Richard Wolffe, Daily Beast columnist and author of “Renegade: The Making Of A President,” calls in at 7:05am to talk about the latest out of the White House, including Afghanistan and the White House Party Crashers.

Charlie Pierce, Boston Globe sports columnist and author of “Idiot America,” calls in at 7:30am to talk about the news of the day, including the Tiger Woods situation.

Craig Crawford, co-author of “Listen Up, Mr. President,” calls in at 8:30am to talk about his new book, which he co-wrote with Helen Thomas.

President Obama tonight will spell out a costly Afghanistan war expansion to a skeptical public, coupling an infusion of as many as 35,000 more troops with a vow that there will be no endless U.S. commitment. His first orders have already been made: at least one group of Marines who will be in place by Christmas.

Riven by partisanship, the Senate plunged into a debate yesterday over sweeping health care reform legislation that President Obama and congressional Dems have vowed to approve and GOP-ers have sworn to block. Debate is expected to last for weeks.

Retail web sites kept amping up the deals yesterday the first day after Thanksgiving weekend’s strong online sales, to try to maintain the momentum. Sales for the day that the industry knows as “Cyber Monday” were up 19.6 percent over a year ago.

In a new edition of the Washington Chronicles podcast, Helen Thomas tells Hearst Washington bureau chief Rick Dunham what she’s thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Listen to the full podcast at Texas on the Potomac.

Journalist Helen Thomas speaks to the GW community in an event presented by WRGW News and SMPA and co-sponsored by GWTV and the Student Association. Jenn Neuner / WRGW News

Click the image above to go directly to our Flickr photostream of Helen Thomas at the Elliott School.

Click here to view the liveblog of the event.

WRGW News, GW Television, and the School of Media Public Affairs at the George Washington University played host to one of the legends of journalism Tuesday as White House press corps stalwart Helen Thomas spoke before students in the Elliott School.

Mrs. Thomas was introduced by both SMPA Director Frank Sesno and Professor Mike Freedman, who each spoke highly of her career and accomplishments. Sesno described Thomas as “a beacon of light” in Washington, and as someone who “made her career being utterly fearless.” Freedman noted that Thomas began covering the White House during the Kennedy administration, and had been “a pain in the butt to every president ever since.”

Thomas quickly showed that even at age 89 she was still capable of making waves.

Mrs. Thomas advised President Obama to exit the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, noting that “Saddam Hussein was ruthless, but women had jobs, children went to schools, people had electricity and clean water”.

She also called for the creation of a single-payer healthcare system, accusing congressional opponents of healthcare reform of hypocrisy for denying the general public the same quality of care the taxpayers support for them.

The speech then moved into a brief overview of her opinions on every President she had covered. She said Kennedy was her favorite because he “inspired, grew in office, and learned from his mistakes.”

According to Thomas, Johnson supported sound domestic policy but his effectiveness was weakened by the Vietnam war. Reagan, she said, helped to end the Cold War while ignoring social issues.

Harsh criticism was reserved for George W. Bush, who “wanted to be a war president and he was, and his dreams were fulfilled much to our horror.”

Of particular concern to Thomas was the supposed human rights abuses, such as alleged torture, committed under the Bush administration.

Thomas offered a mixed review of the current administration. Obama’s “heart was in the right place,” she said, “but he lacks courage.” She advised the President to stand up to his opponents on issues like healthcare, even if it meant facing a filibuster.

The speech was not without its light moments, however. Thomas shared several stories from her years in the White House, most of them humorous, and called for citizens to seek greater transparency in government. Quoting a Holocaust survivor she said, “The only sin is silence.”

A question and answer session followed the lecture.

One attendee asked Thomas for her opinion of the recent criticism of Fox News by the Obama administration, to which she was disapproving; the president must “rise above the fray” she said, noting that “the press always gets the last word.”

When asked for her prescriptions for the ailing economy, she harkened back to the days of the New Deal, calling for a recreation of the Works Progress Administration to provide jobs to the unemployed, and expressed displeasure at the leniency still being given to banks surviving on government cash.

The program was filmed by GWTV and will air on campus cable channel 6 shortly.

Thomas’ new book, which she co-authored with Craig Crawford, Listen Up Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do, is available in bookstores now.

Known as the “Dean of the White House Press Corp” and the “First Lady of the Press,” Helen Thomas will join the GW community on November 17th for a lecture and Question & Answer session.

Thomas, who has covered every presidential administration since John F. Kennedy, will discuss how the relationship between White House administrations and the press has changed over the years, and how the current administration is handling the media

The event is brought to you by WRGW News, SMPA, GWTV, and the Student Association.

