HELEN THOMAS

"Why is al-Qaeda at war with us? What is its motivation?"

Helen Thomas at a recent White House press briefing asked this simple question, and it is a simple question, and our national corporate media apparatus goes to a great deal of trouble to bury this question with a non-answer. The question strikes a nerve. Quickly flipping, last night, I heard Bill O'Reilly mention her name. I didn't linger, being a long time "moral equivocator", I've heard the response a thousand times. The mere fact that Bill takes time from his busy schedule to bother with little old Helen Thomas indicates that it is a central question, and a potential problem.

"Why is al-Qaeda at war with us? What is its motivation?"

Now, at some point, the question will be answered. At some point it seems that the American public will stand up and demand an answer to this question, but, apparently, not until, as Glenn Greenwald says, "the Republic is bankrupted and in ruins and its unemployed have to live in tent cities."

And so, the question is answered on the right, and on the left, it is even answered by retired CIA, but the great, unwashed middle remains clueless.