Helen Thomas

At 1.43 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 24th, with American bombers en route to Yugoslavia and just minutes before the first explosions were reported on the ground in Kosovo, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart explicitly admitted that the power to take our nation into war had been surrendered to a foreign official, namely the NATO Secretary General.

Lockhart was asked by correspondent Helen Thomas, quote, Who gives the green light on this now? Is it the president himself or the supreme commander of NATO? End quote.

Lockhart replied, The supreme commander of NATO acts on the authority of the political leaders of the NATO countries, and he has that authority.

In brief, the power to declare war in Kosovo was exercised by NATO Secretary General Solana.

Yeah.

There are young reporters in there who have never seen it like you and I, and hell, you know, when I started out with Helen Thomas and, you know, kind of the Reagan administration.

I'm old.

So, you know-

Ah, yeah.

I think that you were doing what a journalist is sup- journalist is, what journalists are supposed to do.

God, Helen Thomas, remember back in the day?

Yeah.

I do.

I u- actually used to cover the White House for about seven to eight years, far back as Helen Thomas.

Wow.

And the man you're talking about is Simon Ateba, and he's the last person you would want to represent the nation as a voice to the world.

Yeah, she talked about that, as I remember.

And she was the first one who sort of got women into the Press Club because it was an all-male enclave and Sarah and Helen Thomas, um, they were sitting in the, you know-

Uh-huh

... upper regions just like African Americans used to do in the churches and, and s- and it was Margaret Thatcher who said, "Why are they up there?" And, um, it really, Margaret Thatcher working with Sarah and, and, um, um-

We're going to look back at the president's chilling history of wielding power against the free press and against free speech.

But first, here's the legend of journalism, Helen Thomas questioning President George W. Bush about the war in Iraq.

My question is, why did you really want to go to war from the moment you stepped into the White House, from your cabinet form of cabinet officers, intelligent people, and so forth? What was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil, cluster oil.

It hasn't been Israel or anything else.

Find me a White House.

I mean, I've read Helen Thomas' book.

I've read Sam Donaldson and Sarah McClendon's books.

No White House has ever been... has ever loved the coverage they've gotten from the White House press corps.

Barry, thanks for joining us today.

I'm sort of the Helen Thomas of this conversation.

I get the first question because I'm so old and I've been around so long.

A couple of quick questions and then a larger question.

Prince Bandar was the-

Did they just buy Helen Thomas? Was that they were actually buying-

I will not brook any Helen Thomas dissent.

She kind of curled at the end.

I had one of the greatest nights of my life getting fucking blitzed with Helen Thomas in Prague in 1994.

Red combat boots up to here.

Her just like, fucking Clinton's the worst.