I saw this over at Misha's, but here's the link to the story right from Newmax.
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.Look for Kerry to get caught throwing eggs at Rush Limbaugh's house this fall.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.
You know, on second thought, I think this type of behavior might really reflect positively on a Commander in Chief. What are the odds of convincing GW moon the entire UN?
Posted by Cathy at June 1, 2004 05:35 PMI thought he already had.
Posted by: aelfheld at June 1, 2004 08:06 PMWho the hell is Sampley to tell anyone to leave a public monument? I refuse to applaud an asshole just because he's picking on someone who deserves it.
Posted by: ben at June 2, 2004 12:18 AMThe point is would you like your President using his middle finger (very mature) no matter HOW he was antagonized.
Posted by: Nana at June 2, 2004 09:02 PMWell said, Nana. My gripe is with Kerry using the finger; I'm not congratulating Sampley on provoking it. Although I'm not shedding any tears over it either.
Posted by: Cathy at June 2, 2004 10:51 PMThe more I think about this the more I am convinced it didn't happen. I think by now there would be pictures. What do you think?
Posted by: Nana at June 2, 2004 11:15 PMNana you may be right. I did a google search on it a couple of days ago and newmax was the only ones that had a story on it. They tend not to be a good sources.
Posted by: Matthew at June 4, 2004 05:10 PM