[The following arrived unsolicited in The Tatler mailbox. We have no way of substantiating it immediately, but apparently something did go on at the Bill Nelson fundraiser in Florida.]
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.
Why hasn’t Powers reported this to police? Holding someone against their will probably is a violation of some statute in that suburb. I doubt that anything would come of it, but someone would be forced to ask questions and file reports.
I wonder what would of happened if it was VP Cheney and not VP Biden in attendence. Good kinetic policy.
But where was Sarah Palin in all of this?
Just saw this story on Drudgereport. This is serious. I feel for the reporter,because if he complains too much, he’ll never get to cover the VP again. But this is unlawful detention. It’s unconstitutional for VP Biden to pull this stunt.
Gee, I always thought there were thousands of reporters in the closet for Biden and Obama.
Well, maybe not that literally…
False imprisonment is a crime, and also a tort. And so is the assault and/or battery likely required to get the reporter in the closet (unless they slammed the door while he was hanging his coat!) If this reporter can take the financial hit of reporting this incident outside of his paper – thus risking getting fired – he stands a good chance of being rewarded later. Let’s hope he has already stored the pictorial evidence in multiple sites outside the control of the Orlando Sentinel.
Couldn’t he then sue his ex-newspaper for wrongful termination, and maybe whistleblowing violations?
How dare anyone criticize the Vice-President for this.
Don’t you know that he’s got an AMTRAK station named after him?
Only goes to show you that Biden, the Plagerist, has staffers that know how to “Railroad” as well!
Beth Donovan just made a point I missed. If Biden’s folks, e.g., his secret security detail, detained the reporter under the color or law, that’s not just a tort, it’s a constitutional tort, the basis for a 1983 action (the federal statute that in effect monetizes violations of federal rights – here, the 4th Amendment right against unreasonable search & seizure – so that victims can recover in civil court.)
Unfortunately, 1983 actions can only be brought against state and local governments, not the Feds (who are not covered by the 14th Amendment. Actions for Constitutional torts against Uncle Sam were created by the Supreme Court in Bivens v. Six Unknown Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971).
When do we get the coalition together to establish a No Fly Zone over Joe Biden?
Hahaha. We’ll get France right on that. It ought to be easy enough for them to volunteer the USAF now that they’ve practiced.
Oh it was much worse in Soviet Russia.
Everything is relative.
“Does the “Free Press” still exist in America?”
Never did, dearie. That’s a myth.
Staring into a crystal ball, I see this reporter being assigned to the Tripoli beat.
Sorry to monopolize the comment section; this is my last one. Here’s the story on Drudge: http://drudgereport.com/flash7.html
Information so far indicates that it was a “low-level staffer,” not the Secret Service, who detained the reporter. At least the staffer was the one the reporter dealt with; we don’t yet know if the staffer took instructions or orders from other parties.
So the imprisonment is a crime, and unless more information surfaces, it looks like a plain vanilla tort, not a 1983-style constitutional tort. But we’ll see.
Scott Powers should file a police report on this and then a civil suit for being held against his will. The police and justice department will lose it down the new black (panther) hole but the sue action will be settled if pursued. “They” will keep doing what they want until they are stopped. I will invest in his civil suit and hope that Lockhart, Gardner & Florrick take the case.
If the reporter wants to keep his job he’ll shut up about this from now on. That’s the way the left works.
It seems strange that the Secret Service, burned by a couple of schmoozers at the WH not so long ago, wouldn’t have been the least bit curious that someone could simply show up for a speech and leave rigth after without knowing who it was and evidently not caring. Curious lack of curiosity?
The Orlando Sentinal blog indicates that this was not a kidnapping – the reporter was free to leave the premises at any time. It was just boorish and foolish behavior by the VP’s staff.
Shoved in the closet but “free to leave”?
BS.
The reporter is an idiot.
1. He did not call the police yelling kidnap.
2. He didn’t kick the door down, or demand release.
3. He didn’t demand loudly for answers and explanations WHEN the Nazis let him out of the closet.
His reporting of the incident was worthy of a Girl Scout(maybe weaker).
Maybe he should go back to flipping burgers. If he worked for me he would get a crappy review, fired and a damning reference in the future.
Ignorance can be fixed with education, stupid is forever and he leans toward stupid.
Transparency!
“Let’s hope he has already stored the pictorial evidence in multiple sites outside the control of the Orlando Sentinel.”
Stored safely in a vault with the Rashid Khalidi tapes?
What DG said at 15. Powers has said he was free to leave. He was not held captive, no crime was committed. Imposing demeaning and uncomfortable circumstances on a reporter as a condition of letting them get their story is not a crime. (It’s not very bright, but it’s not a crime.)
Gonna be so much fun trotting out this line of BS again later. “What are you talking about?! Those reporters may have been bound, gagged, and tossed in the trunk, but they were free to leave any time! It’s not a crime to make reporters uncomfortable in the course of getting their story!”
I agree with #16. Why didn’t the reporter make a real stink? Why do none of the other reporters make a stink? I’ll tell you why. Because of the new Liberalism which lives by this creed:
Above all, Liberalism!
Above that, Barack Obama!
That means, they will sacrifice anything to advance the cause of Liberalism. But the moment they run into the wall of hypocrisy which is the Obama Administration, they will flush their Liberal principles down the toilet to defend Barack Obama.