It all takes place November 17th, 2009 at the Elliot School of International Affairs room 113. The event begins at 7pm. Doors open at 6:30pm.

Free tickets are available in the Marvin Center Ticket Master. One ticket per G-World.

Screaming, shouting, pantswetting Republicans doing their damnedest to disrupt the healthcare debate this morning.

And, in a last minute effort to swing votes for the anti-abortion crowd, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has just weighed in on healthcare reform.

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Not fame I had sought out but it appears I’m being credited with having coined a new word. Scozzafavaed. Not the first word I’ve invented as the name of this blog would suggest.

Google blog search says I said it first, but the important thing is that people continue to use Scozzafavaed to describe the batshit insane civil war raging within the Republican party.

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A new nickname for Michele Bachmann has wormed its way out of the Republican caucus and has found its way to The Raw Story: Captain Crazy.

More on the Party of No and efforts to spin the Fort Hood shootings.

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Wolcott on Doug Hoffman and Sarah Palin.

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Teabaggers force NRSC into a neutral corner as the base rocks the GOoPers’ world. David Dayen comments:

If this were happening in the Democratic Party, I would praise it, so let me briefly do the same here. People on the ground should decide who they want to be their nominee, not Senators playing favorites from back in Washington. Committees like this should respect their base and allow them to pick the candidates, and primaries are generally healthy events for parties. I certainly wish Rahm Emanuel heeded this.

Ditto the A-listers who think they have the right to raise money and influence primary and caucus races.

And just what the fuck ever happened to campaign finance reform?

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Phoenix = Birmingham?

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Robert Parry on the two times in my lifetime when Republican operatives scuttled U.S. foreign diplomacy to achieve domestic electoral results.

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Pricetag for the $2.4 billion unemployment benefits extension? Try $24 billion.

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The death of newspapers, cont.

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EtC:

Obama’s evil empire?

The poetry of Helen Thomas

Mexico’s drug war

Deconstructing The Weekly Standard

Alexander Cockburn with a blistering take on America’s weight problem

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You don’t care but my world just got a whole lot better. The railroad construction on Raymond Avenue is finally finished. The truck backup beepers going off all week made it clear they were packing up and leaving but I didn’t expect the street to be re-opened before rush hour last night, a full four days ahead of schedule.

I can now vote by walking two blocks instead of driving two miles.

Best of all, the three-story piledriver that drove me nuts last spring never came back.

And Iowa’s scozzafazaing Northwestern 10-7 early in the second quarter.

I traveled during eight months of 1971 with the White House press corps for a possible book about reporters who cover the president.  When in Washington, D.C., often staying with my brother Bill when he was in law school, I’d arrive at the White House in the morning and go to the press room in the West Wing.  I’d take notes during the day, interviewing reporters when they had time and at lunch or dinner.

There were some wonderful people — off the top of my head, I count among them Helen Thomas of UPI, Robert Semple Jr. of the New York Times, Peter Lisagor of the Chicago Daily News, Dan Rather of CBS, Herb Kaplow of ABC, Fay Wells (the pioneer aviator; see photo below) of Storer Broadcasting — these are just a few of the folks who were covering President Richard Nixon at the time.

Dan Rather of CBS and White House Press Secretary Ron Zeigler (standing, right) in the early 1970's

Ron Zeigler was press secretary; Diane Sawyer was one of his assistants.   Here’s just one little incident that somehow always stands out for me:

One late morning in the press room, when things had been pretty uneventful so far, there was an announcement of a “photo op” in the Cabinet Room.  A couple of reporters got set to go with some photographers, along with Cleve Ryan, who held the light for them.  (He had been doing that job since the FDR days.)  On this occasion I asked to attend the photo op and was told it would be fine.  A few minutes later we were trooping up the hallway past some Secret Service agents into the Cabinet Room, where Nixon was meeting with Republican governors seated around the big table.

President Nixon in the White House Press-Briefing Room - 1971

The reporters and photographers were on one side of the table and Nixon was across the way, looking good with a tan and wearing one of his favorite blue suits.  Cameras started flashing and clicking as the President spoke to the governors — making small talk — and he pointed across to Doug Cornell of the Associated Press, who was seated at the table with his pen and notepad in front of him.

“There’s Doug Cornell of the AP,” Nixon said.  “He’s covered five presidents.”

“Six,” Cornell shot back.

“Six,” Nixon said.  “He started when he was a Boy Scout.”

