Switcharoo

Whew! I thought I was going crazy! When I saw the references to Ann Coulter calling journalist Helen Thomas an "old Arab." I was wondering how I had missed that when I read her column. Now I see that the version I saw was the edited, syndicated version and not the one on her website.

"Writing in her February 23 column for Universal Press Syndicate, Coulter observed, among other things, that Guckert/Gannon was a better reporter than The New York Times' Maureen Dowd and his 'only offense is that he may be gay.' Nothing unexpected there, but Coulter also wrote: 'Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president.'

But when the column got posted by Universal on its Web site, that line was changed to: 'Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that dyspeptic, old Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president.' "

I don't know what her problem is nor why, like other conservatives, she is justifying Guckert/Gannon's presence in the White House as though it is, at any level, acceptable. With the exceptions that "gay" being in direct conflict with the Bush Administration's platform and unacceptable in the military, that part of the scandal can be dismissed. For some odd reason I thought that prostitution was illegal and butt naked pictures on the internet could be construed as pornography. Additionally, non-journalists who work for non-news agencies with fake names aren't generally allowed into the White House, without a background check, with daily passes and biased access to the President.

At the very least, his presence is an insult to the real, hardworking, experienced journalists who are not allowed the same privilege.