Excerpt from here: There is no doubt that Bush's hawkish advisors, who have Iraq as our Enemy No. 1 and coveted U.S. dominance of the Persian Gulf, are having their day with the president. ABC-TV's Ted Koppel Nightline program recently discussed reports that Bush has been influenced by the Project for the New American Century, which proposes that the United States assume military control of the Gulf region. Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz are members of the advisory committee for the project. It is a pity that only the ultra conservatives influence Bush, a neophyte in foreign affairs. He apparently hears no other voices. Representatives of church and peace groups are not welcome to the White House these days. Bush did meet with the papal emissary in the White House recently, but Bush aides tried to play it down. Oval Office news coverage was limited to photographers. That's a sad commentary on the president's ability to tolerate other points of view, particularly on the question of war and peace.
There was an article in yesterday's New York Times about how religious leaders, especially those who were vocally supportive of Bush during his push to allow faith-based charities access to federal funds, are having a devil (pun intended) of a time getting an audience with Bush to discuss the war. There were reports that Bush wouldn't allow the papal envoy to field reporters' questions from the White House.
Why on Earth should the President of the United States discuss war issues with religious leaders? That would be the equivalent of holding a national defense talk with Paula Abdul...that's not their expertise and they should not expect an audience with the President on such a topic. Helen Thomas is a dimwitted old bag.
He discusses war issues with "religious leaders" who agree with him. He won't talk to the Roman Catholic church because the Pope doesn't want war. He also only allows reporters to ask questions that have been cleared by Ari Fleisher, which is why he silenced Helen Thomas at his "press conference" propaganda show.
I thought the Helen Thomas non response was due to the fact that she is a commentator and not a reporter - and that the White House was answering questions from reporters only? Does Helen Thomas not write op-ed pieces primarily?
Even if that's true, it hasn't stopped every other president from recognizing her at press conferences. This was schoolyard stuff.
She used to be a journalist, now she's a columnist. Where were you people when Hillary fired some White House staffers on her first day? Most had been there since Carter, IIRC.
No doubt. Still, I wouldn't call a Helen Thomas piece that involved the prodigious effort of attending a news conference and watching Nightline the height of journalism or reporting. However, I agree with her content, no matter how easy it must have been to write. There, I've completely encircled the issue.
Why should he discuss any issues with religious leaders? This is, after all, an allegedly secular country...
People upset about Helen Thomas not getting to ask a question and say the traditional "Thank You", whereas people who worked in the White House that were traditionally kept on were fired. Just pointing out what makes a big story for some and not others....
One has nothing to do with the other. Bush was playing schoolyard politics because he didn't like something Helen Thomas said about him. Here's the woman who strikes fear in the heart of our president: Of course, I don't know why we should be surprised at this kind of pettiness from this President. He's displayed it on other occasions (see as reference: Adam Clymer)
Helen Thomas makes my head spin Per Helen Thomas, "Bush did meet with the papal emissary in the White House recently, but Bush aides tried to play it down. Oval Office news coverage was limited to photographers. That's a sad commentary on the president's ability to tolerate other points of view, particularly on the question of war and peace." I'm confused. Hasn't Bush been portrayed as a puppet of the religious right? Haven't the media stated time and time again that Bush has not kept a large enough separation of church and state? Does this fall under the label of "damned if you do and damned if you don't?"
Man, you really don't see the big picture do you. The real problem was that he smoked pot (as opposed to coke) when he was in college.
Re: Helen Thomas makes my head spin The Pope is the religious right? He's got no problem meeting with religious leaders as long as they agree with him. Religious leaders who were welcomed with open arms when they were lobbying him to open federal dollars to faith-based charities are finding the door closed to them on this issue.