Helen Thomas to Gibbs: "Has the president given up on the PO?"

[freddie mertz]

Helen Thomas: "I Want Your Conscience to Bother You"

(CBS/ AP)
Syndicated columnist Helen Thomas today told White House press secretary Robert Gibbs at his daily press briefing that she keeps asking about the public health care option because she wants his "conscience to bother" him.

Thomas pressed Gibbs on whether the White House was actively supporting the creation of a public, or government-run, plan in negotiations over health care legislation. The public option is supported by liberal Democrats in Congress but opposed by Republicans and some moderate Democrats.

President Obama has said he supports the public option but signaled that he would sign a bill that does not include it.

"Has the president given up on the public option?" Thomas asked, prompting Gibbs to suggest she asks the question every day.

"I ask it day after day because it has great meaning in this country, and you never answer it," Thomas said.

"I apparently don't answer it to your satisfaction," Gibbs said with a smile, prompting Thomas to say, "that's right."

When Gibbs began saying, "I'll give you the same answer that I gave you unsatisfactorily for many of those other days," Thomas interrupted, asking, "Well, is he going to fight for it or not?"

"We're going to work to get choice and competition into health care reform," Gibbs said.

Replied Thomas: "You're not going to get it."

"Well, then why do you keep asking me?" asked Gibbs, to laugher from the press corps.

Said Thomas: "Because I want your conscience to bother you."

A visibly flustered Gibbs then said, "I -- well! Should we sit down and I confess a little bit to you and -- no -- I'm -- go ahead -- I'm..."

When the next questioner began, Gibbs said, "Are you going to make me feel bad too?"

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/01/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5356166.shtml

[SemiCharmedQuark]

1. Well done, Helen!

[freddie mertz]

2. Guess we can add the sainted Helen Thomas to the list

Of "haters" who don't understand the intricacies of three-dimensional chess.

[emulatorloo]

4. Does she understand that Baucus bill is the only bill out there that doesn't have the public option?

People act as if the Baucus Bullshit is the ---only--- bill.

It isn't.

The others have the public option.

Much if not all of the Baucus Bullshit is going to get thrown out.

[dionysus]

7. i don't know. i get no response when i point that out here. it's... almost as if...

get this... there just might be people here who selectively ignore things that don't conform to their "obama is a corporate tool" hogwash!

either that or they really don't understand how the house and senate bills get merged and modified in committee.

[saracat]

73. Are you seriously accusing Helen Thomas of selectively ignoring information?

Or not understanding Washington? She knows more about this stuff than this whole board and Obama combined.She asked the same question others have been asking and she didn't get an answer and the fact she didn't is on video!

[freddie mertz]

22. But Obama has praised the Baucus committee's work.

Which makes the question legitimate.

Then we have the reports (posted by myself and others in this very forum) that Obama and the WH have NOT been pressing behind the scenes for the PO.

And don't feed us the line that they would not "interfere" with the committee process, since we know pressure has been applied on other maters, like the stimulus.

Obama RAN on the principle of an "accountable" government.

All Helen and the rest of us want is to know what the administration is actually up to.

It is our right and duty as citizens to ask these questions.

[hileeopnyn8d]

32. Maybe he praised them

because Baucus isn't the only person on that Committee, and two of the Democrats on the committee did indeed have amendments that included public option.

[emulatorloo]

3. Maybe Helen Thomas needs to read this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8681351

FARK!!! Will someone please step forward and say these simple words? by demwing

--------

"The public option is ALIVE in the Senate. Five bills have come out of conference. Four of those bills contain a public option. Only one (the Senate Finance Committee bill) does not. The Senate Democrats OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT a public option."

The same logic applies to mandates, in the opposite. Only the Finance Committee is pushing mandates.

Why is it SO god damned hard to get this concept? A three year old can understand that 4 is more than 1, why are the media talking heads less intelligent than a three year old?

