Whatever opinion one may hold on Helen Thomas’s comment about the Israelis and Palestine, a more telling point is to be found in some members of the White House Correspondents Association contemplating how best to punish her for her remarks. Punishment? The mainstream media has long been little more than PR flacks for the policies and programs of the political establishment, but rarely do they so openly admit to this role as here.
Perhaps the established order can find a precedent for dealing with Ms. Thomas in the Federalists’ treatment of Benjamin Franklin’s grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache. The attacks he made on John Adams and others in his newspaper, the Aurora, led to his being badly beaten up by plug-uglies, and even having members of congress calling for his prosecution for treason.
Is it any wonder, today, that members of the mainstream media now call upon the state to force taxpayers and/or Internet websites to subsidize their escalating losses?
