PrintMarch 28, 2011
It would have been big news if only Dick Cheney were still V.P.
Curse the luck! Here we have a great news story about unlawful confinement and an attack on freedom of the press at a political fund raiser featuring the Vice President of the United States, and we have the wrong damn V.P. in office. This is so not news!
The New York Post brings us the story of Scott Powers, a veteran political reporter for the Orlando Sentinel acting as pool reporter covering the Vice President, who was confined in a closet by Joe Biden's security team at a fund raiser for Democrat Senator Bill Nelson. Powers was held in a small closet for 75 minutes and prevented from mingling with the paying ($500 a head) guests at the Winter Park, Florida estate of Alan Ginsburg.
"First off, it was a bad thing that they wouldn't let me interact with other guests," 11-year Orlando Sentinel newspaper veteran Scott Powers, 51 told the Post today."It was silly and stupid and it annoyed the hell out of me. And second, it was a highly inappropriate and demeaning place to put someone.""They told me, ‘you wait in here until the vice president comes,' and every time I stuck my head out, they'd say ‘he's not here yet.'""I guess they didn't want me to get any state secrets."After Joe Biden arrived, Powers was escorted to the room where the V.P. was to speak. He was given a "Bob Uecker seat" at the rear of the room where he strained to get a glimpse of Mr. Biden over the 150 Democrat supporters in attendance.With the fund raiser winding down, Powers was given an apology by Mr. Ginsburg. "He said he had no idea that the VP's team put me in his closet," Powers said. "It was a nice apology, gracious." In stark contrast to the "gracious" apology from his host, Powers received an email from Biden's press secretary which he described as "something less than heartfelt," adding that "It was one or two sentences, like, sorry it happened to you."
Oddly enough the Orlando Sentinel didn't feel this incident was particularly newsworthy, although they did post a picture in the Political Pulse Blog that Powers took of his segregation cell with the caption "life of the reporter is not always easy." Now that the story has leaked out, the Sentinel has provided further coverage, not about the incident, but rather the big news that Good Morning America aired an interview with Scott Powers this morning.
Imagine if you would, that a similar incident had happened while Dick Cheney was vice president. Page one, banner headline, "V.P. Dick Cheney has Reporter Imprisoned During Political Fund Raiser at Wealthy Republican's Luxurious Florida Estate." The remainder of the front page would features articles such as "Sen. Biden calls for Cheney's Impeachment," "Sen. Obama Outraged over Cheney's Assault on Freedom of Press," "Sen. Durbin Demands Investigation," and "Sen. Clinton says Cheney's Behavior Inexcusable."
Page 6, "Killer Asteroid on Collision Course with Earth."