Furthermore, why is it so bloody difficult to get on board with the fact that there is NO UNIFIED SENATE BILL at this time? Of the five bills, none are final, and none spell the beginning or the end of anything permanent relating to health care reform!

Can SOMEONE get on TV and say this? When the mouthpieces start proclaiming X or Y as dead, can someone STOP THEM?

Finally, if the qualifications for being a well paid political commentator are so low, where the fuck can I get a job application?

[Phx_Dem]

5. Helen asked that same question every week. Not exactly

informative reporting.

[Writer]

6. I absolutely don't agree with Thomas here.

No, it is not the reporter's job to advocate a view. I'm sorry, but unless we are returning to the earliest days of American partisan journalism, that is contrary to journalism ethics.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. Ahh, you're right actually.

Even though I agree with Helen's sentiment, I suppose she shouldn't advocate one way or the other. Although I do think she should press Obama to clearly state his definition of a public option and whether he supports it and to what degree. The "it should bother your conscience" is a bit over the top. But the public option is of great importance to the American people, as polls show.

[Writer]

14. I think the cynical "You're never going to get it" compromised her.

And I think it was a rather jerk move in that exchange.

[high density]

11. I agree with Thomas that a yes or no answer from Gibbs would be nice

The question doesn't seem that hard to answer. It's definitely not on the same level as, say, "Does Israel have nuclear weapons?"

[chimpymustgo]

25. A simple yes or no should NOT be that difficult from Gibbs. Unless...

[Cass]

53. She's not advocating a view, she wants a straight answer to a question.

A good journalist should press for a straight answer like Helen is doing here. We don't need any more transcriptionists.

[BeyondGeography]

8. Sorry, but she's being an ass

[freddie mertz]

10. Guess we can add the sainted Helen Thomas to the list

As I said.

Ms. Thomas, meet Bil Maher, Keith Olbermann, Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow, and the rest of those idiots who just don't get it.

It's Chess, man!

[emulatorloo]

12. Read my posts above. There are 5 bills, 4 of them have the Public Option

Baucus is not "the bill" -- there is no bill yet.

Baucus bill is bullshit and everybody knows it. It is not going to be taken seriously when the final bill is put together.

Harkin says the public option will be in the final bill.

[freddie mertz]

17. She is sick of half-answers and weasel-words

Same as it ever was.

[Ikonoklast]

20. Thomas is a journalist, and should act like one.

It is not her position to advocate for or against any particular legislation.

The others you mention are political commentators and entertainers and as such can say whatever they feel like saying.

There is a difference, and there should remain a difference if one is to still be considered a journalist, and not a cheerleader.

[freddie mertz]

23. She IS acting like one.

She is holding the administration accountable.

That is a journalist's job.

It is NOT to be a stenographer for Mr. Gibbs.

It is to probe, continually, and demand answers.

[winyanstaz]

28. Yes, she is a journalist and a great one at that!

She is doing her job..you just are in shock because there has been so little of the main stream journalists doing their jobs correctly for many years now.

[DatManFromNawlins]

37. If a journalist isn't making capitulators feel uncomfortable...

... then they aren't doing their jobs.

[Dr Fate]

46. I'm glad Mark Twain disagreed with that notion.

Could you imagine if there had been no journalists who opposed slavery, for instance? How about the journalists during the Vietnam era who openly opposed the war? Boy, we coulda used one or two of those a few years back. Oh well.

Helen, as a REAL journalist might do- demanded a STRAIGHT answer- not more of the same old weasle words.

Maybe you are so used to the state of "journalism" under Bush that you forgot what the crusading journalist archetype even looks like.

[Cha]

26. I guess she feels she's earned the right

to be a disingenuous ass?

[freddie mertz]

40. She has earned the right to be treated with respect

Being called an "Ass" by some people here could be considered evidence that she is, in fact, doing her job.

Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

[Cha]

42. Then she should stop with her

disingenuousness then..this isn't the first time.

I like Helen Thomas but she's not too impressive at times.

