Posted on 03/26/2011 12:06:10 PM PDT by MindBender26
An incident at a Florida Democratic political fundraiser this week should be front page news in every paper in the country, and the lead story on TV newscasts, but it has been virtually buried…. until now
Here are the details.
On Wednesday morning, Vice President Joe Biden attended a fundraiser for Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. The event was at the home of billionaire real estate developer Alan Ginsberg, a long-time Dem supporter. Ginsberg’s enormous lakefront home is in an exclusive section of Winter Park, an uber-upscale Orlando suburb. To give you an idea of the size and opulence of the home, it was originally built for Orlando Magic and NBA superstar Horace Grant.
The Orlando Sentinel assigned longtime reporter Scott Powers to cover the event. But when he arrived, Biden staffers decided they didn’t want him mingling with the 150 guests who had forked over $500 to meet Biden, so they locked him in a closet! A member of the Biden advance team even stood guard outside the door to prevent Powers from escaping.
Powers has all the details, even pictures of the inside of the closet where he was held; but it appears the Sentinel editors have refused to let him report on all the details of what some are calling a kidnapping! There was a very brief, and very “vanilla” mention of the incident in Thursday’s paper. One attendee later emailed the Sentinel to say “I was in attendance at the Fundraiser and enjoyed a nice lunch. If I had known there was a reporter stuffed in the closet, I would have been compelled to stand up and demand answers. I would also like to know if this is actually legal to treat people like caged animals. I’m disgusted by these actions.”
Despite this outrage, Sentinel editors have dropped the story.
Some longtime journalists are furious with Biden’s team over the incident. Some are more angry at Sentinel editors for downplaying the story. Others are asking “where was the Secret Service when a crime was obviously being committed?” Others appear to have no problem with it, since it involves their “Administration that can do no wrong.”
So far, none of the DC papers or TV networks has covered the story, but of course, they are the first to cry in outrage when dictators imprison reporters overseas. What have we become: Cuba, Iran, Libya, or Stalinist Russia, that we would allow such police-state tactics to muzzle the media?
Does the “Free Press” still exist in America? Or are we relegated to the status of a Banana Republic where the media approves anything Team Obama does?
Some people saw this coming when then-Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden exploded and flatly refused to answer the insightful questions of an Orlando television reporter when she asked about Obama’s connections to ACORN, socialism and his “spread the wealth” comments to Joe the Plumber. Since then, Biden’s mandate seems to have changed from refusing to answer embarrassing questions, to imprisoning reporters who might ask them.
Of course, you can't do that while imprisoned in a closet.
The Orlando Sentinel is in the bag for Zero and very anti Rick Scott also any other thing that is not far left!
The reporter in question works for the Orlando Sentinel.
He was the pool reporter for the event.
When I served on a jury we had a case against a man who had robbed a liquor store. Because he had forced a store employee and a customer at gunpoint to go to a storage area, he was also accused of kidnapping.
FWIW, the criminal and civil causes of action, and the remedies, are separable. See OJ Simpson for an example where he wasn't convicted of the criminal charge of murder, but lost his civil case for wrongful death.
The reporter is free to file a civil action for false imprisonment, even if the DA takes no action relating to the criminal code. The civil action can also proceed if there is a criminal charge of kidnapping. The dude can demand money from his captors.
Thanx
...so they locked him in a closet!
Well, at least the donkeys didn't shoot him...
...that comes later in the game.
5.56mm
Ditto. Also, how many closets have locks?
It’s twue, it’s twue!
Wellllll, at least o’s SS didn’t offer a tour of Ft Marcy.
“Digging and confirmation” is another term for “honest reporting.”
If distributed correctly, this WILL be a front page story for some conservative media tomorrow. FR could be noted for being first with the story, but burying it prevents that.
There was a time when FR broke news. Have we stopped that?
The reporter is probably a Democrat who voted for Obama in 2008 and will vote for him again in 2012 despite this incident...probably won’t want to cause trouble for his team...or want any indiscretion in his life suddenly to become public knowledge (remember Joe the Plumber).
FYI, the reporter in question, Scott Powers, has responded to the story in the comments at the link provided above:
“Wow, is my time in the closet getting legs on the blogosphere. I had no idea.
Let me clarify a few points.
1. It was frustrating and annoying that I was not given a chance to do my job fully and properly. I was allowed to come out long enough to listen to the remarks, but not to talk with anyone, a point reported a couple times later on this blog.
2. I wasn’t kidnapped. I was confined, but the situation was: If I wanted to hear the remarks, I was to wait there. If I wanted to leave, I’m sure I could have left the house. I just wasn’t free to join the party to talk with anyone. (See point 1.)
3. While this was an extreme, and extremely inappropriate way of handling the press, it’s unfortunately not unusual for event organizers to put reporters in a spot where they cannot wander freely and talk with people at the event. Politicians of all stripes adopt this policy. More typically, when this happens, we’re roped off in a corner of the event area. Besides the practical problem of this preventing me from doing my job (see point 1,) it was essentially a rude and uncomfortable way to treat a reporter. But that’s it.
4. I have since spoken with the home owner Alan Ginsburg. He called and very graciously apologized, and assured me that he had no idea that the Veep’s team had put me in his closet, and he was upset that it had happened. I’m sure that’s true and I accepted his apology.
5. One of the Veep’s staffers e-mailed an apology, though I found it far less satisfying than Ginsburg’s.
6. We (the Sentinel) didn’t make a big deal out of it because we figured – and I personally believe – that the way politicians treat reporters may be amusing to ghe general public, yet rude and uncomfortable treatment of a reporter is hardly unusual or shocking.”
Pretty much anything coming out of Biden's mouth. He was probably under the influence and blabbing away.
Stockholm Syndrome
I could care less that MSM is Democratic because we have Fox News. I chose to watch Fox News from time to time but I actually get all my news here. I could care less if MSM is for Democrats as long as Fox News is for Republicans.
Since you're a former "Newsie", I'm sure you can get this story out to some of your very high level sources in the news industry...........Tell Scott that if all else fails, he can sell his story and photos to the National Enquirer.........
It’s on now on Drudge. Hopefully that will move the story here back where it can be seen. Thanks for reporting this.
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