Helen Thomas Trains Another Press Secretary (VIDEO)

Suspicious that the White House is backing out of a public health insurance option, Helen Thomas gives Robert Gibbs yet another chance to fess up or deny. Noting that she's asked this many times, Gibbs says, "I apparently don't answer it to your satisfaction." Thomas replies, "That's right." Then she says, "I want your conscience to bother you."

(firedoglake.com, 10/1)

 

 

Follow Craig Crawford on Twitter: www.twitter.com/craig_crawford

Comments

[biteme43]

Gotta love her!!!!

[MeinNH]

We need more people like Helen Thomas....maybe something would get done.

[DonJM]

Helen Thomas - a national treasure!

[Solja]

There's a critical debate going on right now about our role in Afghanistan. The administration and Congress need to know that regular Americans are paying close attention and that we want a clear military exit strategy.

That's why I signed a petition urging the President and Congress to lay out a plan with a military exit strategy. Will you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/afghan_exit/?r_by=17429-9098714-zq5OBux&rc=comment_paste

Thanks!

[springsm]

Helen Thomas has always asked real and honest questions. She wants real and honest Answers. Bush's press dolts put her in the second or third row and would barely call on her. Lordy we will miss this woman when she leaves or isn't around anymore. WHo else there has the guts to ask something without either having a chip on the shoulder or a point to make. DId you notice that Chuck Todd did NOT change expressions. I like Gibbs too tho. He gets flustered, but still remains cordial. I hope she keeps asking. I miss Molly Ivins for the same reasons...honest and hard provoking commentaries. WE don't have any others that can do this...like MI or HT.

[johnfoirdfw]

A national treasure. One one of the last few journalists left with guts.

[Loveforlife]

Right on Helen. Keep up the good work.

[Matt Osborne - Huffpost Blogger]

Helen Thomas is the Queen of the Beltway Village media.

[hopepad08]

And she trained him how?

[springsm]

Well come on...she made him think about what he was selling. Perhaps you don't recognize that.

[Gnrshrtd]

Ms. Thomas is a monument in today's American journalism. Why does she get away with her "pesky" questions? Because she is honest, respectful, and the lady has paid her dues. It is her hard earned and well earned professionalism that makes these people give her latitude in her questioning - she doesn't go for the "gotcha" set up. She's a pro in every sense.

[PKatherine]

Helen Helen Helen, you are awesome!

[Awake-and-Sing]

Obama's campaign platform included no mandate to buy insurance, but a robust public option. We might get the opposite.

We're still in danger of a bill which forces people to buy overpriced, unreliable private insurance at extortion level rates under heavy tax penalty if we don't with NO public option to lower costs.

The President gave a nice flowery speech to Congress, but those are just words. With all politicians, look past their words and speeches to their actions. That will tell you who they really are and what they really believe.

- Obama had the weakest health care rerform plan of all eight Democrats who ran.

- Obama appointed Geitner, Summers, Emanuel and other DLC corporate shills instead of genuine progressives. In fact, his first pick for Health & Human Services Secretary was Tom Daschle, someone who doesn't support any public option.

- He didn't insist or even allow single-payer advocates to come to the table to make their case. If he had, the blue dogs would be begging for a public option as a compromise.

- The President never drew a line in the sand for the public option or against having a mandate without one. He has a veto pen, but refused to threaten to use it.

Based on his actual actions, how can anyone seriously say he was really serious about any 'public option'?

Progressives need to keep up the fight. If we get a public option, it will be in spite of the President, not

[mainemomma]

Helen Thomas is a perfect example of what happenes as we get older. Somehow, we don't care what flys out of our mouths... we say what we want. Helen, you are a great person, and it SHOULD bother Gibbs and all the rest of them to play mushmouth on this very important topic.
You were not trying to be funny.. you wanted an answer. God Bless you Helen...

[PKatherine]

I love her boldness!

[AmericanDreamWarrior]

Pssst... reporters, journalists, anchors, et al.... if your wondering how to ask hard, penetrating questions, ask Helen! Oh what is it you say, you can't??? Well why not? Oh that's right, because you're corporate run and that wouldn't be good for some billionaires portfolio! And they're wondering why so many news outlets are going broke. Because I really don't care all that much about Letterman and his nasty mess or watching wall to wall coverage of M.J. or Polanski's arrest. But what I do care about is the well being of my family and wondering if we'll be among the millions going bankrupt due to HC.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If we don't get HCR we stop funding Washingtons health care through our taxes! If individuals don't want a public option, set ip an Opt Out clause, oh wait, ist that what the word CHOICE means?

And they wonder why immigration applications to the US have decreased exponentially and why more and more Americans are looking to live in countries that don't condone "peasant insurance" and that have come to the realization, that a healrhy work force is a productive one.

[ouroborous]

Why isn't the title of this article exactly what it should be: "Obama lied about wanting the public option, he's trying his hardest now to kill it, and Helen Thomas catches Obama's spokesman in a double bind question about the lie"?

That's the thing that blows me away about all of this. Not how ridiculous and obstructive the Republicans are being -- that's just expected and par for the course. They are a ridiculous, weakened shell of a party after the debacle of George Bush, and the only "power" they have left is to just always say "no," and hope that, like a stopped clock, they can be right once or twice a day. No, their behavior isn't surprising at all.

What's amazing to me is that the Democrats have just rolled over for this. They have a President who rolled into office on a fairly huge majority (as elections go), promising big, sweeping progressive changes. And yet what we're getting, every day, is more of the same -- just wrapped up with impressive, moving speeches. I guess nobody even bothers to look at the man behind the curtain anymore -- except for a few heroes like Helen Thomas.

Regardless of the cause, I -- and most progressives I've spoken with -- am done with the Democrats. I'm not sure which of the apathetic, barely-wil­ling-to-vo­te "centrist" democrats is going to go door to door and man phone banks for Obama in '12, but it sure as hell won't be me

[ouroborous]

Oh note too that the goal of Rahm and Obama has been the same since spring: to gut the public option from whatever bill passes. The rationalization for why it has to happen changes every day: a public option won't have enough votes, it's too expensive, the Blue Dogs don't like it, the Republicans don't like it, the dog ate my legislative markup.

The rationalization changes almost by the day, the paid news hacks running "the public option is dead" stories change every day, but the goal remains the same: to make sure Obama can sign something that he gets to call reform (a "goody bag" of ineffective regulation that won't address the core issues of affordability and access, and indeed might make things worse) while simultaneously ensuring that no real reform (single payer or the public option) gets signed into law. Obama gets a political win by being able to pretend to be the president who "fixed health care" (just like Bush made sure no child was "left behind") while still directing vast sums of health insurance lobbying dollars into DLC coffers.

Keep your focus on that dynamic, folks, and you won't be led astray.

[Awake-and-Sing]

Cenk Ungyr had a great blog post about what is really going on.

No one in Washington is caring about who gets votes next year. Money is the only language that they speak.

I can see Emanuel and Baucus and other corporate servants just livid that the deal with the health insurance industries to kill the public option but ensure a mandate in exchange for all the campaign cash is in jeopardy by those pesky progressives who are actually serious about health care reform.

Any significant public option means the Republicans get the cash.
Any mandate without a public option means the Democrats get the cash.
A bill without a mandate and without a public option is a wash because any regulations will be as watered down and the financial industry regulations.