[saracat]

74. Funny.When she questioned Bush , she was a heroine and we sent her roses

Somehow you feel she doesn't have the right to question Obama? Why doesn't Gibbs answer the question? Because he doesn't want to commit Obama to taking a stand? Sheesh.I thought Obama was all about transparency.

[Bluenorthwest]

77. It is rude to refuse to directly answer a direct question

and Gibbs is rude like mad, to an elder who could teach him a few things if he was not such a Gibbs loving ego fiend. He is evasive and it is rude to ask for questions and then prance about refusing to answer. Pretending that a non answer is an answer is simply a giant lie on Gibbs' part. A giant rude lie.

[freddie mertz]

81. Well, she's no friend to the corporate sell-outs in the White House..

Which makes her a hero to me (and the American public), but an enemy and an "ass" to the apologists.

[Dr Fate]

45. She's just demanding a STRAIGHT answer for a change.

I guess that makes me an ass too. So be it.

[IndianaGreen]

50. Obama called Rockefeller to tell him to support Baucus bill, without a public option

Here is the LBN link to NYT:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4085289&mesg_id=4085289

[freddie mertz]

82. Thanks for link. I hope Sen Rockefeller stands up and votes NO.

This misshapen monstrosity needs to be stopped now.

[jenmito]

13. "A visibly flustered Gibbs..." he was NOT flustered. It was a light atmosphere...

they were joking back and forth.

[janet118]

15. Sorry, Helen is not an ass . . .

she really wants to know where the White House stands on this issue and so do I.

What I'd like to know is . . . in the oft touted rope-a-dope scenario . . . who's the dope? It may be the lefties and middleclass voters who hoped Obama would actually go to bat for them.

[BeyondGeography]

18. She's prognosticating; totally inappropriate

Not to mention off the mark.

[Tom Rinaldo]

16. I appreciate what Helen is doing

She knows what the Democratic Party has traditionally stood and fought for. I have not written negatively of Obama because it is possible that he is waiting for the best strategic moment to push hard for a strong public option. It is also possible that he will sit back and just take credit for whatever Congress delivers, even if that is only with a fig leaf of a public shadow option included. I wil NOT stay quiet if it is the latter.

[LatteLibertine]

19. If we get a "public option"

I can guarantee it won't be what you think it will be or what you want it to be. The lobbyists will make sure of that.

[budkin]

21. Helen Thomas is my hero.

Seriously... the chick rules.

[polichick]

24. Nice to watch a truth-seeker at work! k&r nt

[bvar22]

27. K&R...

Thank You, Helen.
:patriot:

[harun]

29. "Because I want your conscience to bother you." = AWESOME

[Dinger]

30. Go Helen!

God love her, she's a badass!

[GCP]

90. Yeah - DU was happy to send her roses when she questioned Fleischer et al

Duers can be so hypocritical

[bigwillq]

91. ...

:thumbsup:

[Dinger]

31. Hope This Doesn't Make Helen "Bad" Now

You know what I'm talking about.

[freddie mertz]

35. Didn't you read above?

She's a bad journalist now...and an "ass"...

It's really amazing.

But not surprizing.

[ProSense]

33. Luckily, four out of five bills in Congress include a public option

Party of No bills

[ipaint]

36. None of the bills contain a public option that is strong enough

to keep the for profit monsters in line. No where near choosing medicare if you want it.
Minor technicality.

I'm sure Helen gets that too. I hope she keeps after them.

[freddie mertz]

39. And the poster gets a cigar!!

Even the BEST bills are pitifully weak.

Baucus' is just the worst of a pretty bad lot.

[ProSense]

43. "Has the president given up on the PO?" versus

"Has the president given up on the 'strong enough' PO?"

Keep moving the goal posts. It will not be long before these questions become irrelevant. It's a wonder they haven't already.

[saracat]

75. Now Helen is irrelevent too? It was a simple question. it should have been answered.

Helen Thomas NEVER asks irrelevent questions and has more knowledge of dc and its politcal machine thyan anyone on this board.She didn't move any goalposts.She has asked the same question over and over.Still no answer.

