Helen Thomas' improptu resignation from the media

I have long admired Helen Thomas and her ability to ask the tough questions as White House press conferences. One could always count on her intelligent and thought provoking questions while other younger and less bold reporters would ask simple and not so pointed questions during the regular conferences held in the Oval Office.

Not so, this past week. Ms. Thomas showed that she is, in fact, nothing more than a bigot. We have all certainly had opinions regarding the horrendous massacre at sea by the Israeli army recently and some sanctions should be surely forthcoming. This behavior is not to be tolerated from any army, and in this case, where it is being reported that many of the crew members of the ship were shot in the head, almost execution style, one has cause to pause.

Ms. Thomas let forth a tirade indicating that Jews should "go back" to Germany, Poland or other parts of the world. How sad an unfortunate that she chose such incendiary and inflammatory language when she is clearly a master of words.

I wish she had not resigned - on the contrary, she should have been fired on the spot - I am sure that behind the scenes, she was told to resign or else, but I really don't understand why her dignity was spared, particularly when she is clearly, as previously stated, nothing more than a bigot.

It is all to easy to let forth a tirade of racist slurs - those Jews, blacks, gays, fill in the blank with whichever group one happens to deem lesser than, and you get the picture.

Yes, she will be missed, but I am glad that we were able to see her true colors shining under the glare of the media spotlight - scrutinized for what they were.

Good riddance to bad rubbish and to my Jewish friends and associates - Shalom and may there be peace in Israel one day.

Gaza uprising

I am heartsick over recent events in Gaza. The fragile Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ended on December 19th officially, though according to news reports, things had been escalating with Hamas and Israelis long before that.

There are at last count some 300 dead and over 600 wounded according to news reports. The UN Security Council has condemned the airstrikes and attacks and has called for a ceasefire - others are following suit. The UN has declared humanitarian efforts a disaster. What a sad thing to have to admit.

I watched the first CNN news report covering the story on the plane into JFK on the way home from Chicago. I was struck by the gruesomeness of the footage. Surely it is not necessary to show bodies oozing blood as they lay dead in the streets. We have all witnessed enough carnage in recent years to last a lifetime. Do we really need to glorify death?

The children and innocent victims are in my thoughts and prayers. Accordingly to Israeli spokespersons, Hamas was warned of airstrikes beforehand and all not affliated with them were told to evacuate. This is not good enough. If they had time enough to warn, could they not have sat down to broker another peace agreement together? This time, one that both sides could uphold?

I realize that my knowledge of this conflict is cursory at best, but I have been watching and reading the news reports on same for decades and I am getting weary of it, really weary.

Madame Secretary Clinton has her work cut out for her. Who knows, perhaps Bill will come in handy after all.