IVAW and what I won’t do
As most of my regular readers know, I went to the Winter Soldier theater and live-blogged from the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland on March 15th. It was a pretty tough gig, pressure-wise, and I didn’t like being around a bunch of people who’d rather see me dead than there.I watched them tackle 61-year-old Gerry Kiley and drag him from the room, and it was probably as atrocious as anything the witnesses were testifying to on the stage. Through the hours I was there, I wondered when it was going to be my turn to be tackled and dragged from the room by the Labor thugs providing security at the event.
Halfway through the proceedings, Thus Spake Ortner and I had to give up up the URLs of our blogs because Geoff Millard wanted to play commissar of information (for the record, other members of the IVAW already had our URLs, but Millard wanted us to know that he was personally monitoring us). I imagined that what I felt was what many journalists from the West felt when they wrote from inside the Soviet Union. But it lent an air of authenticity to what we were doing. Millard, quite by accident, I’m sure, gave us additional credibility.
I hate the IVAW, I hate what they stand for, I hate what they’re doing to this country and I hate that most of them are doing what they do for very selfish and petty reasons. That being said, I found the limits of my hate this morning.
Apparently, someone on my own side thought I would lie for our cause. Someone who shall remain nameless tried to tell an Army investigator what I heard and witnessed inside Winter Soldier – something this person couldn’t know mainly because the incident I was asked about never happened.
This whole blog is about the Left and their inability to recognize the truth when it hits them between the eyes. I take video and pictures of the Left with little comment and I’ve never asked for a pose because I feel that the Left does enough damage to itself that they don’t need me to point it out or shape it – I just need to be there to record it.
I don’t belong to any of the organizations involved in the discussion because I at least want to keep an air of credibility and I want to continue to enjoy access to all of the sides of the discussion.
I will not, under any circumstances, violate my readers’ trust in me to provide them the unvarnished truth here. I don’t have a journalist’s code of ethics that I need to follow, just my own code. I put my real name on this blog because I’m not afraid of telling the truth and after this blog is gone, I still have to live with the name and the reputation I build here.
I will not sell this blog and it’s readers down the river for a couple of cheap shots at the IVAW. Lord knows, they do enough to damage their reputation without me having to testify to things that never happened.
Anyone else out there who thinks they have a brainstorm plan to undermine IVAW, please keep your lips off my name. Anything I know about illegal activities inside the IVAW, the authorities already know.
Category: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Phony soldiers, Winter Soldier II Live blogging
Its a complete crock, and I hope the CID guy calls me too, since I was there. Ridiculous.
I’m with you though bud. Honor over political cheap shots any day of the week.
God bless you, Sir.
I only wandered over here for the first time a week or so ago but you continue to impress the hell out of me.
You don’t *need* a “journalist’s code of ethics,” John, because you already have integrity. I’m sorry I cannot remember the name of the book, but I read a couple of years ago a tale about how, when rules of “ethics” have to be written down, society has already lost the essence of the ethics that are supposed to be preserved by the written rules. I believe that the author is Michael Z. Williamson, an active duty senior NCO who has chosen to serve in the military instead of furthering his fame and fortune by writing excellent books. Lt. Nixon has mentioned meeting him.
As for Ziggy, WELCOME! You, me, and many others, continue to be “impress[ed] the hell out” by John’s excellent work!
As for the IVAW “monitoring” of your coverage, while the U.S. Government continues to refuse to apply existing federal laws to *certain* selected ideological groups, such as the IVAW, their actions nonetheless constitute violations of federal criminal civil rights laws. In particular, 18 U.S.C. 241, a conspiracy to deprive you, John and TSO, of your First Amendment rights to assemble and report at an otherwise publicly-held meeting (wherein the IVAW commentators committed at least one federal felony). I’m not trying to get you to file a criminal complaint against them, although you could (and it wouldn’t go anywhere, because of the gutlessness and ideological blindfolders of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland), but you DO have certain Constitutional Rights, John. Never surrender them. Europe (and the Canadian bloggers under the Orwellian assault by the censor Warman and the so-called “Human Rights Commissions”) will surrender their freedom and manhood cheaply, but we shall not, so long as people like you and TSO (and, egotistic as it might be, myself) REFUSE to submit.
