Micah Tillman

All I know about her is that she’s old and has been in the White House Press Corps forever.

That is, until today.  Today she became my hero.

All I know about her now is that she’s old and has been in the White House Press Corps forever and she knows how to ask the most important question anyone could be asking right now, and knows how to keep asking it when the Suit she’s questioning isn’t answering the question.

____

In the “press briefing” today, by Robert Gibbs, Janet Napolitano, and John Brennan, Ms. Thomas (at least, I assume she’s the “Helen” who is speaking — she sounded really old when I heard it on C-SPAN Radio) asked the following question:

Was there an outside contractor used or security in Amsterdam? And also, what is really lacking always for us is you don’t give the motivation of why they want to do us harm.

Secretary Napolitano responds that the Dutch did the screening.  Ms. Thomas responds:

And what is the motivation? We never hear what you find out on why.

John Brennan gives the usual Bush-esque spiel about how terrorists are filled with hate and how they pervert Islam.  Is “pablum” the right word? Yeah.  Something like that.

Honestly, I thought I was listening to someone from the Bush Administration, not “ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT [Barack Obama] FOR COUNTERTERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY JOHN BRENNAN.”  I would have at least expected a different answer, even if it was just as pablumatic as the Bush-esque one.  But to get Bush out of an Obamanian was bizarre.

(Who’s the president, again?  This is 2010, right?)

Anyway, Ms. Thomas sees right through Mr. Brennan’s memorized, mindless lines.  She responds.

And you’re saying it’s because of religion?

To which Mr. Brennan responds that they’re “us[ing] the banner of religion in a very perverse and corrupt way.”

And this is the best part.

Helen Thomas’s response?

Why?

It was awesome.

Mr. Brennan, now flustered, says they’re “just determined to carry out attacks here against the homeland.”

To which Helen Thomas replies:

But you haven’t explained why.

But they cut her off and move on to another reporter.

____

Thank you, Ms. Thomas.

I’m sure we probably disagree on just about everything, given that you’re a mainstay in the Mainstream Media, and I’m one of those people who complain about the Mainstream Media, but you showed today that you have a better mind for counterterrorism and national security than “ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT [Barack Obama] FOR COUNTERTERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY JOHN BRENNAN.”

Tags: Helen Thomas, John Brennan