Helen Thomas Versus The President

At that press conference Tuesday morning, the President did something he literally hadn't done in years. He called on Helen Thomas, the veteran of veteran White House correspondents. And then we found out why he'd waited so long. Helen Thomas has been a reporter long enough to cover nine presidents. But she doesn't like the war in Iraq and doesn't apologize for that.

?No ties to al Qaeda, no weapons of mass destruction, what is this?? the 85-year-old asked Bush. ?Every reason given publicly at least has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war from the moment you stepped into the White House??

You could see and hear the president bristle at the implication.

?To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong Helen. Hold on for a second please, excuse me, excuse me. No president wants war.?

And no president wants a question like that. Some may call it opinionated, others may say it was disrespectful. But Thomas says somebody had to ask..

So was there too much of Helen Thomas in that question?

?Why? Give me a reason for why we are there. It should be on your mind, too. It should be on every American's mind,? Thomas said in an interview Tuesday.

Asked if there?s a balancing act between showing respect for the office and holding politicians accountable, Thomas said: ?I don't know what you mean by balancing. I think I'm polite. I say Mr. President. I say thank you. I think they should answer the questions. and I think if we don't have the nerve to ask the question, then the question is gone. And these people should always have to explain what they do.?

Amy Mitchell of the Project for Excellence in Journalism says Thomas's tone may have offended some, but her question was fair game.

Mitchell says the press has always had and is supposed to have an adversarial relationship with the President.

And Helen Thomas says; ?I didn't take this job to be liked.?