Chip Reid and Helen Thomas gave White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs a four-minute chunk of grief over trying to “control the press” in a way Thomas said was worse than even Richard Nixon.

Thomas, who has been covering White House press briefings I think since Taft was in office, has had a bit of internet fame due to her part in Stephen Colbert’s epicly awesome GWB send-up during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in 2006. If you recall, Thomas chased a terrified Colbert around in his fantasy of being the White House Press Secretary, badgering Colbert about the reasons behind invading Iraq.

Thomas proved that her biting critique showed no partisan leanings yesterday when she and Reid laid into Gibbs for ridiculous executive branch policies that actually use social media to limit and “tightly control” the content of Townhall meetings and press briefings. The debate begins when Gibbs insists that Reid submit questions via Facebook and Twitter to be answered “tomorrow” rather than just opening the forum to on-the-spot questions.

Gibbs plays dope