[freddie mertz]

86. So.. they either HAVE no answer.. OR don't want us to KNOW the answer...

Where is that much-promised "Accountability"....?

Just another slogan I guess.

[jbnow]

71. Don't know what all bills have but at least one uses medicare rates and

one medicare +5%.

It would be less confusing to call it buy into medicare...but since the premiums have to pay for cost of public I don't know how that would be worked.

[freddie mertz]

34. Helen Thomas has been and will always be a great journalist

And a great American.

She is doing her job, and it pisses off the "how dare you" crowd, which only proves it.

[Mass]

38. I wished more people would tell them that, and do not stop at Gibbs and Obama, Go after Reid, Baucus

and co.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

41. Good! nt

[Clio the Leo]

44. "have you taken your meds today Miss Helen?"

.... would be my response.

Is she there to gather information .... or promote her political agenda?

If Major Garret behaved like she does we'd tear him to pieces.

[Dr Fate]

48. LOL! I LIKE Journalists who promote a Liberal political agenda.

LOL! She *IS* gathering information- now we all know that Gibbs cant give a straight answer on the PO- that in itself is a wealth of info.

You can learn more from what a politican refuses to say when they are caught off guard than you can from their prepared spin & remarks.

Thanks for the helpful knowledge, Helen!

[Clio the Leo]

55. But does it work the same way for the conservatives?

It's my understanding that there are two schools of thought among beltway journos. Those who chase the brass ring of "journalistic integrity" which seems to me too much like an impossible Utopian ideal. The others who feel it's their personal responsibility to call the WH onto the carpet when they deem necessary. They're doing it "for the people" so to speak.

Sure, it's all well and good when we agree with them .... but what about when we dont? If some wingnut reporter gets it in their head that the President is trying use this health care bill as method by which to allow the flood gates to open allowing teen-aged girls to get 14 abortions a day is that ok? Is he not seeking information? Wrong and twisted though it may be?

But it's not so much the point Helen's trying to make .... if she did it rarely I dont think it would bother me. It's the same blurted out question (when she's not called on) day after day after day. It reminds me too much of that classic definition of insanity. The WH values her opinion .... but no more than yours or mine. We're all voters pure and simple. Bless her, but one woman shouting the same question in the briefing room day after day isn't going to get a thing done.

[laugle]

65. You are so right!

That little exchange spoke volumes in itself. But there are none so blind as those who will not see..........

I think she sees the PO as DOA, and wants the public to know it, so that they can try to turn it around before it is too late!

I can't help thinking about all the sheeple that were willing to follow Bush off the cliff..............

[IndianaGreen]

51. More Kool-Aid?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4085289&mesg_id=4085289

[Clio the Leo]

56. Sure, want to loan me some of yours?

Because you and I both know you have some, stashed WAY back in the back of the fridge and saved for 2012, when things aren't so cushy and that Palin woman is running around as the GOP nominee with a rifle on her hip shouting about how Der Fuhrer is gonna kill all the babies unless we stop him!!!

Now now Indiana, going at one another with wingnut mud slinging does NOT become us. ;)

[QC]

66. She's had it on an intravenous drip since she arrived here.

It's much better that way--no risk of accidentally putting down the cup for a moment.

[rudy23]

57. For a journalist to demand answers is "promoting a political agenda"?

How Bush-like.

[Clio the Leo]

60. Oh sure, she's just demanding the WH fall in line with something the entire country...

... unanimously supports. Please.

Now whether the entire country SHOULD support it is clear. I support it, I'm sure you do to. But we all have opinions on the matter, I've got an opinion, you've got an opinion, Mitch McConnell has an opinion, etc. etc. Helen is just one of us and she has her own opinion, she's just lucky to have a front row seat.

If she wants Gibbs (and presumably the President's) consciences to bother them, then it's clear she has an answer in mind she wants him to give.

