Hume did not have any quarrel with anything Thomas wrote. At least, he never mentioned any. His quarrel was with her questions -- her habit of asking argumentative questions.

That used to be what journalists did every day, but in the last 25 years, journalists have so gotten out of the habit of doing that, that people like Helen Thomas stand out. All journalists used to be like her. Now, she is an oddity. Bush always avoided calling on her because he knew she would ask tough questions. If all the journalists asked tough questions, however, Bush would not have been any better off in ignoring her. But modern celebrity journalists have been less willing to make waves than the likes of Thomas.

If Helen Thomas has an agenda, it's to hold our leaders accountable for us. Too bad more journalists don't have the same agenda.

More people should ask tough questions. How they are framed is another thing entirely, but its a comfort to see a President's statements being questioned so pubicly