Did this really happen? Cause it's really sad if it did..

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by Galahad
Good point. You really can't trust stuff that's only found on wack-job websites can you?

Not unless it's cooberated by some other, more mainstream sites, no. Your point ?

 

[KristaTX]

Thanks for pointing this out to me. I saw a movie when I was a child in the '70s about a POW who blinked Morse Code to give a signal to the US military, and I still remember that scene to this day. It must have been a movie about Admiral Denton - I didn't know who he was until now.

 

[jjskribs]

Skeptic that I am I did a quick search on Google for Jeremiah Denton. I found several "articles" that Mr. Denton has recently written and I can see why he was not permitted to speak. This had nothing to do with not "being allowed" to celebrate the 4th of July. This would have been an opportunity for some old fashioned "Kerry bashing". Sometimes we need to dig a little deeper when we read something that doesn't seem to be telling us the "whole story."

 

[cati]

Yep, I can believe this. Praise the journalist, but kick out the true hero.

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by jjskribs
Skeptic that I am I did a quick search on Google for Jeremiah Denton. I found several "articles" that Mr. Denton has recently written and I can see why he was not permitted to speak. This had nothing to do with not "being allowed" to celebrate the 4th of July. This would have been an opportunity for some old fashioned "Kerry bashing". Sometimes we need to dig a little deeper when we read something that doesn't seem to be telling us the "whole story."

This has become a favorite tactic recently of Republicans in congress...The Dems have allowed them to control the story of various issues, and consequently, they look bad for voting against them. This is pretty much the same kind of thing, from what I can tell...Denton is certainly a hero, and has every right to speak his mind about John Kerry and the Democratic Party...But he doesn't get to do it from the floor of the capital.

This is looking more and more like a thinly veiled way for Republicans to either make the Dems look bad (which they did) or get in some nice shots at John Kerry from the floor of the state senate.

 

[WDSearcher]

Jeremiah Denton was the name on my POW bracelet when I was in high school. I wore that thing for years, and I remember that he was one of the first POWs released. I still have the bracelet somewhere.

Just a bit of trivia ...

 

[jjskribs]

wvrevy............ I totally agree. Mr. Denton can certainly disagree with John Kerry and can be as vocal as he wants to be in opposition to him but it should be taken out on the campaign trail.

 

[floridaminnie]

Let's take Mr. Denton out of the equation completly...My question is then why didn't they do something in celebration of the 4th of July?

 

[AirForceRocks]

Originally posted by jjskribs
wvrevy............ I totally agree. Mr. Denton can certainly disagree with John Kerry and can be as vocal as he wants to be in opposition to him but it should be taken out on the campaign trail.

And how do you know that any type of bashing of Senator Kerry would have taken place on the CA Senate floor?

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by floridaminnie
Let's take Mr. Denton out of the equation completly...My question is then why didn't they do something in celebration of the 4th of July?

Ah, but you can't just take him out of the equation, since that is likely the reason that the Dems objected to it in the first place. I don't know why they don't have a "celebration" similar to those that they have on other holidays...but that's a completely different issue.

Originally posted by AFRocks
And how do you know that any type of bashing of Senator Kerry would have taken place on the CA Senate floor?

Well, if you invited me to speak at a political gathering, would you expect me to have anything nice to say about bush ? Denton has been just as critical of Kerry...what makes you think he wouldn't use that opportunity ? Why give him the megaphone ? Are there no other military heroes in California that could have spoken ? Someone slightly less inclined to become a political pawn ?

 

[AirForceRocks]

Originally posted by wvrevy
Ah, but you can't

Well, if you invited me to speak at a political gathering, would you expect me to have anything nice to say about bush ? Denton has been just as critical of Kerry...what makes you think he wouldn't use that opportunity ? Why give him the megaphone ? Are there no other military heroes in California that could have spoken ? Someone slightly less inclined to become a political pawn ?

I wouldn't expect you to say anything positive or negative about either Presidential candidate. I would expect you, as a respected former member of the military, to speak about what the Fourth of July means to you and what it means to our country. I would expect you to talk about the holiday, not the Presdential race. If you were invited to a political rally, my expectations would be different.

Perhaps some people don't know how to tailor their remarks to the event, but I would imagine that a former Senator would, and I think it's ridiculous to assume that he couldn't possibly make an appearance at an Independence Day event without turning it into a political rally.

 

[richiebaseball]

Originally posted by jjskribs
wvrevy............ I totally agree. Mr. Denton can certainly disagree with John Kerry and can be as vocal as he wants to be in opposition to him but it should be taken out on the campaign trail.

I wonder what would have happened had Vietnam veteran and hero Senator John McCain been invited to speak? I wonder what would have happened had Vietnam veteran and hero Senator John Kerry been invited to speak? Would the outrage, or lack of it, be the same?

Apparently we only have this one article with which to draw our conclusions but where in this article did it say that Mr. Denton was going to criticize Senator Kerry?

According to the article a memo from the Democratic speaker's office said "problems have arisen both with regards to the spirit, content and participation of various individuals with regard to the ceremony."

I will at least reserve judgement until I can see the "content" the memo speaks of.

Just one man's opinion.

Richard

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by AirForceRocks
I wouldn't expect you to say anything positive or negative about either Presidential candidate. I would expect you, as a respected former member of the military, to speak about what the Fourth of July means to you and what it means to our country. I would expect you to talk about the holiday, not the Presdential race. If you were invited to a political rally, my expectations would be different.

Perhaps some people don't know how to tailor their remarks to the event, but I would imagine that a former Senator would, and I think it's ridiculous to assume that he couldn't possibly make an appearance at an Independence Day event without turning it into a political rally.

You may be absolutely right...But the point remains, why not invite someone that has been less vocal about their support / rejection of any political candidate ? Inviting this guy is the political equivalent of inviting Sean Hannity....or for the Dems to invite General McPeak (also a respected former military leader who has been extremely critical of President Bush).

 

[cati]

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