reporting.
There may be more to come from the videotaped interview. The site that published it, RabbiLIVE writes a teaser that says “Part II of the Helen Thomas Interview to Come Soon. See and hear more of the infamous interview with Ms. Thomas coming to this site. You won’t want to miss it.”
