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Katie Halper

Katie Halper

Posted: June 16, 2010 01:47 PM

Retire Ari Fleischer! The Hypocrisy, Double Standards & Dishonesty Behind Helen Thomas's Retirement

What's Your Reaction:

More people seemed more upset over Helen Thomas's gaffe than they were over the killing of nine people on board a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. While Thomas's of-the-cuff comments were insensitive, they were not a call for Jews to "go back to Auschwitz" as some have suggested. Comments like Helen's, which call on a people to leave Israel and go back to where they come from, are made all the time by people who never apologize.  If only Helen had called for the Palestinians, not the Jews, to get the hell out of Israel, if only her bias had been pro-Zionist, like most everyone else's in the mainstream media, not anti-Zionist, her comments would have been ignored or lauded. Those shouting the loudest for Helen's head are people who have little to no moral authority, having lied and/or displayed  bigotry on several occasions without apologizing, being asked to apologize or being dropped by their speakers' bureau. Many of those who shamed and banished Thomas should hang their heads in shame, and promptly retire themselves from the stage of American politics and media.

For more examples of double standards or bigotry visit RetireAriFleischer (http://retirearifleischer.tumblr.com/) where you can also submit examples.

(I am Jewish, so when attacking me, please refer to me as a self-loathing Jew, not an anti-Semite)

 

Follow Katie Halper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kthalps

 
 
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Katie Halper
03:31 PM on 06/23/2010
hilarious.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
GCHRV
01:17 PM on 06/18/2010
www.jpost.com/SpecialSection/Article.aspx?id=178856

'We will throw them into the sea'.

New footage from the Mavi Marmara was released by the Foreign Ministry on Friday afternoon, this time showing IHH head Bülent Yildirim inciting to violence against Israeli commandos hours before the encounter that claimed the lives of nine Turkish passengers.

IHH head calls for violence, "martyrdom" in new 'Marmara' footage

You MUST see this new video footage. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSYjuDEZw1w
04:51 PM on 07/09/2010
No I don't 'MUST' see this video. You watch it and write Mr. Schumers office with your phony outrage. 'Assault slingshots' indeed, they were obviously spoiling for a fight. As the head of vice put it "what's the big deal?". (when questioned if an American teen was handcuffed or not when he was shot four times in the head.) And it wasn't an 'encounter' that claimed the lives of nine, it was the IDF and thankfully it wasn't a U.S. Navy ship or the napalm and machine gunning of lifeboats would have to be explained away. On that issue, once was enough!
11:51 PM on 06/17/2010
"If only Helen had called for the Palestinians, not the Jews, to get the hell out of Israel, if only her bias had been pro-Zionist, like most everyone else's in the mainstream media, not anti-Zionist, her comments would have been ignored or lauded."

Thanks, Katie for your honesty. The venality of Ari, Lanny & other goons of the vested interests has robbed the American people of a priceless asset, Helen Thomas.

President Obama, who has yet to condemn the Freedom Flotilla debacle, or offer more than a mild statement or two about the heinous blockade of Gaza, found Helen Thomas (by way of Gibbs) to be "reprehensible."

That's what's really reprehensible, not Helen's opinion about Palestine.
03:56 PM on 06/21/2010
Thanks, Katie, for showing courage rare in the media. For the record, I'm a generic gentile, but I do think HELEN WAS UNFAIRLY POUNCED ON. She obviously did NOT mean "back to the camps." She badly phrased a defense of the persecution of Palestinians. If you know anything about her long track record, you know she has been scrupulously fair to all sides of any issue. Thanks again.
06:54 PM on 06/21/2010
Highly fav'd.
11:07 PM on 06/17/2010
Honey, I don't think you know what "most people think" about anything. One thing you can be sure about, many people think Ari Fleischer should be in prison with his two bosses. He lied, he is swarmy and there is nothing that spells ethics, integrity or credibility in Ari Fleischer. HT was gutsy and the only Press Corp reporter worth the title. The nine dead is a criminal act that seems to get lost in the translation. If Israel does it, then it is okay it seems. But don't pretend to know what "most" people think.
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12:29 AM on 07/01/2010
And not just ANY prison. It's Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. Nothing else will do.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Tulka2
Solidarity. Courage. Humor.
04:09 PM on 06/17/2010
He is, as grandmother used to gently put it, "Someone we wouldn't want to know."

