Just got this response from Okrent's office. Obviously, a debate with them is going to get me nowhere, although the article they sent me is precisely the one the Times used to not report the real Kerry/Kansas City story. However, I will respond. And at least they are nice enough to respond to a polite inquiry. That was not happening before Okrent.
Public <public@nytimes.com>
Sent : Friday, April 16, 2004 6:56 PM
To : "William R. Millan" <lindybill@hotmail.com>
Subject : Re: Kerry in Kansas City
| | | Inbox
At 09:39 PM 3/24/2004, you wrote:
Yes, I do have a link to the Kerry 1971 Kansas City story. Several. The first link is to the "New York Sun" article, the second to the "Kansas City Star" one. then several news sites and blogs on it. What is known for sure is that Kerry denied for the last 30 years that he was at this meeting. Now that the FBI files have surfaced, he admits it. What is also known for sure is that killing four pro-war US Senators was discussed at the meeting.
One member of Kerry's campaign has admitted he called at least one participant twice trying to get him to change his story about Kerry's participation. The rest is yet to be nailed down. Someone is going to do an "in depth." The major media, so far, has played it as "Kerry investigated by Hoover, did nothing wrong."
Bill Millan 2450 Koa Apt 34 Honolulu Hi 96815 808-372-3503
freerepublic.com
kansascity.com@hotmail.com&KRD_RM=5ptqlqpsrrsuruuulllllllllq|William|Y
cnsnews.com
insightmag.com
rushlimbaugh.com
Dear Mr. Millan,
Thank you for your message.
But didn't The Times report this in the article I include below?
Sincerely,
Arthur Bovino
Office of the Public Editor
The New York Times
March 23, 2004, Tuesday Late Edition - Final
Section A Page 19 Column 6 Desk: National Desk Length: 747 words
THE 2004 CAMPAIGN: THE SENATOR; Aides Fault F.B.I. Scrutiny Of Kerry In 1970's
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
KETCHUM, Idaho, March 22
A yearlong F.B.I. surveillance of John Kerry's antiwar activities in the early 1970's was ''a badge of honor'' and an encroachment on civil liberties that has echoes in the presidential race, a Kerry spokesman said on Monday.
Newly disclosed F.B.I. files reveal that the bureau's agents and informants closely followed Mr. Kerry and other leaders of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, infiltrating meetings, recording speeches and filing reports to Director J. Edgar Hoover and President Richard M. Nixon.
Mr. Kerry, who joined the antiwar group's leadership in late 1970 -- months after leaving the Navy as a decorated lieutenant -- was tracked by the F.B.I. beginning in early 1971, around the time he drew national attention with his statements about war atrocities at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
''The Nixon White House set out to destroy him because he was a credible voice speaking up for veterans,'' said David Wade, a spokesman for Mr. Kerry, who is vacationing here. ''And now we learn that J. Edgar Hoover's F.B.I. was following his every move.''
The extent of the F.B.I.'s surveillance was first reported Monday by The Los Angeles Times, which reviewed copies of files obtained from the bureau by a historian and author, Gerald Nicosia, who also provided copies to the Kerry campaign.
''Revealed in F.B.I. reports,'' Mr. Wade said, ''is the portrait of John Kerry at age 27 speaking with courage and conviction, leading veterans to Washington for peaceful protest, advocating nonviolence and moderation. That the Hoover-era F.B.I. and Nixon White House paid such attention to John Kerry is a badge of honor and a reminder of the tumultuous pre-Watergate era before the F.B.I. was reformed in the early 1970's.''
Mr. Kerry resigned from Vietnam Veterans Against the War in November 1971, the reports indicate, several months later than he has previously recollected. He quit to run for Congress from Massachusetts after feuding with more radical leaders within the group, among them Al Hubbard, a national co-director who had met in Paris with representatives of North Vietnam.
A Nov. 19, 1971, F.B.I. teletype marked ''urgent'' quoted an informant describing a group meeting six days earlier in Kansas City, Mo., at which many delegates wanted the group to take the initiative in peace efforts with North Vietnam. ''John Kerry, V.V.A.W. national chairman, considered conservative by most V.V.A.W. members resigned for 'personal reasons,' '' the report said.
Another informant said Mr. Kerry had repeatedly tried to get Mr. Hubbard kicked out of the group's leadership and questioned whether he had ever served in Vietnam. After leaving the group, Mr. Kerry ran for Congress in suburban Boston in 1972, winning a crowded Democratic primary but losing the general election.
The Kerry campaign released documents from his own F.B.I. file, including memorandums dated May 24 and July 31, 1972, stating that Mr. Kerry had severed ties with the antiwar group, was pursuing a career in politics and warranted no further surveillance.
''A review of subject's file indicated there is nothing to associate him with any violence or any violent-prone group or organization,'' said the memorandum, from the Boston F.B.I. office. ''It is being recommended that no further investigation be conducted re the subject.''
On the campaign trail, Mr. Kerry has often compared the Bush administration to the Nixon White House, particularly in criticizing Attorney General John Ashcroft's use of the antiterrorism law. ''I know what it's like to be spied on by the government, because that's what they did to me when I came back and stood up against the war,'' Mr. Kerry said in a speech in October.
In a statement on Monday, Mr. Kerry called ''surreal'' the extent to which he had been followed by the F.B.I. But he hastened to add that ''today's F.B.I. isn't the F.B.I. of J. Edgar Hoover,'' which ''spied on everyone from President Kennedy to Martin Luther King.''
''The F.B.I. of today is on the front lines of the war on terror, and it's critical that they be effective with our full support,'' Mr. Kerry said. ''But the experience of having been spied on for the act of engaging in peaceful patriotic protest makes you respect civil rights and the Constitution even more.''
Mr. Kerry, again jabbing at Mr. Ashcroft, repeated in the statement that if elected he would appoint an attorney general ''who respects rights'' and ''knows how to enforce laws in a way that balances law enforcement with our tradition of civil liberties.''
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Arthur Bovino
Office of the Public Editor
The New York Times
(212)556-7652
Arthur Bovino
Office of the Public Editor
The New York Times
(212)556-7652 |
