Posted on 09/07/2004 5:54:01 PM PDT by kristinn
Vietnam Veterans for Truth held a press conference this morning at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to discuss their upcoming anti-Kerry rally.
I arrived about 9:45 a.m. for the 9:30 start. The back of the room was filled with TV news video cameras, while several still photographers prowled the front of the room. A handful of reporters with notebooks sat in the press rows in the center. On the left as I entered were about a dozen men associated with VVT, on the right side of the room were a few representatives of Veterans for Kerry.
I took a seat with the press as Captain Larry Bailey, USN (Ret.) was making his remarks. At one point as he described John Kerry meeting the communist Madame Binh in Paris in 1970, he said he would not use the T-word to describe Kerry's actions. He was interrupted by two men in the front reporters row who tried to bait him into calling Kerry a traitor. After being badgered for a few minutes, Lou Priebe, one of the media advisors for VVT took control of the press conference. He told the men to wait until the Q&A part after everyone spoke and to identify themselves. Neither one was with the press.
The other speakers were Vietnam veterans Terry Garlock (Army helicopter pilot, wounded in action) and Dexter Lehtinen (Army Ranger, wounded in action.)
They were followed by another media advisor, civilian volunteer, Jeff Epstein.
When questions were allowed, the first three people to speak up were pro-Kerry partisans who launched into diatribes against what these veterans were doing. Each of the three men claimed to be Vietnam veterans. The first claimed Kerry's 1971 Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony was being taken out of context, among other points. I forget what the second man's point was, but it was time consuming.
After these two guys Capt. Bailey tried to laugh off the press conference getting out of control by saying he and his guys here were just "redneck hillbillies from Texas" and didn't know how to run a professional press conference.
This brought the third non-reporter self-proclaimed Vietnam veteran to the fore. He was a black man who stood up and started ranting that Bailey and his men were a bunch of "racists." Over and over again he called them racists for saying they were rednecks. It was quite a show.
The man finally calmed down and sat back down. I raised my hand and pointed out that the press was less eager to ask questions than the partisans here. My question was about Kerry's testimony supposedly being taken out of context. I asked if the North Vietnamese, while they forced the POWs to listen to and read Kerry's testimony, explained to the men that Kerry's words were being taken out of context.
Dexter Lehtinen was kind enough to step up to the mic and swat the softball question out of the park. He lit into Kerry and how he could not avoid the responsibility and consequences of his statements.
Finally the few reporters there started asking questions. A gal from the Los Angeles Times wanted to know how they felt about Bush's guard service and Cheney's five deferments. That was the only question she asked during the press conference.
Jeff Johnson with NRAnews.com asked some good questions. One was if there were any POWS present who could attest to Kerry's testimony being used against the POWs by the North Vietnamese. That brought Mike Benge (civilian POW 1968-1973) to the mic who affirmed that Kerry's testimony was indeed used to break the will and morale of the POWs.
The press conference finally ended a little before 11 a.m. .
The Kerry people huddled in the hall afterward with one of the disruptors, then went back in the room to talk to the press. Noone bothered them. The L.A. Times reporter milled about and asked a few more questions, but I couldn't hear what they were.
Overall, it was a sad, sorry performance by the media. Not to worry, though. The main event is on Sunday.
Did C-span tape it? they usually show all of these..It couldn't be live, because Congress was in session..
Eagles Up, and Kudos to you
Mike
Thanks for being there and reporting to all of us what happened. Most appreciated.
...oh, and this is a GREAT report.
BTTT!
Excellent question you asked. Well done.
I don't know if C-SPAN was there. It's not on their list of today's events, so probably not.
I'm working on the photos right now. I appreciate everybody's patience....
Thanks, but living in the heart of downtown makes doing things like this easier. I don't have to fight traffic to get there :-)
One of the reporters didn't get it and thought I was being critical of the VVT with that question. Ay carumba!
A gal from the Los Angeles Times wanted to know how they felt about Bush's guard service and Cheney's five deferments. That was the only question she asked during the press conference.
What was their answer ?
Thank you for all that you do....especially sharing it with those of us in "fly over" country.
Great report on the lackadaisical and biased attitude expressed by the media present at the press conference.
I wish that the conference had been scheduled later so I could have attended -- I'm only a block away from the National Press Club.
Ping me to the photos, please.
Thanks for being there Kristinn ..
Did you leave with the feeling that the Sunday event will have good momentum and some decent coverage?
Regards
That is just ludicrous! There is only ONE WAY to take what he said.
Your question concerning this was just terrific!
The media was disgusting as usual I see.
A white southerner calling himself a redneck (or a gringo if it's in Texas) is no different than a black guy using the "N word". I call myself a Gringo all the time, but never a redneck... although I've been called one once or twice because of my gun nut status.
Dexter is the husband of Florida Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Both of them are great Americans.
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