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June 01, 2004
How fickle is a finger?
Here's an interesting, controversial, story which is not being reported in the mainstream media: John Kerry gave the finger to a heckler. Democratic senator - and certain presidential nominee - John F. Kerry gave the middle finger to a Vietnam veteran at the Vietnam Memorial Wall on Memorial Day morning, NewsMax.com has learned. I heard about this on the radio today, and then I saw that Little Green Footballs has also reported it. There are nearly 400 comments, with much discussion centering on the character of the heckler (Sampley), as well as the reliability of Newsmax.com. Here's a comment typifying such skepticism: They may have made it up, they have gotten it from a dubious source, or they could actually be telling the truth. NewsMax is not, in and of itself, a credible source regardless of how in character you believe the reported incident to be. If it appears elsewhere or we get a picture of the incident, then I might believe it. Until then, I would consider this story to be unsubstantiated BS.While I understand skepticism about Newsmax, it should be remembered that if a similar story was reported about Bush by a left-wing news site, it would not remain ignored for long. Bush would be asked about it, and given the chance to confirm it or deny it. Has anyone asked the Kerry campaign? I see no mention at his campaign blog, even though it does mention his visit to the wall. Whether or not Newsmax is liked by its critics, merely asserting that the story comes from Newsmax should not end the inquiry. Nor is Sampley's credibility particularly relevant. Assuming he is as bad as John McCain has said (even Bob Smith once condemned him), what matters is whether Kerry gave the guy the finger in public. If he did, then it's news worth reporting. If George W. Bush gave the finger to someone like Ted Rall, I don't think the reports would be limited to, say, Indymedia. We'd be hearing more about it. The funny thing is, I can find no one saying the incident didn't happen; only attacks on Sampley and Newsmax. That's not enough to give Kerry a pass.
posted by Eric on 06.01.04 at 05:40 PM
Comments
If Kerry wants to win this election his best strategy would be to stay home in bed and let his wife and daughters do all the campaigning for him. Graham Lester · June 1, 2004 10:45 PM "Finger-gate"? Must be a slow day. I defended Bush when he was attacked for calling some obnoxious reported an asshole during the 2000 campaign, and I'll not apply a different standard to Kerry. President Truman was well known to let fly on occasion, as was Senator Goldwater. Politics is for adults. It's not Sunday school. Seems like expressions of anger are now taboo in American politics. Howard Dean was attacked for his anger, as was John McCain earlier. Back in 1972, Edmund Muskie was seen as discredited when he publically wept after a newspaper (William Loeb's "Manchester Union-Leader") had attacked his wife. Today, it's acceptable to weep and be tearful or sentimental, e.g., Clinton's "I feel your pain", but it's not acceptable to show anger. "Civility" is the order of the day, which usually means turning the other cheek. We are becoming a culture which is afraid of strong emotion, of strong conviction. Steven Malcolm Anderson the Lesbian-worshipping gun-loving selfish aesthete · June 2, 2004 02:43 AM Clarifications: I was not trying to suggest that Kerry has any strong convictions. If he did, I'd be more likely to consider voting for him. Depending, of course, on what those convictions were. Also, I do recognize that the finger gesture, the "razz", etc., would be out of place at a Presidential State dinner, especially if there were royalty present (HAIL TO THE QUEEN....!). Perhaps an appearance of dignified composure would be preferable. Chesterton noted that the Lord Chief Justice does not feel compelled to put out his tongue at the little boy who puts out his tongue at the Lord Chief Justice. Speaking of Chief Justices, some thoughts occured to me: In my lifetime, I've experienced 10 Presidents: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II. But I've experienced only 3 Chief Justices: Earl Warren, Warren Earl Burger, William Rhenquist. All 3 Chief Justices were appointed by Republican Presidents: Warren by Eisenhower, Burger by Nixon, Rhenquist also by Nixon and became Chief Justice under Reagan. The Warren Court, the Burger Court, the Rhenquist Court. Each one has produced some crucial decisions.... Steven Malcolm Anderson the Lesbian-worshipping gun-loving selfish aesthete · June 2, 2004 01:57 PM The burden of proof lies with NewsMax for substantiating the story. If they supply enough information for it to be independently verified, fine, but until then, we must account for NewsMax's unreliability. Also, I resent that you use this as an opportunity to complain that the "liberal media" picks on Bush, but not on Kerry. You really need to prove this instead of parotting the Right Wing Attack Machine (you didn't really cite G. Gordon Liddy, convicted felon, as a source, did you?). It seems to me that Bush has done some pretty damn bad stuff. Kerry's flipping the bird or getting botox or changing his mind (or whatever) is a miniscule story compared to the security of the US. Further, these accusations about the liberal media ring completely hollow after the Reagan/Republican love fest for the past eight days (and counting!) on every news channel and on the front of every paper every day. Stick a fork in it. SixFootPole · June 14, 2004 07:40 PM |
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