Or, maybe he really wanted to go home that evening instead of to a solitary confinement cell in Cuba.
The editors at the Orlando Sentinel have donned their presidential kneepads.
Cut Biden’s people exactly as much slack as they would have if a Cheney staffer had done this to a reporter in 2007.
In other words, have them use a chainsaw as a suppository.
Well, I suppose it’s a step up from Cuba, where nosy reporters who displease the government get sent to Naughty Reporter Camp. If you REALLY displease Fidel, you get put in charge of the camp newsletter and are forced to crank the handle until you pass out from the mimeograph fumes in your cell.
The reporter kept silent because (a) he feared for his job, (b) he didn’t want to hurt the cause (liberalism) or (c) a mix of both.
Imagine if Sarah Palin’s staff had done something like this. Something tells me the Sentinel staff wouldn’t have taken such a “la di da” attitude about this.
Double standard! WHAT a surprise!
The home owner apparently apologized and said they didn’t know and were outraged. If they are that damn outraged, they should STOP PAYMENT on any CHECK they issued, but I doubt they are that outraged. THIS IS THE NEW “OPEN” AND “TRANSPARENT” GOVERNEMNT THE DEMOCRATIC VOTERS HAVE CHOSEN! Great job you imbeciles!
Mention and picture of the closet here:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/03/waiting-for-joe-and-bill.html
Was it illegal? depends on the details, was the reporter free to either leave the premises or wait in the closet until Biden showed up? If so, then no crime (but the reporter was a chump if he stayed longer than it took to take the picture).
Was it rude and stupid and arrogant? Absolutely. If a staffer for W or Cheney or any other Republican had done this, would it be front page news for the lame-stream media, and be harrumphed about on network TV for days on end, and sign of “fascism in America?” You betcha! But as noted above, most of the press is in the tank for the Clueless Won and his idiot sidekick, so no big deal, move along.
It sounds like the house is private property, the event was not open to the public, and the reporter was not invited to attend. If he were simply asked to leave and refused, he could have been rightfully escorted from the grounds or, if he resisted, been detained until the police arrived. This would be effectively a citizen’s arrest for trespass (give or take whatever effect the presence of the Secret Service would have) and entirely in order. The fact that his paper assigned him to cover the event is of no consequence. But maybe that’s not what happened, and the media blackout is wrong in any case.
In case anyone is looking for the TV reporter’s 10 minutes with “Plugs”, her name is Barbara West, and the video is still available on WFTV’s website. We were ecstatic that she did what she did, and our personal opinion of her went up appreciably after this aired!
Barbara definitely ruined “Plugs” for the rest of Florida’s media.
http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html
And for what it’s worth, the Orlando paper is more commonly known as the Slantinel around here…
Communication Breakdown
Our Christian duty calls us
To say a little prayer,
For those who have bad fortune
Or need the good Lord’s care.
So bow your heads a moment
And say a prayer sincere,
For Biden’s lowly staffer
Who’s ruined his career.
The VP threw a party
(For five-hundred a head)
At Alan Ginsburg’s mansion,
Inviting those well bred.
But prior to his entrance
From D.C. word came down,
To separate the VP
From media in town.
And so it was the staffer,
Who follows orders well,
Detained the pool reporter
Within a closet cell.
He did not break out shackles
Or means to that effect,
But that lone pool reporter
Would not with Joe connect.
I’m sad to say that staffer
Was put out on the street,
For he could not be trusted
In matters most discreet.
For Washington’s strict orders
The staffer had misread,
Were not to cage reporters:
’Twas Biden’s cell instead!
Epilogue:
I’m well aware this poem
Is factually incorrect.
But don’t you think with Biden
It’s true in some respect?
thebardofmurdock.blogspot.com
Let me illuminate a bit here for you folks that don’t know: The pool reporter(s) are usually kept in a separate area before/after the speech. This was kept in a room that was also used to store stuff; it was somebody’s house, and the space for such functions was apparently limited. He didn’t get to mingle with the guests or partake in the buffet. Wahh. End of story.
“Somebody’s house” was more appropriately a mansion – seems like they could have found a little bit better place than a closet. And it’s no where near the end of this story. As someone else alluded – imagine if this had happened to a function with Palin in attendance!
In future Scott; the way to deal with this is simple. Wait in the room, perhaps 4 or 5 minutes at most. Then check the hallway, if guarded, explain that you have to leave to use the restroom. Once released, you are under no obligation to return immediately to your “cell”. Feel free to use the facilities, then perhaps stop in the kitchen for a drink and a chat with the guests. It would be in poor form for your hosts to accost you at this point.
But if not released well, do what is natural under such circumstances and leave a “calling card”!
How many ways can I say that I do not care?
I do not care if Muslims are killing Muslims. Likewise, if the Libs want to mistreat one of their mouthpieces, I do not care. If he wants to punk during it, I do not care. If he whines about it later, I do not care.
Only if he put up a big stink during and after, do I care. If he sues the homeowner, the RICH Liberal, then I would care. If he files charges against the staffer and his bosses, then I’d care. If his Paper pressures him to be silent, and he fights back, then I might care. I promise you he will do exactly none of this. He is a punk. Punks punk. It’s what they do.
They mistreated the nice propagandist… umm, the nice reporter. Aaawww.
I do not care.
FWIW, this originated at Free Republic:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2695114/posts