Monday, June 14, 2010

An Award That Defines Irony


Leonard Pitts, the Miami Herald columnist (whose columns often make my skin crawl) nailed it on the Helen Thomas issue. You remember -- the Helen Thomas who advocated that Israeli Jews "go home" to Poland or Germany or wherever.

In yesterday's column, Pitts said:


Here's some bitter irony for you.

Back in April, I received the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity award. Yes, diversity. And yes, Helen Thomas, the legendary White House correspondent who recently nuked her career — and legacy —by telling a rabbi, following a Jewish heritage ceremony at the White House, no less, that the Jews of Israel should, in effect, go back where they came from.

Life sure takes some funny bounces. Two months ago, I was honored to receive an award in the name of a woman who has asked combative questions of every president since John F. Kennedy. Two months later, receiving a Helen Thomas award in the spirit of diversity feels not unlike receiving a Kim Jong Il award in the spirit of diplomacy.


Emphasis mine.

"Kim Jong Il Spirit of Diplomacy Award." Good one.

3 comments:

  1. OK, I read the column. You're right about the irony thing, but I don't side with all those people who called for Thomas' head. She has just about as much right to be wrong and stupid... which she exercised frequently in the past... as the next guy. But her latest brand of "stupid" ran afoul of the PC police. It's a way of life here, now, and I HATE it.

    /soapbox

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  2. Make room on that soapbox for me, Buck -- I'm with ya! But I just got a chuckle out of a Diplomacy award being named for the least tolerant -- and least sane -- national leader since Hitler!

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  3. Live by PC bullcrap, die by PC bullcrap. I think Helen got her just desserts. I'd feel differently if it were the government railroading her. That would be unacceptable. But I have no prob with a private employer giving the boot to an obnoxious hypocrite employee.

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