Gosh, if you want to deflect a conversation away from the real issues into invention and stirred-up righteousness, I guess one way to do it is for a career hardhead like 89-year old Helen Thomas to say something incendiary, regret it, apologize for it, and have her colleagues throw her right under that bus waiting outside the White House press room.

Let's start with what she said:

OFF-CAMERA: "Any comments on Israel?"

HELEN THOMAS: "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.
Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not Germany, not Poland."

OFF-CAMERA: "so where should they go?"

HELEN THOMAS: "Home. Poland. Germany. America. And everywhere else."

As Squareboy on Daily Kos said, it's hurtful to hear that. She should apologize.

And she did. Here is her full apology:

"I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon," she wrote.

ADL rejects her apology because it does not "go far enough". Craig Crawford and her agent dump her. Lanny Davis, always right in front whenever possible, condemns her. Ari Fleischer cries "Off with her head! (And her job)." Rick Lazlo piles on. Joe Klein wants her sent to the back of the bus room. Sarah Palin tattoos her as racist. A local high school replaces her as their graduation speaker. Red State froths. NewsMax has a field day. Winger blogs everywhere are blessed with outrage and attendant traffic. The din is so loud everyone misses her apology. The right continues to bearhug anti-semitic Pat Buchanan, who is routinely applauded for his support of right-wing causes. He doesn't have to apologize.

Meanwhile, Hearst has not made a decision on whether she will keep her place as part of the White House press corps.

I am not going to defend what she said. I understand that it is hurtful and offensive to many. However...

She apologized, folks. This pile-on looks to me to be opportunistic and driven by RedStaters and Freepers out there who have a long-standing hate on for Helen.

I just did a little search here on Crooks and Liars. I found references made by Fox News personalities to her as the "wicked witch" (no apology). Tony Snow paints her as a representative of Hezbollah. No apology. Ann Coulter called her an "old Arab" and scrubbed her website of all reference when it was caught. No apology.

Helen Thomas is the one who asked the tough questions of the Bush Administration about why we're in Iraq, why torture was sanctioned by Bush appointees, why it was okay for President Bush to dismiss the bloodshed in Iraq as a comma, and the White House's support for Tom Delay when he was charged with money laundering.

So ask yourself. Is this about an insult to Israel or an opportunity for wingnuts to USE an insult to Israel as a way to squelch Thomas' first amendment rights?

When you consider that question, also remember this was said in the context of an informal interview. She didn't say it in the press room; she answered a question as a citizen with an opinion. Her opinion may not be acceptable, but does she not have the right to one?

UPDATE: And the inevitable happens: Helen Thomas announces she is retiring, effective immediately.

Awww, poor Dana Milbank. He's a little bit peeved about being left out of the Nuclear Safety Summit, and he thinks we should all feel vewy, vewy sorry for him as we shake our fists at the man who just led an historical meeting with several significant breakthroughs.

In the middle of it all was Obama -- occupant of an office once informally known as "leader of the free world" -- putting on a clinic for some of the world's greatest dictators in how to circumvent a free press.

The only part of the summit, other than a post-meeting news conference, that was visible to the public was Obama's eight-minute opening statement, which ended with the words: "I'm going to ask that we take a few moments to allow the press to exit before our first session."

Reporters for foreign outlets, admitted for the first time to the White House press pool, got the impression that the vaunted American freedoms are not all they're cracked up to be.

My heart bleeds for him. The utter inability of mainstream reporters -- especially White House reporters -- to get even the simplest facts down with even a semblance of accuracy speaks volumes to the wisdom of the President's decision.

Does Milbank imagine reporters bearing witness to the discussion leading to the agreement with China to pressure Iran? What role does he think he or any other reporter could have played in creating an atmosphere where good-faith decisions and discussions about one of the most important global issues of our time could be made?

And while I'm at it, where was Milbank when our economy was melting down? Was he out interviewing financial executives, listening in on the meetings taking place on Capitol Hill? Why isn't he more outraged about the closed-door meeting Senator Mitch McConnell had with Wall Street honchos this morning? Does he imagine that to be something we might care about?

Yet, for Milbank, not being admitted into the inner sanctum of high-level international brainstorming sessions is akin to having his freedom stripped. Maybe he should earn that right with some real reporting instead of relying on snark and whining for his page views.

democracyarsenal: While our national conversation has been focused on porcine makeup, a Maine television reporter - unlike the BBQ press - asked a baffled McCain some tough questions. Naturally, the Psychogeezer responded to the first question with a lie, then just kept spreading manure. Example: Sarah Palin..."knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America."

Open Left: Did McCain tamper with the Drug Enforcement Agency to protect his career?

Prometheus 6: Typical of a member of the Kouncil of Konservative Kitizens

Needlenose: Advice for Obama...

