The little ole’ lady from the White House press corps...
(Go, Helen, go, Helen, go, Helen, go)...
Just socked it right to the President’s high horse...
(Go, Helen, go, Helen, go, Helen, go)...
She doesn’t like the pre-packaged PR show,
She pointed her finger and she let them know.
Their planted questions and staged "town hall" meeting...
(Go, Helen, go, Helen, go, Helen, go)...
Freedom of the press had seemed too fleeting...
(Go, Helen, go, Helen, go, Helen, go)...
She read Robert Gibbs the riot act,
The clock got cleaned, and that’s a fact...
And everybody’s saying that she threw a real zinger...
That’s the little ole’ lady from the White House press corps.
She didn’t back down and she gave ‘em their due,
She’s the terror of Pennsylvania Avenue...
It’s the little ole’ lady from the White House press corps...
Maybe now the press won’t keep on kneeling...
(Too much to hope for, we know, we know)...
And ask some questions with gusto and meaning...
(Too much to hope for, we know, we know)...
The next time you do a "dog and pony show"
Don’t invite Helen, she’ll show you where to go...
Go, Helen, go, Helen, go, Helen, go...
Go, Helen, go, Helen, go, Helen, go...
Ms. Helen Thomas, a seasoned veteran of the White House press corp, had quite an exchange on July 1 with Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary. Chip Reid of CBS (yes, CBS) had asked why the administration was picking the questions beforehand for the "town hall" meeting on health care. When Mr. Gibbs responded with "the old soft shoe" dance-around-the-question routine, Ms. Thomas spoke up and let it fly. We don’t know if Mr. Gibbs realized he had been "schooled" or not, but it sure looked that way to us. (We also mean absolutely no disrespect to Ms. Thomas with our parody above, and we substituted "ole’" as a term of endearment, rather than the original "old" in the Jan and Dean song of the 60s. As her questioning of presidents dates back to JFK, she is timeless).
Ms. Thomas was later quoted, in referring to the present administration, "What the hell do they think we are, puppets?....They ought to be hanging their heads in shame." Previously, the only reason we would have found to watch a White House press briefing would be to see if questions from Fox News’ reporters were dodged. We may have now found other reasons to watch as well.
Bravo, Ms. Thomas. Kudos to Mr. Reid, as well. We make no secret of our distaste for the groveling and admiration society played out by too many in Big Media. Therefore, when we see some of them stand up–like they are supposed to–after the shock wears off, we want to give them credit where it is due.
Obviously, not everyone in the White House press corps is prepared to follow a script, be used to "plant" an expected question, or engage in hero-worship. Now, if they will just keep that up. Too much to hope for? We’ll see, we’ll see.