To pose a question, loaded as it may be, to the press sec. and report the answer to the public is one thing. To continuously berate the press sec. until he gives her the answer she wants .... or to try cause the WH to act the way she wants by using her position and proximity to the President, is quite another.

Again, if this were a Fox news reporter we would be LIVID.

One reporter shouting from the front row wont do a thing. If she wants to accomplish something, keep writing as well as I know she can and get the consciences of the American PEOPLE to bother them ... stir up the ire of those whos position matters most (the voters) and her problem will solve itself.

[rudy23]

68. I think it's a straight answer she wanted, & the "conscience" part was partly about how he weaseled

out of the question. Watch the tape--he refuses to give her a straight answer. That's because his conscience and by proxy Obama's, won't allow them to give us a straight answer on the public option.

[Clio the Leo]

69. lol, no, the United States Congress wont allow it.....

..... he's not writing the bill ... 'cause that method doesn't work. So he's not going to publicly commit to such a controversial .... and I dont care what you want to whip out, it's controversial .... matter when he doesn't have direct control over the votes.

Sausage my friend, political sausage.

[QC]

80. Journalists were supposed to stop asking questions last Jan. 20, at about noon.

Too bad nobody told Helen.

[Cleita]

47. Jeez! How plain can it be that he is evading a very direct question.

Bravo Helen! Keep it up until he answers you, yes or no.

[Dr Fate]

49. His non-answers are as informative as anything. That's what a good journalist does...

...they ask questions that will inform you no matter how the politician answers them.

I can learn more from a NON answer to a so called "tough" question than a prepared answer from a "polite" question.

Jesus folks- it's not like she even asked him a tough or controversial question- EVERYONE wants to know the answer.

[Fire1]

52. Great job, Helen. Give em hell! n/t

[Cass]

54. The so-called "journalists" today could learn a lot from Helen Thomas.

I have the utmost respect and admiration for this woman. She has been right there for decades questioning elected officials and holding their feet to the fire.

I am glad Helen is front and center pressing Gibbs about the public option every day. We deserve a straight answer on this issue.

[Dinger]

59. People Here Didn't Bitch When She Took The giggling murderer To Task

It wasn't her "political agenda" then, was it? That fucking bastard ran from Helen, as well he should have.

[Clio the Leo]

61. Precisely....

..... because the giggling murder (and I presume you're talking about * ) was a fool who put his own interest over that of the American people. Barack Obama has done more in 8 months to improve the lives of his citizens than George Bush has done in a lifetime.

You'll forgive me if I'd like to see a better President get little better treatment.

[Dinger]

62. You'll Forgive Me If I'd Like To See Helen get A Little Better Treatment Too

And there is no comparison of * to President Obama, none, not by me, not ever.

[Clio the Leo]

63. Good, you were starting to scare me a bit there Dinger....

.... lol and as for the matter of respect. I was taught, and I suspect Ms. Thomas was too ... you gotta give it to get it.


For cryin' out loud! He gave the woman a cupcake! What more does she want! A pony!!!? A cupcake with a PONY on it?!!!! :)



Of course I laughed at the time because she had THE MAN standing in front of her and yet didn't manage to demand an answer of him like she does of Gibbs every day.

Well of course not, that would have been RUDE! Conscience testing always yields to cupcakes. lol

[Bluenorthwest]

78. In the Christian faith

Respect for one's elders is taught, along with clarity of speech. Spin is not allowed. "Let your yes be yes, and your no be no." So when Helen is asking for an actual answer, and being given bs by some younger and less experienced person, what would Jesus say about that? Or does any of that matter really? Is is just an accessory to be worn like a tee shirt, not a real faith that is practiced.
Let your yes be yes. Let your no be no.
Matthew 5:37 "let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."
What do you do with those verses when you take up the defense of weasel words condemned by the Christ? This is why I laugh at all those 'faith folks' and Obama's claims of religion. They do not bear the fruits of that faith, in fact, they seem to mock the most basic principles of that faith.

