The Indomitable Helen Thomas Takes Ill

Helen Thomas, a fixture in the White House press pool since JFK, is apparently seriously ill. At 87, her fierce pen may finally be forced to slow down, alas. Three years ago, we saluted her refusal to go along with much of the rest of the media covering the White House and play nice with the White House spinners. Ironically, that post highlighted an aggressive exchange she had with then-presidential press secretary Scott McClennan, the same fellow who of course is now hawking a book about how he became a pawn in the administration's efforts to hoodwink the world about Iraq. If you live long enough, you see just about everything. Anyway, we wish Helen a speedy recovery.