Keep fighting the good fight, John! I salute you!
Thank you kindly, 509th Bob.
Not to try to add much to the discussion of integrity and ethics but your mention of written codes of such reminds reminds me of something in my own context.
I recently ended a number of years with a major corporation which shall remain nameless.
Anyway, all employees were required to do a periodic on-line course and refresher about “ethics and integrity”. In this course, a distinction was drawn between “bribery” and a “facilitating payment”. Near as I could determine, the distinguishing quality between the two was “Did anyone get caught?”.
Anyway, such “Dilbert” type horse droppings are one of the major reasons that this is OVER. I may be poorer from now on but I will be poorer for longer (live longer) and I get to look in the mirror when I shave.
Well it had to happen sooner or later. The only defense the left could find was to call into question a mans ethics. All the time hiding behind lies and half truths a lot of which culminated with the statement “I never inhaled”.
Me being of less education and of course, with nowhere near the Government supplied travel experience Jonn has, have only one thing to say to anyone that even let the thought cross their mind that this man is without ethics or even questionable ethics.
I know his mom, dad, I was raised on the family farm with his maternal grandmother, and grandfather,his uncle Bud was my dad and our uncle Steve fought in Viet Nam. Yes sir we have our black sheep I quite possibly am one of them. But let me make something real clear. Each and everyone of us with the blood that runs in our veins has ethics and if you have the nerve to ask we’ll explain exactly what they are.
Jonn has done that in plain simple English, no pressing one to figure out what he means. No one out there knows me, I’m one of those poor uninformed people the left has recently described as clinging to God and guns. But don’t feel bad for me cause I have someone pray to for you if you question one of my relatives ethics.
Jonn wrote: Thanks, Cuz. For those of you who don’t know Scott, he’s a Patriot Guard Rider.
I do have the privilege of knowing Scott. It was, of course, through him that I found this Blog. It is obvious to me that he is very proud of you, and what you do here, John, and rightly so, as illustrated by this incident and your response to it. It is also very obvious to me from the postings here that you are very proud of him. Again, rightly so.
Scott is an Activist and a true Participant in the on going experiment. One of my greatest daily joys is hobnobbing with him about our fellow Wizards. He’s the Real Deal, as are you sir, and is far more knowledgeable, educated and in touch with reality, on a true nuts and bolts level, than he would let on.
Anyone who would question either his, or your Ethics is on my List also, as those ethics are so like my own, though I might not be as capable of expressing and defending them as you two innately are. You both have a gift and I am proud to be associated with either one of you obviously Bitter Bastards in any way.
You Rock. Way to stand by your principles and code of ethics. I just want the truth, too. No need to lie, as you said. Good for you! There are some who don’t give a rat’s ass and claim brilliance and superiority over the rest of us who don’t fall in line that lying is great as long as you get the “scoop.” I like the way you think.
I noticed you use the word “left” in an article talking about people who are against the Iraq war. Do you believe that anyone who disagrees with you on this one topic must belong to the ideological left? I recall Rush making a similar statement, and apparently “right” Republicans have to be pro-Iraq-war, otherwise they’re fake, which bugged me. I myself am not much of a fan of the war, but I wouldn’t call myself “left”, considering my other views, like on abortion, health care, automatic weapons, and what not.
Jonn wrote: “The Left” are the people who want to change this country so that we become a nation that’s more like the nations from which our antecedents escaped. “The Left” are the folks who say they love this country but they can’t think of one reason why they love it in it’s current form. I hope that clears it up.
Thank you for having integrity. While I disagree with you on idealogical issues, I do feel good that our country has people on both sides who are able to keep their honor.