[Cha]

92. Yes, President Obama has earned respect and

this isn't the first time Helen Thomas has been disingenuous. This is from a rw wing slime board but what's the difference?

<snip>

“It feels like the concept of a town hall, I think, is to have an open public forum. And this sounds like a very tightly controlled audience and list of questions. Why do it that way?” asked Reid.

White House press secretary Richard Gibbs deflected the question, but that only raised the ire of Helen Thomas, UPI’s veteran correspondent who has long been at the top of the White House press corps totem pole.

“We have never had that in the White House,” Thomas said, referring to the degree that press events are pre-scripted in the Obama administration. “I’m amazed, I’m amazed at you peole who called for openness and transparency…”

http://www.therightreasons.net/index.php?showtopic=15072

I'm sorry but that's being a disingenous asshole. I guess one is never too old or too venerable.

[dflprincess]

93. You'll forgive me if I expect the press to hold elected officials

accountable - no matter who they are.

[rudy23]

58. This is a great thing to forward on facebook, btw. Wake up your kool aid drinking friends.

Many who aren't paying attention don't realize the lackluster fight Obama has put up for the public option, and this exchange crystallizes the President's lack of commitment on the issue.

[laugle]

64. God bless

Helen Thomas. There just aren't many like her around today.........

I can't stand the bashers or the suck-ups!

[QC]

67. Helen Thomas is an enemy of the people. n/t

[GCP]

95. Did you miss the sarcasm smilie?

[Vidar]

70. Helen is a national treasure!

[DFW]

72. To Helen's detractors: she was being a journalist here

I know her well enough. She wants a press secretary's conscience to bother him if he won't come out with a straight
answer. She had gone though the same shit with Nixon's liar, Ron Ziegler. She recognizes when a press secretary is
deliberately avoiding answering a question when it's uncomfortable.


"Has the president given up on the public option?" Thomas asked, prompting Gibbs to suggest she asks the question every day.

"I ask it day after day because it has great meaning in this country, and you never answer it," Thomas said.

"I apparently don't answer it to your satisfaction," Gibbs said with a smile, prompting Thomas to say, "that's right."

She wants his conscience to bother him because he hasn't answered her simple question with a simple answer. She is not
demanding he (or Obama) give the answer she prefers. All she wants is a straight answer to a straightforward question
that everybody in this country wants the answer to. If the White House won't do that, so we can know where they stand,
I want their conscience to bother them too.

"Has the president given up on the public option?" What's wrong with either "yes" or "no?" Don't tell me that Helen and I
and the supportive posts on this thread are the only people in America who feel that way. Her comment was justified.

[pleah]

76. K&R

[LaydeeBug]

79. Helen Thomas is teh AWESOME. most def

[WyldRogue]

83. It is a shame...

...that there are some Du'ers that essentially equated Helen as an ass and other things. Maybe she should just give up her seat to one of you that will NEVER challenge anyone with a straight-forward question but would instead type word for word whatever BS diatribe that is spoken as FACT.

It's a shame that so many are being dis-respectful to her. And sorry, just because Obama gave her a cupcake doesn't mean his Administration gets a free pass on a straight-forward question. Gibbs could not/would not answer because maybe the bill that finally passes will NOT have PO or SPO.

[LittleBlue]

84. Thank you, Helen. Thank you.

We owe you a lot.

[freddie mertz]

85. Helen wants a straight answer. The WH does not have one.

These are FACTS.

That is what her recurring questioning is all about.

Got it?

[mkultra]

87. yup, she ran her boat up on the shoals.

She poured her integrity into the sea.

[freddie mertz]

88. Kicking for Helen Thomas, hero of the people. (nt)

[Dinger]

89. Me Too Freddie : ) (nt)

[GCP]

94. And me

Thanks, Helen!

[Kermitt Gribble]

96. K&R! Keep it up Helen!! n/t

[QC]

97. I WANTT MY FLOWRES BACK!1!1!!!1!!11