The governors around the table took their cue from the president and they all laughed.  Then one of Zeigler’s assistants shouted to us that it was over and
Cleve Ryan switched off his big round light.  On our way back down the hallway, I caught up with Cornell.

“Hey, Doug, that was something, hunh?  I mean, how’d it feel to be singled out by the president like that?”

Cornell laughed.  “Oh, God,” he said, “we’ve gone through that routine more times than I can count!  Nixon likes to do it because it loosens him up.  He says ‘five presidents,’ I say ’six,’ and then he gives the Boy Scout line.  Works every time.”

As we walked back into the press room of the West Wing,  I realized how naive I’d been to assume that the little back-and-forth between Richard Nixon and Doug Cornell had been spontaneous!  A tiny matter, perhaps, but it taught me something nonetheless.

Fay Wells (left-center) with Amelia Earhart (right-center)

Helen Thomas, a remarkable woman, continues to inspire, motivate and ask the tough questions.  Being the longest serving reporter at the White House, she even has the distinction of having her own seating assignment in the center seat of the front row of the White House Press Briefing Room.  Alongside her are NBC, AP, CBS, ABC, Reuters and CNN.

When one has the opportunity to listen to Helen Thomas and even ask her questions, a glimpse of history, experience and perspective is gained.  Even more important is the notion that regardless of party affiliation of the president, Helen continues to ask for the truth and ask for results not being swayed by eloquence or words used to as propaganda.  It is important to remember that once a president takes office, it is no longer a Democratic or Republican agenda – it is an American agenda.  Therefore, it is imperative to have a free press and one that seeks to know the truth within all administrations.

In Amendent 1 of the U.S. Constitution is says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or othe right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances.”

Helen is known for causing angst in the George W. Bush administration for persistently asking about the war in Iraq.  Now, she is causing some anxiousness by asking the Barack Obama administration about results following many eloquent speeches.

Now, turning the tables from asking the questions to offering advice (a new role for Helen), she and Craig Crawford, have co-authored Listen Up, Mr. President:  Everything You Always Wanted to Your President to Know and Do.

Having been at the White House since President Lyndon B. Johnson, Helen Thomas has witnessed the best and worst of our times and always been on the pulse of what makes leadership at the White House work or not work.  Distilling the years of experience, her main points are offered in the chapter titles:

• Brace Yourself:  The Worst is Yet to Come
• Your are not Above the Law:  Read the Constitution
• Watch your Image:  You’re on YouTube
• Open Up:  The People have a Right to Know
• Tell the Truth:  You’ll be Forgiven
• Have Courage:  Even if it Hurts
• Give Us Vision:  It’s Your Legacy
• Do the Right Thing:  You’ll Never be Wrong
• Pay Attention:  And You Won’t be Surprised
• Listen Up, Voters:  It’s Up to You

This advice is suitable for everyone.  Not only is the president not above the law, the president is there to serve the voters.  It is a two-way relationship.

If one is eligible to vote, vote.  It is shocking to see the numbers of people in the U.S. who do not vote and the millions of people around the world who cannot vote for whatever reason.  The current situation in Afghanistan is a case in point.  Is there widespread corruption or not?  It is not new news that a leader does not want to give up an office and the overwhelming economic benefits of leading a country.

This relationship also includes if something is working well – voters should let the appropriate government representatives know. And, if a government program is not working well, it is the right of any citizen to share their opinion and demand accountability.  This is what makes a democracy work well.

As Helen has said in the past, read as much as you can, learn history and ask questions.  It is your right and your responsibility.

By Keri Douglas, writer/photographer, Washington, D.C.

How British TV reports famine - “The documentaries have stopped, but the starvation hasn’t.” Pretty damn depressing.

Q&A White House Legend Helen Thomas - “Keep your standards high. Understand that your role is to seek the truth, wherever it leads you.” Wise words from the Queen of the White House press corps.

Emmanuel Jal: from child soldier to rap artist – an incredible event at the Frontline Club earlier this month.

This is interesting Helen Thomas and Craig Crawford have written a book together in which they discuss Thomas’ recollections of all the Presidents she has covered, beginning with John F. Kennedy. It’s called Listen Up, Mr. President At CNN.com, the two reporters offer “five key insights” for the current President. There is also a great collection of photos of Helen Thomas over the years. Here are just a few brief excerpts from the article.

Insight #2: Forget your privacy: You are a public servant

You are not perfect, Mr. President. So don’t pretend that you are and hide the bad stuff. If you are still smoking, say so directly, and openly share your struggle with the public.

