Politics blog: White House fixture Helen Thomas retires after Israel remarks
12:22 PM CDT on Monday, June 7, 2010
Editor's note: This item originally appeared on dallasnews.com's Trail Blazers blog.
The career of an opinionated White House press room icon has come to a sad and swift end.
Helen Thomas announced moments ago that she is retiring, effective immediately. She didn't cite a specific reason but it would be understatement to say she caused a stir last week by saying, on camera, that Jews should "get the hell out" of Israel and "go home" to Germany and Poland (countries where millions of Jews were murdered in World War II ).
Thomas was the dean of the White House press corps for years as a UPI writer. When she moved to Hearst Newspapers as a columnist, the White House Correspondents Association let her retain a front row seat in the briefing room, out of respect for her years on the beat.
With talk radio, cable TV and internet chatter intensifying this weekend, the association was put on the spot -- especially with a celebration of her 90th birthday planned for early August.
"Helen Thomas' comments were indefensible and the White House Correspondents Association board firmly dissociates itself from them. Many in our profession who have known Helen for years were saddened by the comments, which were especially unfortunate in light of her role as a trail blazer on the White House beat," the association board said in a statement issued at noon today, adding that the incident renewed the issue of whether an opinion columnist should occupy a front-row seat in the briefing room.
At nearly the same moment, Hearst announced her retirement, which noted the semi-apology she had issued after her comments went viral on YouTube, with an assist from the Drudge Report : "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the