Clusterdouche! Matt Damon to produce "Hockey Mom" for Disney Channel; George Lucas will provide CGI-enhanced presidential gravitas

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: nihilix, TheZoo, Click Your Opinion, Blue Heron Blast

Connecting.the.Dots: Medical question, travel question, legal question, political question, religious question, literary question, beauty contest question, government question

cab drollery: How...Quaint

Scott Horton: Gonzo gets another pass

Facing South: A"giant pile of crashed ships and barges" clogs New Orleans' Industrial Canal one day after Hurricane Gustav, covering the channel's entire width south of the Interstate 10 bridge -- and raising serious questions about the U.S. Coast Guard's vessel mooring requirements.

BAGnewsNotes: The press as instrument of the State

CNN reported earlier that she passed away from an aneurysm, and now they are retracting that and reporting she is in critical condition. Out of respect for her and her family we are pulling the story until we have further word.

Our best wishes to her....

Update: There are continuing conflicting stories, her doctors are holding a press conference. Our continued best wishes to her and we are sorry for any part we played in the confusion...

TwinCities.com:

A two-day prostitution sting in St. Paul netted 35 men, including a longtime Republican operator in Minnesota politics.

Peter Hong, 41, of Minneapolis, was one of 19 men picked up Wednesday afternoon after police say he responded to an ad for sex put out in newspapers and online by the St. Paul Police Department's vice squad.

The Carleton grad was a campaign spokesman for Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2002 and congressional press secretary to Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., for much of the 1990s. He also served as the Bush-Cheney Minnesota campaign spokesman in 2004. His most recent political stint was as presidential campaign spokesman for Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Hong is currently self-employed and "Always Searching for the Next Big Thing!" according to his profile on the business-networking Web site LinkedIn. Read on...

Another loyal Bushie goes down in flames. It appears Mr. Hong has indeed found the next big thing.

TPM picks up on this revealing gem from the House Oversight Committee's report (.pdf) on Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman:

Karl Rove exchanged e-mails about Pat Tillman with Associated Press reporter Ron Fournier, under the subject line "H-E-R-O." In response to Mr. Fournier's e-mail, Mr. Rove asked, "How does our country continue to produce men and women like this," to which Mr. Fournier replied, "The Lord creates men and women like this all over the world. But only the great and free countries allow them to flourish. Keep up the fight."

Although immediate requests for comment from Fournier, who is now the AP's acting Washington D.C. bureau chief, were not returned, a later AP article on the matter gets him on the record:

"I was an AP political reporter at the time of the 2004 e-mail exchange, and was interacting with a source, a top aide to the president, in the course of following an important and compelling story. I regret the breezy nature of the correspondence."

It would be interesting to go back to the time this email was written to see just how (un)critically Fournier's reporting of the Iraq War was. If anyone comes across something, by all means feel free to leave comments.

Cynics' Party has recovered McCain's press release (recently scrubbed from the Psychogeezer's website) announcing disgraced AG Troy King as Alabama State Campaign Chair.

The Agonist: Our long national obsession with cars

naked capitalism: The death of globalisation consensus

Fafblog! Veepstakes 2008: Turgid For Change Edition

NotionsCapital: Turdblossom found

BlondeSense: Over There

I can appreciate how difficult it must be for a news outlet like the Associated Press to find new and interesting things to write about when it comes to the presidential campaign. For that matter, I can even appreciate that, once in a while, a story with a human-interest angle might help break things up a bit.

But as part of my ongoing fascination with the AP’s awful coverage of the campaign, I’m afraid this item is just silly.

If the presidential election goes to the dogs, John McCain is looking like best in show.

From George Washington’s foxhound “Drunkard” to George W. Bush’s terriers “Barney” and “Miss Beazley,” pets are a longtime presidential tradition for which the presumed Republican nominee seems well prepared, with more than a dozen.

The apparent Democratic nominee Barack Obama, on the other hand, doesn’t have a pet at home. The pet-owning public seems to have noticed the difference. An AP-Yahoo! News poll found that pet owners favor McCain over Obama 42 percent to 37 percent, with dog owners particularly in McCain’s corner.

The AP quoted one person saying, “I think a person who owns a pet is a more compassionate person — caring, giving, trustworthy. I like pet owners,” and found another willing to argue on the record that if a person owns a pet that “tells you that they’re responsible at least for something, for the care of something.”

This poll and related story are even worse than the usual palaver. Mark Blumenthal has the definitive take-down.

Darcy Burner: "It's just stuff" More from Kos. In lieu of donations to the family, Darcy has made the following request:

For those who would like to do something to express their support, let me suggest making a contribution to your local humane society or animal shelter in memory of Charlotte, or to the Washington State Council of Firefighters Benevolent Fund.

And best wishes for a very speedy recovery to liberal blogger Brian Beutler.