Protecting your privacy can come at a greater cost than simply revealing what you don’t want the public to know. If it is found out — and it probably will be — you not only have the fallout from the exposure to deal with, but you will also be accused of deceit.

Insight # 4: Have courage: Even if it hurts

The theme of your campaign was summed up by the title of one of your books, “The Audacity of Hope.” You’ve given us hope, Mr. President. Now show us the audacity.

In Afghanistan, Mr. President, you risk repeating Lyndon Johnson’s disastrous escalation of the Vietnam War after listening too much to the generals. Again, the Pentagon wants more troops for a tricky war, vowing success in Afghanistan if you only agree. That’s what the British and the Russians thought before they utterly failed to subdue their foes in Afghanistan’s difficult terrain.

Have courage to resist such pleas if your instincts say otherwise, Mr. President. That is why the founders of our nation put a civil servant in charge of the military. You are the decision-maker, not the follower.

Insight # 5: Give us vision: It’s your legacy

A good president, wrote 19th century historian Henry Adams, “resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek.”

The port you seek, Mr. President, is your vision. Those who take this lightly do so at their peril.

But even the most inspirational vision is just talk if not combined with action.

Now is the time to fill in the blanks, Mr. President. The excitement and newness of your presidency has worn off. Turn your vision into reality. Show us that you can deliver results.

It’s excellent advice, gently delivered. If only the President would listen.

This is an open thread.

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“Thomas explained that Presidents generally enter office with a sense of invincibility. “They feel so empowered, they can say anything, do anything.” Such a sentiment would explain the White House’s apparent shock that Fox would consistently question their major initiatives. As Thomas added, Presidents “soon get slapped back.” – Lachlan Markay

Click here to read more

Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas on Monday advised the Obama administration to stand down and avoid further fighting with Fox News and its correspondents. In an interview with MSNBC, the columnist — who is promoting her new book on presidents and their campaigns — also stressed the White House ought to “stay out of these fights.” “They can only take you down. You can’t kill the messenger,” said Thomas, who has covered every president from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama. Whether the White House takes her advice, however, is another story. Just this weekend, Senior Adviser David Axelrod charged Fox was “not really a news organization.” And Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel twice insinuated the channel was a danger to the craft of journalism itself.

To see The Hill story and video of Helen Thomas’ appearance on MSNBC: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/63659-thomas-to-white-house-stay-out-of-fox-news-fight#

As a current magazine journalist and former newspaper journalist, I found some comments in a Time magazine interview with White House press corps dean Helen Thomas pretty interesting. Here are a few of the questions and answers:

What do you think of bloggers?
Everyone with a laptop thinks they’re a journalist. Everyone with a cell phone thinks they’re a photographer. So our profession is sidelined in a way. There’s no turning back. It’s frightening because you can ruin lives and reputations willy-nilly without realizing it. No editors. No standards. No ethics. We’re at the crossroads. So many newspapers that are so valuable are going down the drain. It’s a crisis.

Do you see a way out of this crisis?
I’m praying. I’m praying that we’ll still have newspapers. That’s where you get in-depth information. You can’t get it from headline news or these very brief things on TV or on blogs. They don’t explain anything.

What would you say to a recent journalism graduate who’s watching newspapers and magazines fold left and right?
I’d say go for it. Keep your standards high. Understand that your role is to seek the truth, wherever it leads you.

It’s no secret print journalism has been declining steadily in recent years. The 150-year-old Rocky

The Rocky Mountain News was one of the first major or long-printed newspapers to shut down during the recent decline in print journalism and economic downturn. Photo from Time.com.

Mountain News shut its doors in February; the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (which was, in my college days, on my list of papers I wanted to work for one day) followed quickly, shutting down its print version in March. Numerous newspapers and magazines have shut down since; the most notable recent closings have been Conde Nast’s Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Cookie and Gourmet magazine. This is not to mention the newspapers and media companies that have declared bankruptcy in 2009.

The FCC apparently thinks the reason for this downturn is bloggers. “Some blame the Internet and bloggers, and that’s certainly a part of the story,” said FCC Commissioner Michael Copps in July. “All that consolidation and mindless deregulation, rather than reviving the news business, condemned us to less real news, less serious political coverage, less diversity of opinion, less minority and female ownership, less investigative journalism and fewer jobs for journalists.” Certainly sounds like those darn bloggers and new media gurus have really killed the industry. Ms. Thomas, as stated above, seems to agree, at least somewhat. And I can’t really argue with it. News is cheap these days. Ask 10 people my age where they get their news from, and I’d guess at least two or three would say Twitter (which dubs itself a “micro-blogging” site) or Facebook; another one or two would likely say they get it from bloggers. At the same time, I’d wager that none of them regularly get their news from a print newspaper. Anyone with any form of Internet access can get a free blog, so the quality of some of this “reporting” is extremely shoddy and fuels misinformation.