A nasty piece of work, is how i would phrase it.
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12:30 AM on 07/01/2010
Your grandma was a wise woman. And so are you. Fanned!
HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
ObamanextPresident
02:12 AM on 06/17/2010
Ari should be in jail. Along with his old employers. I was just appalled at his appearances on msnbc the day he called for Helen to be fired...where andrea (and I can't remember who else) just gushed over him like he had credence on todays political scene.

(I am sure he is working on the shadowgovt with roveandliz...but they need to be exposed for these crimesnow and then...not praised.)
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Vlady
Better Late
12:22 AM on 06/17/2010
I don't know you Katie. And I don't want to commend or scold you on HT issue. But making point of your "self-loathing Jew, not an anti-Semite" is just preposterous and illogical. Besides, to say just on partisan basis "people who have little to no moral authority" is also preposterous. Who do you suggest objectively has a moral authority. Objectively, I know only Mather Teressa but she is dead.
04:11 AM on 06/17/2010
Vlady :"But making point of your "self-loathing Jew, not an anti-Semite" is just preposterous and illogical"


Oh please get over your self-righteous indignation and try thinking for once. Her comment was laced with sarcasm and irony, so please don't add to the dumbing down of any sort of intellectual discourse by engaging in Faux Noise type hyper-literalism.

Learn to read, then learn to read between the lines.
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Vlady
Better Late
12:27 PM on 06/17/2010
"read between the lines."

There is nothing I can see between the lines but sodium
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12:32 AM on 07/01/2010
I am reading between the lines and only seeing paranoia.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
edejan
11:48 PM on 06/16/2010
Ari Fleischer has no credibility, being a Bush lackey. He should not have called for her firing and she should not have been fired. The First Amendment right should apply to all, whether we agree with them or not.
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12:33 AM on 07/01/2010
The First Amendment applies ONLY if our masters say it does. Otherwise, it doesn't.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Aripottah
Dining on micro-bios may be hazardous to health
10:58 PM on 06/16/2010
A forthright, accurate article that reflects my position. I can go no further for fear of offending the censorship gods (Wotan, Clothilde or whoever they might be today).

That a disgraceful, self-serving dishonest weasel such as Fleisher can weigh in to have her fired is the ultimate in scumbaggery.
04:11 AM on 06/17/2010
Faved and fanned
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12:35 AM on 07/01/2010
Odin and Thor have defeated the censorhip Gods, at least for today. Consider yourself fanned and thanked!
09:28 PM on 06/16/2010
Arabs are "fair game" but being critical of Israel is like being critical of God.

Ask Helen Thomas & everyone who sees through the matrix, is fed up, pure and simple.

First rule of American Free Speech is never say anything controversial about Jews or Israel.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0304.marshall.html
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Vlady
Better Late
12:26 AM on 06/17/2010
Regarding your "being critical of God. "

There is a famous story in which the Kaiser asks Bismarck, “Can you prove the existence of God?” Bismarck replies, “The Jews, your majesty. The Jews.”

- Friedrich Nietzsche
German Philosopher (1844 - 1900)
09:05 PM on 06/16/2010
Americans who put their trust in their Government were lied & lied to by neocons like Ari Fleischer.

We invaded a soverign country (Iraq) on lies that were repeated by Ari Fleischer & other neocons.

There is a name for this & is is called a "war crime".

http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2009/12/08/the-deadly-embrace/

These neocons should be in Prison , not allowed on the MSM to provoke their next, a war on Iran.

Where is the Congressional Investigation where is American Justice ?
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damilitantone
Fed up with politicians
02:53 PM on 06/17/2010
Oh, Mathew! Poor naive American citizen using logical and fact in place of ideology and emotion. Welcome to the club.
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05:41 PM on 06/16/2010
For the record, this is happening in Europe as well, especially Germany, but also in Canada.

Despite protests from the general population, governments and parties force politicians to immediately resign for questioning the legitimacy of Israel or criticizing the occupation.

Canadian example:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/harper-wants-ndp-to-fire-deputy-for-criticism-of-israel/article1605386/
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
den1953
The best politicians are for free!
04:36 PM on 06/16/2010
Fleischer can't retire he was never employed as a relevant spokesman in the first place to even be considered a honest broker in his opinion!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
dana94591
04:32 PM on 06/16/2010
Ari started this crazy episode. It momentarily sidetracked everyone from the crap going on in the Gulf as well as the flotilla massacre. Ari is proof that form beats substance anytime. More doublespeak, tricks and BS is more important than real issues, problems and solutions.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ALRIGHTALREADY
03:42 PM on 06/16/2010
so then you are a staunch supporter of Arizona's 1070 law?