Washington (CNSNews.com) – The fallout from Helen Thomas’ controversial comments about Israel and Jews, which led to her immediate retirement on Monday, has prompted journalists covering the White House to re-evaluate the role of an opinion columnist in the White House press corps.

Thomas, 89, the so-called dean of the White House press corps, covered the White House as a news reporter for United Press International (UPI), beginning with the Kennedy administration in the early 1960s. In 2000, she left UPI to become an opinion columnist for Hearst Newspapers. She has a front row seat at the White House press gallery with her name on it...

The fallout over veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas' controversial comments about Jews continued to build as a Washington-area high school abruptly canceled a graduation speech she was scheduled to deliver. The cancelation came after the speaking agency that represents Thomas dropped her.

Alan Goodwin, principal of Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md., wrote in an e-mail Sunday to students and parents that Thomas would be replaced as speaker for the school's June 14 graduation.

"Graduation celebrations are not the venue for divisiveness," he wrote...

Blogger 'Yid with a Lid' highlights this charming video where the dean of the White House press corps, Helen Thomas, tells jews to get out of Israel and go back to Poland and Germany.

Note that Thomas' remarks were made at a Jewish heritage event at the White House...

A senior member of the White House press corps believes the Republican Party will take control of Congress in November and set about immediately to repeal "ObamaCare" -- and that, the veteran journalist predicts, might not bode well for the president.

Recently Kathleen Kinsolving released her book entitled Gadfly: The Life and Times of Les Kinsolving, White House Watchdog (WND Books, May 2010). The book traces highlights of her father's career as a member of the White House press corps, which began during the Nixon administration and has continued into the Obama presidency.

In the book, Les Kinsolving is described as a "perpetual agitator for truth and accountability from the power structure." He admits he is not critical of everything Barack Obama has done, but he thinks ObamaCare is going to cost the Democrats dearly in November...

An atheist-turned-Christian and former reporter for the Chicago Tribune says the national media keeps blurring the line between opinion and fact.

Lee Strobel worked at Chicago's Daily Herald for 14 years and became a Christian after investigating the claims of Christ. He is now a well-known author and speaker and runs an apologetics website...