Top Items:
The Hill:
Helen Thomas retires after fallout from controversial Israel remarks — Helen Thomas announced Monday that “she is retiring, effective immediately,” according to a statement from Hearst newspapers. — Her decision comes after her controversial remarks about Israel hit the blogosphere.
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Jonah Goldberg / The Corner on National Review Online:
The Helen Thomas ‘Scandal’ — By: Jonah Goldberg — I think a lot of people in Washington need to get a grip. — For starters, this is a classic gaffe because Helen Thomas accidentally told the truth. She's wrong on the substance, obviously. But of course she believes the Israelis should go away.
Patrick Gavin / On Media's Blog:
Helen Thomas retires — In the world of political journalism, it's the end of an era: Helen Thomas has retired just months shy of her 90th birthday. — The longtime White House journalist has covered ever president since Dwight Eisenhower and broke several barriers for female journalists …
Anne E. Kornblut / Bloomberg:
Helen Thomas retires amid controversy over Israel remarks — Your Browser DoesNot Support IFrames. — Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas announced Monday that she is retiring, effective immediately, in the wake of a controversy over her comments on Israel, according to a report from her employer, Hearst News Service.
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Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas retires following controversial remarks — Veteran reporter Helen Thomas, who has covered the White House since the John F. Kennedy administration, is retiring immediately following her controversial statements about Israel, Hearst Newspapers reports.
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
White House blasts absent Thomas in today's briefing; Update: Thomas announces retirement; Update: WH briefing video added — Guess who didn't show up for work today? ABC's Sunlen Miller reports that the seat normally occupied by Hearst Newspapers columnist Helen Thomas was mysteriously empty in today's press briefing.
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Helen Thomas, Not A Zionist — This video is making the rounds: — Chait crafts a backhanded defense: … Agreed on both counts. Joe Klein agrees Thomas shouldn't be fired but thinks some punishment is due: … I don't see why the front row should belong just to reporters.
Hearst Corporation:
HELEN THOMAS ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
HELEN THOMAS ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Discussion:
TPM LiveWire, Talking Points Memo, Washington Wire, Media Research Center, The Plum Line, PostPartisan, Swampland, Newsbroke, TVNewser and Mondoweiss
Yahoo! News:
Rabbi sat on Thomas scoop as webmaster-son took exams
Rabbi sat on Thomas scoop as webmaster-son took exams
Discussion:
Politics Daily, The Huffington Post, Media Decoder, Mediaite, Pajamas Media and NewsBusters.org
qassam.ps:
Thomas:"Jews do not belong in Israel"
Thomas:"Jews do not belong in Israel"
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit, On Media's Blog, Big Journalism, Post Now, Elder of Ziyon and Commentary
Matt Welch / Hit & Run:
Helen Thomas, and the Awkward Transfer From “Straight” Reporting to Opinioneering
Helen Thomas, and the Awkward Transfer From “Straight” Reporting to Opinioneering
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U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in Wikileaks Video Probe — Federal officials have arrested an Army intelligence analyst who boasted of giving classified U.S. combat video and hundreds of thousands of classified State Department records to whistleblower site Wikileaks, Wired.com has learned.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, The Jawa Report, The Lede, Matthew Yglesias, BBC, SpyTalk, Mudville Gazette, Gateway Pundit, Confederate Yankee, techPresident, The Nation, Jules Crittenden, The Atlantic Online, Newsbroke, Washington Post, Mediaite, Liberty Pundits Blog, Focal Point, Emptywheel, msnbc.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones, Secrecy News, Gawker, BLACKFIVE and LewRockwell.com Blog
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Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price — SAN FRANCISCO — When one of the most important e-mail messages of his life landed in his in-box a few years ago, Kord Campbell overlooked it. — Not just for a day or two, but 12 days. He finally saw it while sifting through old messages …
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Hispanics' Approval of Obama Drops in 2010 — By contrast, whites' and blacks' views have been highly steady — PRINCETON, NJ — Hispanics' approval of President Barack Obama's job performance slipped to 57% in May, after falling from 69% in January to 64% in February.
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Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
Poll: BP Oil Spill Response Rated Worse than Katrina — Most Favor Criminal Charges Against BP and Others Involved in the Gulf of Mexico Spill — By more than a 2-to-1 margin, Americans support the pursuit of criminal charges in the nation's worst oil spill, with increasing numbers calling it a major environmental disaster.
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Nikki Haley / WIS-TV:
Bauer says polygraph results prove he's not behind Haley attacks … Bauer tells WCSC he'll “absolutely” take a lie detector test — Also on the Web — COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer has released the results of a lie detector test which he says proves he isn't behind a string …
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Jeffrey A. Miron / National Review:
The Tea Party and the Drug War — Voter dissatisfaction with Republicans and Democrats is at historic levels, and the tea-party movement is hoping to play kingmaker in the November elections. The country's current breed of discontent is ideal for the tea parties, because economic concerns are foremost …
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Rasmussen Reports:
49% Say Pro-Palestinian Activists To Blame in Gaza Ship Incident — Forty-nine percent (49%) of U.S. voters believe pro-Palestinian activists on the Gaza-bound aid ships raided by Israeli forces are to blame for the deaths that resulted in the high-profile incident.
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Bernie Madoff, Free at Last — In prison he doesn't have to hide his lack of conscience. In fact, he's a hero for it. — Last August, shortly after his arrival at the federal correctional complex in Butner, North Carolina, Bernard L. Madoff was waiting on the evening pill line …
Andrew Ferguson / Weekly Standard:
Can the astonishing popularity of Indiana's penny-pinching governor carry him to the White House in 2012? — When Mitch Daniels ran for governor of Indiana in 2004, a friend and videographer got the idea of filming the candidate in vidéo vérité style as he traveled around the state in his Indiana-made RV.
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
Report: U.S. Experimented on Terror Detainees. — When the torture memos were released, one of the things I noticed was that the authors used the presence of physicians in interrogations as alibis. The presence of the doctors was meant as proof of the U.S. officials' “good faith belief” …
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James Risen / New York Times:
Medical Ethics Lapses Cited in Interrogations
Medical Ethics Lapses Cited in Interrogations
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Boing Boing, Shakesville, Secrecy News, Weasel Zippers and Raw Story
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The No-Stimulus Economy — If fiscal stimulus is so great, then why hasn't the Obama administration's massive stimulus program helped improve the economy? Well, via Mark Thoma, the answer is that there hasn't been any net fiscal stimulus, all the Obama administration's efforts plus …
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Our hard-core, adversarial press corps — On Friday, CNN's Ed Henry posted a series of giggly, adolescent updates on his Twitter feed, describing the events that took place at a “beach” party thrown by Joe Biden, at the Vice President's mansion, for various “reporters” and White House officials.
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It's useful to have geniuses around — A neat anecdote from inside the administration's response to the oil spill: … Graphic credit: XKCD — Environment - Xkcd - Energy - Oil spill - United States
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Howard Kurtz on Newsweek bidders, Helen Thomas gaffe, Gore breakup coverage — While journalists get into the business for various reasons — vicarious thrills, investigative zeal, outsize ego — ultimately they're at the mercy of the marketplace. And that marketplace seems to have sent a very discouraging message to Newsweek.