I’m sorry this response isn’t longer-internet access is very spotty right now. I’ll try to do more later.
John, I didn’t want to see you dead! I promise.
I can’t speak for other people or agree with Geoff’s interactions with you but I would prefer we don’t take our anger out on the people at the bottom of these political food chains that wars tend to create.
That being said, I appriecate the stand you are taking and hope we all can learn from it. Its a real sense of decency to write about this incident.
“Always do right, this will gratify some and astonish the others”. — Mark Twain
Thanks John for all you do, and all that you are! You Rock!
Well, from my understanding, I believe it takes more than one view point to lean “left” or lean “right”. I think it takes a lot of assuming and generalizing to make that determination on others when you only know one of their views. I guess I would attribute it to your “us vs them” mode of thinking, which we all have to an extent, but it’s getting the best of you it. It just doesn’t seem responsible to me, and seems more of an attempt at sensationalism. It’s about as cheap as emphasizing Obama’s middle name.
Jonn wrote: Ok, fine, whatever. I guess my definition of what I considered “The Left” didn’t include anything you could disagree with, and being a contrary little asshole, you have to make shit up. I’m guessing you’re one of those pseudo-intellectuals who make up stuff to be outraged over. I never said anything about Obama’s middle name, did I? Did Right Nation finally get tired of your ignorant, illiterate shit so you decided to follow me over here with your dickhead buddy Antonn?
While I disagree with your premise that it is IVAW which is destroying the country, I would argue the IVAW is the only response to the war available to most men in arms that does not compromise their integrity, I must applaud you for the same reasons. For too long we have been torn apart by artificial lies and exaggerations, with each side pouncing on gaffes and distortions as though they were the sole keepers of the keys to the kingdom. This sadly is the mode of thinking, and ideological justification, that characterized the totalitarian mindsets which seized hold of politics in the twentieth century, most notably during the show trials organized by the McCarthy, Stalin, Mao and Hitler.
It is nice to find someone, who’s politics I generally find offensive to be willing to refuse to lie and implicate others in this lying for their own personal gain. Well done sir!!!!!!
I hate to admit it, but I am starting to believe that even giving these knuckleheads the time of day only ends up biting you in the ass. Everytime I get these posts, I try to reason with them and it ends up like this.
I think the only moonbat that I ever disagreed with that stuck through it was AS.
James Lewes,
IVAW runs around the National Archives and carries a “Citizen’s Arrest Warrant” for Bush and Cheney, frontin’ that they’re going to the White House.
In most countries, “Citzen’s Arrest” is recognized for what it is, a coup attempt and will get you dumb ass shot.
So for all the BS that the left and IVAW puts out about losing our rights and civil liberties, dumb as they are, they realize that the US is not a police state and they can endulge themselves in this little temper tantrum in safety.
Jesus God, can you imagine if Adam Kokesh and Medea Bejamin had a child? It would look like a TV camera.
“Anyone else out there who thinks they have a brainstorm plan to undermine IVAW,”
I thought the IVAW children did a fine job accomplishing that all by themselves.
It is nice to find someone, who’s politics I generally find offensive to be willing to refuse to lie and implicate others in this lying for their own personal gain
Here in lies the difference between a winter solider and a man of honor.
GI Jane,
“I thought the IVAW children did a fine job accomplishing that all by themselves.”
Actually the IVAW are the puppets of the VVAW. They get their tax exempt status from the VFP which is the rock under which the VVAW cockroaches hide because all other vets despise them.
The best evidence that the IVAW are puppets of the VVAW is the fact that there hasn’t been one IVAW protest that isn’t a re-enactment of the 60’s and 70’s protests by VVAW. It’s a rerun.
Only thing left is for the IVAW to hang banners from the Statue of Liberty. And for Elvis Kokesh to visit Osama, toast him and sing the Ballad of Osama bin Laden like the VVAW guys did with Uncle Ho.