James Zogby

Over the past couple of years, former Hearst columnist Helen Thomas had adopted a recurring habit of employing moral equivalency between al-Qaeda terrorists and the actions of the American military as, on at least three occasions, she referred to "so-called terrorists" or "so-called terrorism."

In February 2009, after she used the term "so-called terrorists" in a White House briefing, she was asked by Tommy Christopher – currently of Mediaite – to explain why she employed this choice of words, and she elaborated: "Because some people think they’re freedom fighters since they are in their own country. And we can dub them as ‘terrorists’ and their tactics are horrible, but so are ours. We drop bombs on people in Iraq, people who did nothing to us."

On the January 14, 2010, The O’Reilly Factor, FNC host Bill O’Reilly used his show’s regular "Reality Check" segment to highlight comments she made after being questioned again by Christopher in which she referred to America fighting "so-called terrorism" and expressed a view of moral equivalency between the United States and the terrorists with which America is at war. When asked in an interview with Mediaite what her point was in repeatedly asking Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan at a January 7, 2010, press conference why al-Qaeda terrorists are trying to kill Americans, as if to suggest that such behavior was provoked by wrongdoing by the U.S., Thomas responded:

If in the run-up to last year's elections a poll identified a three percent approval rating for the way Congress - which was controlled by Republicans at the time in case you forgot - was handling the war in Iraq, do you think you would have heard about it?

Maybe on every morning and evening news program for days, and on the front pages of every newspaper, correct?

Well, on Wednesday, Zogby International released the results of a stunning new poll that got virtually no attention.

Why?

Because it identified that virtually nobody in America thinks Congress - which is now currently controlled by Democrats in case you forgot - is doing a good job concerning Iraq (emphasis added throughout, h/t Glenn Reynolds):