Take action against the National Press Club's decision to host a news conference by Larry Sinclair!
A video has been circulating the internet showing a man, Larry Sinclair, speaking to camera making slanderous claims about Senator Barack Obama. These claims are demonstrably false, and don't bear repeating here, or in any venue. Which is why it is shocking that the National Press Club is offering a him a spot on the national stage on June 18.
Please take a moment to ask the National Press Club to check the facts before giving Larry Sinclair a bully pulpit. Also, if you have a moment please consider calling the National Press Club at 202-662-7500, and politely but firmly petition them verbally.
There's a petition on the site: http://action.firedoglake.com/page/petition/stoppingsinclair
Digging around the NPC site, I also came up with an email address: info@press.org
I urge everyone to let the NPC know what they think about this!
AMI - Thanks!! I hope this isn't true. But just in case, I signed that petition anyway.
Please excuse me, Dear TPM Reader, but here's what I wrote to those jacka$$es... Tried to hold back, but couldn't really.... """Go #$%^ yourself National Press Club. If it wasn't for you not doing your #$%#$ing job, perhaps our country wouldn't be complete @#$%#^ right now. YOU SUCK! Get some morals, standards, and professionalism!"""
June 12, 2008 8:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a non-issue. Sinclair is renting a room is all. Nobody would have known if the Obama-maniacs were not blasting it all over the internet. You're all just giving him more publicity. Listening to him for less than a minute and you know he is a raving nut.
June 12, 2008 8:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not a non-issue if the National Press Club is giving him a platform.
June 12, 2008 8:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth held their first press conference at the National Press Club in 2004.
June 13, 2008 1:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Holy deja vu, Batman.
June 13, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
From what I can gather from the Kos thread, the NPC is simply renting him one of their press rooms. They didn't ask him to speak or any way endorse what he says. Hell if you had the rent money you could hold a presser there - doesn't mean any press is going to show up though.
June 12, 2008 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jonze - I wonder who's paying for Larry Sinclair;s rent money... What an a$$...
June 12, 2008 10:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Larry Sinclair Polygraph Test Indicates "Deception" In Obama Claims
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/4799
I guess the National Press Club doesn't mind taking its reputation to the toilet with a liar.
June 12, 2008 11:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here is the Daily Kos thread on it, sounds like it's more than just a press room.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/12/173020/735/33/534903
June 12, 2008 11:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jonze appears to be correct about the event. Clicking to the detail of the event on the NPC site displays the following in small print: "This event is not affiliated with the National Press Club or the Eric Friedheim Library."
What gives the impression of the Sinclair news conference being an "official" NPC event is its prominent display on the their homepage, whereas the majority of other events are only visible on the full calendar. However, it's possible, I suppose, that this listing has also been paid for by the people financing the event.
Sorry for stirring up something about "nothing," though I still think it's debatable whether a respected organization like the NPC should provide a stage for such libelous claims. That alone is probably reason enough to contact them.
June 13, 2008 1:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
ami - It's not nothing.
If Larry Sinclair holds a press conference with the NPC logo in the background, it sends out a subtle but unmistakable signal that this is a serious guy with a serious story to tell, no matter how false that may be.
That's why his backer chose the venue and why he shouldn't be allowed to use the NPC to slander Obama.
Wonder how the MSM will handle this? Would it be appropriate to pressure them to boycott it?
June 13, 2008 1:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
No way to ask you this question in private that I can see, so sorry for being off-topic.
Why in the world would you use a German pejorative as your name? Ami is not just slang, it's pejorative, the equivalent of calling yourself a "kraut".
June 13, 2008 2:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
LOL, perhaps some people use it exclusively that way, but I've heard it when expressing both praise and scorn, so my impression is that it's no more than a convenient colloquialism, like "Aussie" for Australian.
An additional reason why I tend to interpret "ami" positively is that it happens to mean "friend" in French.
For whomever is interested, there's a lively (and very long!) discussion of this very question on the translation site LEO: "Ami - derogatory or slang?" (mostly in German, but a fair amount in English, too)
Glancing through the posts there, someone points out that the Duden dictionary defines "Ami" as an "umgangssprachliche Kurzform von: Amerikaner," which translates as "slang abbreviation for American" -- suggesting neutrality.
June 13, 2008 3:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
I spoke French before I spoke German and I don't like being called Ami, except in French. I haven't read that whole thread you linked to, but see that most of the Americans living in Germany don't like it. Bei mir geht's auch nicht.
June 18, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, signed the FDL petition. Shame on NPC for playing any role in mainstreaming this garbage. What exposure might the NPC be taking on if Mr. Sinclair is later determined to have been suffering from a mental illness?
June 13, 2008 4:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Press Club can provide a direct feed to newsrooms. Another reason why the NPC should reconsider allowing Larry Sinclair to use their facilities.
From their web site:
Webcast, Satellite, Video Production
The National Press Club now offers high-quality high-speed direct cable transmission of live video/audio from every press conference room to news bureaus anywhere.
For events where a camera crew cannot be on-site, news organizations can receive live video/audio feeds from broadcast-quality TV cameras in every meeting room.
Assignment desks will be able to place live-transmission circuit reservations and robotic camera feed orders. Services provided by the NPC Broadcast Operations Center.
All video and audio transmissions in and out of the Club are coordinated by the BOC.
http://npc.press.org/facilities/webcast.cfm
June 13, 2008 4:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, here's the real question. According to the NPC schedule, the event is being "sponsored" (i.e. paid for) by "Veritas Federal Media."
I cannot find any evidence of such an organization existing before today. I did a quick multi-state corporate record search and searched the IRS's database of political organizations. Nada.
So who the hell are these people? I smells the foul stench of the same cabel of obscenely rich Republican "activists" who always seem to be behind these things. (Though I don't exclude the possibility that it's Hillary diehards. They've been obsessing on this for months. Or both.)
Also, doesn't this guy have an outstanding warrant on him somewhere?
June 13, 2008 10:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Umm, that would be "cabal," not "cabel."
June 13, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Stop feeding Larry. He's been kicking around the subterranean sewer pipes - where he belongs - for months now. All this concern is delivering him exactly what his narcissistic crusade has been seeking: attention from legitimate news sites. Your "concern" is playing right into his hands. The press has dutifully ignored him for months and with good reason: he's batshit crazy and full of crap.
Pappatard, as Larry Sinclair is known at this site, has been raising money on his own website to rent that room at the National Press Club for at least a month. Hysterically funny details here. The guy at this site has been doing yeoman’s work in mocking the crap out of Larry (what’s up with guys named Larry, anyway?) and his merry band of conspiracy theorists and tinfoil hat appreciators. It isn’t a press conference. It’s a room rental.
June 13, 2008 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
First they arrange the Wright ploy a week before a primary, and now this crap.
Who exactly is in charge over there?
Seems awfully partisan.
Will they be giving equal time for the people claiming McCain was nicknamed "Songbird" because he ratted on his firends in Vietnam?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRvXEsW4Fgg
Ain't it funny how the smear and sleaze of the "mainstream press" is always in one direction???
Saint John's Virtue is beyond reproach, meanwhile any smear and lie agaisnt Obama is entertained by the so-called MSM.
June 13, 2008 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rather than the NPC being partisan, I think what's going on is that it's smart to hold your press conference there. First there's the NPC backdrop, which makes it seem as though it's a sponsored or sanctioned event. Second, they can do live news feeds to the networks. Lastly, it's convenient for reporters - only two blocks from the WH.
June 13, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is anyone going to send Larry back to Colorado for trial?
He's a wanted felon.
June 13, 2008 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink