The betrayal of Helen Thomas

And a call to honor the brave women journalists who deserve our admiration and applause

by Barbara Lubin and Danny Muller

When the news spread through Washington this weekend that the unwavering, pioneering journalist Helen Thomas had died, there must have been a collective sigh of relief throughout the halls of Washington.

News articles and obituaries are obligatorily mentioning her retirement over political remarks about Palestine and Israel.  They all will and should celebrate her trail-blazing career as a journalist and author.   And now that she has died, it has become politically correct to re-embrace her, because now Helen is safe.  She will not be asking the uncomfortable questions anymore, questions that made lying politicians squirm, as they stared dumbfounded back at her, always surprised at freedom of the press in action, at a woman who did not know her place.

But in Helen’s final years, there was little celebration of her career and her courage, as former friends, coworkers and many in Washington jumped on the bandwagon resolutely condemning her for comments made in a hit piece that took brief comments out of context.  Perhaps most appallingly, President Obama took time from spying on one half of the world and bombing the other half to state that her resignation was “the right decision.”

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