As a blogger, I’d love to say that I’m different, but all I’m doing here is providing commentary on crap written by other people. I’m not doing any real work other than revving up the brainpower it takes to interpret some of the things that are going on in the world and put together some coherent thoughts about them.

At the same time, as a journalist, I am frustrated that the industry was so far behind the curve when it came to online opportunities. Too many newspapers and magazines held onto the good-ol’-boy, “this is how we’ve always done it” mantra for far too long, and they are now paying the price. Editors don’t understand how to blog, and they’re out of touch with the lingo of 25-year-olds who “tweet” and “Skype” and “G-chat.” Advertising account executives refuse to sell online because “no one would want to buy that.” Marketing departments fail to properly promote Web content, and everyone blames it all on “nobody visiting the Web site.” Staffs continue to get cut back, with journalists getting spread more and more thin between writing print content, online content, maintaining a blog, maintaining a Twitter account and editing videos to go on YouTube or (for those fortunate enough to have a Web site that is up-to-date enough to support it) the publication’s site.

The industry is in a tough place right now. With the economic problems over the past year in the U.S., advertisers don’t have the money to advertise; publishers don’t have the money to properly staff their publications. And, in the end, the public suffers.

“Unprecedented block of TV programming…”

Back in July veteran White house correspondent Helen Thomas had this to say: “Not even Nixon tried to control the media like Obama.” And, “What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said. “They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.” [STORY]

Remember this portion: “Public Servants”

This creepy report from Brietbart–

On September 10th of this year the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) posted a press release informing the world that “from October 19-25, more than 60 network TV shows [will] spotlight the power and personal benefits of service,” and that this “unprecedented block of TV programming is the first wave of a multi-year ‘I Participate’ campaign.” [GET THE STORY...] 

END OF POST

Thanks to the former CSPANJunkie (now Earth 2 Obama)!

Helen Thomas this week. (h/t Dana Milbank)

Why is it Bobby Gibbs thinks everything is so funny? He laughs at very serious questions and then ridicules the people asking the serious question, and totally ignores the question. Helen Thomas was right on this one, I cannot believe I agree with Helen Thomas, but she speaks the truth in the second video. Walt

Source: NewsRealBlog

Chris Wallace Calls Administration “Crybabies” Trying to Control the Media

by Paul Cooper

It’s President Barack Obama versus Fox News.  The fight is on!

Obama did interviews with five stations to be aired today to discuss his health care plan.  For some reason, Obama and his people snubbed Fox News.  They even did an interview on Univision and NOT Fox. Clearly the administration is attempting to make a point that they don’t want to deal with Fox.

But why?  Is it because Fox has the highest ratings?  Is it because Fox News actually helps break real stories like 9/11 Truther Van Jones and the ACORN prostitution scandal that no one else on cable or network news covers?  Is it simply because they don’t like Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity?  Chris Wallace has an idea why:

They are the biggest bunch of crybabies I have dealt with in my 30 years in Washington.

Wallace holds no punches in this interview about the subject matter.  He reveals that the Obama administration does all it can to twist and turn the media.  They whine and complain any time the news folks cover a story in a way they don’t like. It’s amazing that the President who was supposed to be the most open and up front with the media is, according to Wallace, “working the umps all the time.”  Wallace then points out, “I think it works with the others, it doesn’t work with me.”

I guess Helen Thomas had it right (even a broken clock is right twice) a few months ago when she called out White House spokesman Robert Gibbs for being more closed and controlling than any other previous administration.

I’m amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and you control…it’s a pattern of controlling the press.

Thomas, who has covered every US President since JFK, later said,

Nixon didn’t try to do that.  They couldn’t control [the media]. They didn’t try.  What the hell do they think we are, puppets?  They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.

The Obama administration has already found distinction in trying harder to control the media than any other president before.  If  Thomas and Fox News agree on something it must be true.  When you consider that this administration’s policies are projected to increase the US debt in the next ten years more than every other President COMBINED, I think it’s time for them to stop crying and start answering questions.

Speaking of questions, I have one or two that need to be answered.  Could these attempts of control by the Obama administration be directly related to the non-coverage of Van Jones and ACORN by the mainstream media?  Did the administration at any point directly or indirectly try to get media outlets to not cover these stories?  Based on what we are hearing, these are questions that need responses.