Bob Schieffer Replaces Helen Thomas After Canceled Speech

CBS's Bob Schieffer is stepping in to replace Helen Thomas at a high school commencement speech.

Longtime White House correspondent Thomas had been forced to cancel her planned commencement address at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, following the firestorm over her controversial remarks about Israel. She subsequently retired from her post as Hearst Newspapers columnist and White House correspondent.

Schieffer, another veteran Washington correspondent, will take Thomas' place at the graduation.

Whitman principal Alan Goodwin called him a "journalist of prominent stature in the community," according to the Washington Post.

The commencement will take place on June 14th.

Comments

[Countess]

10:48 AM on 06/10/2010

Schieffer was the moderator of one of the presidential debates and he did not ask a single question on the environment displaying an ignorance or disinterest in one of the most important issues of our time.

[LeeCalif]

11:59 PM on 06/09/2010

How obscene !

[Brent in VA]

11:13 PM on 06/09/2010

I've always liked Bob Shieffer. He's a straight shooter. Not much of a singer, but a great reporter.

[CaA4030]

01:02 AM on 06/10/2010

I agree. He is very personable and a good public speaker. I am sure we are going to be satisfied listening to him speak

[Samuel Perry]

07:58 PM on 06/09/2010

Bob Schieffer? Really? Replace my dog with a cat, why don't you?

[GreshamGuy]

07:12 PM on 06/09/2010

Here we go again, throwing experience under the bus to make way for some green pup.

[jon the helper]

02:35 PM on 06/09/2010

SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER, NO ONE CAN REPLACE HELEN THOMAS.

[dnalpahs]

05:24 PM on 06/09/2010

Racists like her are getting harder to find.

[Samuel Perry]

07:59 PM on 06/09/2010

sorry, i'm not convinced.

[LeeCalif]

12:00 AM on 06/10/2010

Jon- Thank you !

dnal-
Go f yourself.

[GaiasChild]

01:48 PM on 06/09/2010

does he want her chair in the briefing room?

[LeeCalif]

10:28 AM on 06/09/2010

Helen Thomas said nothing wrong. Is.rael pays for Jews to come to Israe.l to live from all around the world. Everyone knows that but acts like they don't.

The West Bank & Gaza are occupied and controlled by Israe.li soldiers and
by the Apartheid Wall.

Bob Scheiffer has always had a Republican agenda.

[GJMejay]

07:40 AM on 06/09/2010

I'm perplexed about the emphasis being placed on Ms. Thomas' comment. Didn't she also say that the Palestinians are an occupied people? Yes, yes she did say that Jews should "go home", and she also said the word Hell in there, but BUT, her main point was really that the Palestinians are an occupied people. Is it really OK for one country to occupy another?

[dnalpahs]

05:25 PM on 06/09/2010

If she said that African-Americans should just go home to Africa, would that be okay with you too?

[Grimmsd]

07:12 PM on 06/09/2010

But she didn't say that. There is no correlation between her statement and yours.

She was expressing an opinion on a situation that has troubled the world for decades.

[LeeCalif]

12:02 AM on 06/10/2010

dnal-
Try to stick with the subject.

[lennapae]

07:31 AM on 06/09/2010

Bob's a good choice, he's a great news person. People don't wake up one day & all of a sudden become bigots. Helen's bigotry was there festering for years. I listened to he entire conversation with the Rabbi on NPR yesterday. If the old bat just answered his question nothing would have been offensive. She went on her bigoted diatribe all by herself.

[jnansaha]

04:47 AM on 06/09/2010

Some on this board please come down of your high horse. Please read this and if you are decent human being then publish an apology to Helen Thomas.
Double standard in this country.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/rabbi-who-recorded-helen-thomas-comments-is-now-suffering-from-his-own-viral-video-past/

[supergenius02]

12:54 AM on 06/09/2010

Well when you get exposed for being an anti-Semite this is what you get Helen. Saying Jews should go back to Poland is like saying blacks should go back to Africa. As a black person myself, I would be VERY upset if I heard anything like this so understand why anyone who is Jewish should be very upset. Shame on you Helen.

[Orwellian]

02:01 AM on 06/09/2010

She was a pistol journalist for decades who asked the good questions, and a lot of time when nobody else had the steel to.
Political correctness supercedes badly needed debate on what's going on in Gaza; a situation which undoubtedly premeditated her exasperated comment.
Nine unarmed people delivering aid on a humanitarian boat are killed, and little old lady Thomas is the villain? That's what you call a BIG bait and switch.
Helen Thomas is not scary. Military shooting at unarmed people on aid boats in international waters is scary.

[LastAngryWoman]

06:37 AM on 06/09/2010

Fanned for the best post I've read on this issue.

[heroine addict]

08:19 PM on 06/09/2010

Likewise!

[LastAngryWoman]

06:52 AM on 06/09/2010

It was a silly thing for her to say.
While I was disappointed to hear her say it; something tells me that large numbers of people, who have known Helen throughout the years, are not, particularly surprised.
And I agree with orwellian's post.
And as a white woman living for many decades now...I am surprised when I find out a person is NOT racist or bigoted.

[almazza98]

12:50 PM on 06/10/2010

She didn't say anything wrong. She could have been more clearer.

[springsm]

12:44 AM on 06/09/2010

Well they will miss Helen Thomas...she is a woman of substance. I guess the sameo sameo of Bob Schieffer will suffice for them. So this is a high school...can't they find someone closer to the school to give this speech. I wonder if the hs kids were given a voice in this. Probably not because the knee jerk hyateria over her very untimely remark, went after HT like pirrhana after fresh meat. Unless the hs kids are conservative christians, they are usually fair minded. IF they are given a chance to be.

[RubenNYC]

12:13 AM on 06/09/2010

I wonder if anyone has reported about the state of mind of this high school students. How are they appreciating this spectacle of changing speakers. Suddenly this ceremony with the unpredictable changes in the preparations will leave a much stronger impression in their formative years than this kind of high school commencements usually do.

[hotrod51]

01:37 AM on 06/09/2010

Like high school students really care about the commencement speakers . Get real.

[Corpsman Up]

11:34 PM on 06/08/2010

One liberal hack for another.