http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/5/31/225546.shtml Kerry 'Flips Off' Vietnam Vet Former Congressman John Leboutillier reports on a Memorial Day confrontation between Sen. John Kerry and a fellow Vietnam veteran: 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. Ted Sampley, a former Green Beret who served two full tours in Vietnam, spotted Kerry and his Secret Service detail at about 9:00 a.m. Monday morning at the Wall. Sampley walked up to Kerry, extended his hand and said, "Senator, I am Ted Sampley, the head of Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, and I am here to escort you away from the Wall because you do not belong here." At that point a Secret Service officer told Sampley to back away from Kerry. Sampley moved about 6 feet away and opened his jacket to reveal a HANOI JOHN T-shirt. Kerry then began talking to a group of schoolchildren. Sampley then showed the T-shirt to the children and said, "Kerry does not belong at the Wall because he betrayed the brave soldiers who fought in Vietnam." Just then Kerry - in front of the school children, other visitors and Secret Service agents - brazenly 'flashed the bird' at Sampley and then yelled out to everyone, "Sampley is a felon!" Kerry was referring to an incident 12 years ago when Sampley confronted Sen. John McCain's chief aide, Mark Salter, in a Senate stairwell after McCain repeatedly offended POW families at a Senate POW hearing. Sampley, whose father-in-law at that time was MIA in Laos, followed Salter into the stairwell and, when they emerged, Salter had a bloody lip and a broken nose. Sampley's group, Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, has garnered huge national attention and has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post and on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country." Tens of thousands of Vietnam vets have registered their opposition to Kerry through Sampley's group. Clearly Sampley has gotten under Kerry's skin once again.
What John Forbes Kerry did to the Vietnam Vets is a crime. John Forbes Kerry falsely accused veterans of acts they did not commit -- all in an attempt to put the political spotlight on himself so that he could launch a career. I applaud this group of veterans who rally against Forbes Kerry's selfish defamations and distortions. Has their ever been more of a calculating political opportunist than Forbes Kerry? Maybe Hillary. Maybe. Either way, that's not good company to keep.
McCain repeatedly offended POW families??? Very objective story. Oh newsmax... where would we be without your journalististic integrity?
Newsmax is the William Hung of journalism. Anyone who believes anything on that website needs to work out some serious personal issues.
Details? Nothing Kerry can do WRT Vietnam is as bad as scurrying your yellow-belly ass away from harm's way while others put their lives on the line for their country. Kerry put his life on the line; he has every right to flip-off an idiot who belittles his service to his country. If anyone deserves an escort away from the wall, it would be GW and the other fortunate Senators' sons. And WRT to McCain, I don't know the details but who are you gonna trust, McCain or simple Sampley? What a joke.
Actually, it was after Sampley dropped off copies of his pamphlet, John McCain: The Manchurian Candidate. (!!) He also did jail time for the subsequent attack: Sampley Started a Fight With McCain Staffer In December came an ugly exchange between activist Ted Sampley and an aide to Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican. Mr. Sampley says he went to the senator's Capitol Hill office Dec. 18 to drop off copies of an article he had written. It described Mr. McCain as a brainwashed agent of the Soviet KGB spy agency. McCain staff members already had seen the article. Mark Salter, the senator's legislative assistant for foreign affairs, ordered Mr. Sampley out of the office. Although versions of the story vary somewhat, both Mr. Salter and Mr. Sampley agree that they went out in the hall together. Each says the other threw the first sucker punch, but both say there was a scuffle, and Mr. Salter got the worst of it. [Washington Times, 2/8/93] [Sampley] spent two days in jail and was placed on probation for 180 days. He also was slapped with a restraining order requiring that he stay away from Mr. McCain and his staff. [Washington Times, 2/8/93] (source)
Still looking for a more official link to verify this. For now, this lefty site will have to do: http://www.bigleftoutside.com/archives/000355.php Statement of Senator John McCain: "I strongly caution reporters who may be contacted by or are interested in Mr. Ted Sampley and the various organizations he claims to represent, and his opinions on the subject of Senator Kerry, or any subject for that matter, to investigate thoroughly Mr. Sampley's background and history of spreading outrageous slander and other disreputable behavior before inadvertently lending him or his allegations any credibility. I am well familiar with Mr. Sampley, and I know him to be one of the most despicable people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter. I consider him a fraud who preys on the hopes of family members of missing servicemen for his own profit. He is dishonorable, an enemy of the truth, and despite his claims, he does not speak for or represent the views of all but a few veterans. The many veterans I know would think it a disgrace to be considered a comrade or supporter of Ted Sampley."
I think Kerry showed a great deal of restraint. Sampley should be cooling his heels in jail for a few days... at the very least.
It's funny that the article tries to paint Kerry in the worst possible light and Sampley in the best, and it's still Sampley that looks like the loon. I suppose there's a limit to what biased reporting could do for you.
