Do you think veteran White House news reporter Helen Thomas  resigned rather than stay in the  boiling tea pot after some Anti Israeli comments she made blew up in her face? 

Is she an extreme and famous case of what happens to those who go public in the US with a little sympathy for Palestinians or with opposition to something Israel does? 

Did something about the way Ms Thomas offered her comments make her deserve to be attacked from all sides as though she had committed treason ?

Bush sneaks through host of laws to undermine Obama (click for full article)

The lame-duck Republican team is rushing through radical measures, from coal waste dumping to power stations in national parks, that will take months to overturn, reports Paul Harris in New York

Paul Harris, The Observer, Sunday 14 December 2008