Seems like a reasonable question. As to why the National Press Club is opening
their facilities to this guy I have no idea. Oh right, they’re just renting out a
room. But who’s footing the bill? They don’t care. Well, some of us do.
But not
even the NPC are buying what Sinclair will be saying:
The president of the National Press Club today defended the club’s playing
host to allegations against Barack Obama from a fringe figure, Larry Sinclair,
whose claims have been widely ignored by the news media.“I’m not aware that we’ve ever turned anybody away for content,”
said Sylvia Smith, who is the Washington editor of the Fort Wayne Journal
Gazette, adding that Sinclair’s allegations — of sex and drug use by
Obama — “don’t seem very credible.”She said the Press Club, along with staging its own events, also rents space
in its downtown Washington, D.C., headquarters to anyone willing to pay the
fees.
Oh, and before we go further, Mr. Sinclair is a little peeved at me it would
seem, even calling me and others out on his website. Being ticked off at me is becoming a national sport these days. I got
this email that was supposedly sent from him in the wee hours of the
morning yesterday:
Subject: Your knowingly false and slanderouse statements
Message: Ms. Marsh, Watch your mouth. Becuase one more claim that I am a
mental Patient, an I will have you and your network and lawyers in court to
answer to them. Think I am joking, keep running your mouth with false statements.
And you can sign the court papers.
“Mental patient”? Not my words. But watch my mouth? I’m not touching that one. Let’s hope the email’s not from Sinclair.
You’d think he’d at least use spell check.
But after linking to the National
Press Club schedule yesterday, then checking around a bit myself, I also
got emails and interesting tidbits over the transom. Some of this shouldn’t
surprise you if you follow this sort of stuff. You know, the swiftboating, character
assassination gambit by the political goons that do the bottom feeding in our
world today. Hint: right-wing hit squads that specialize in this stuff.
Sinclair’s press propaganda is priceless: “For the first time” Mr.
Sinclair will “reveal corroborating evidence for his claim.” Here’s
the promo. Hip boots required.
3:00 PM Larry Sinclair on Obama (News Conference)
Description: Larry Sinclair on Barack Obama
There will be a Pre-Registration for Press beginning at 1:00pm. All press
must show media credentials and must obtain an event press pass to enter the
event.Washington, D.C. – Despite death threats and an organized campaign to prevent
him from speaking publicly, Larry Sinclair — on June 18, 2008, at 2:00 PM
(Sign in begins at 1:00 PM) in the Holeman Lounge of the National Press Club,
529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20045, will for the first time reveal the
corroborating evidence for his claim that on November 6 + 7, 1999, Larry:
(i) met Obama at a gay bar where Barrack Obama arranged for the purchase of
federal Schedule II drugs, (ii) which Larry and Obama thereafter ingested
and (iii) then engaged in hi-risk, homosexual activities.Larry’s story burst on to the scene on January 18, 2008, when Larry released
a short video containing these allegations on YouTube.com. That video has
had close to a million views yet the mainstream media has completely ignored
Larry’s serious allegations. Thereafter, a clearly orchestrated campaign to
discredit Larry began on the internet which forced Larry to resort to federal
court to protect his reputation.At the press conference, Larry will (i) reveal the corroborating evidence
for his allegations regarding Obama, (ii) address the time-line of the response
of the Obama campaign to his allegations and the murder of Donald Young, the
openly gay choir director of Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama’s now-former
church and (iii) the significance of the refusal of U.S. District Court Judge
Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. to allow Larry’s case to proceed.Sponsored by: Veritas Federal Media
Location: Holeman Lounge
This event is not affiliated with the National Press Club or the Eric Friedheim
Library.
Hold on right there.
Veritas Federal Media. Hmmm…. Who are they? Well, with a little
help I found something interesting. VERITAS MEDIA GROUP LLC was registered as
a limited liability corporation in Maryland. After doing a search on their Secretary of State’s Department of Assessments and Taxation division, I found that VMG, LLC was registered on June
6, 2000, but the registration was “forfeited”
in 2002.
So what, right?
Until you get to the guy who registered VERITAS MEDIA GROUP LLC. His name is
Joseph R. Giganti. Who is he?
Joseph R. Giganti is a conservative commentator who makes regular appearances
on TV and radio outlets nationwide, including the Fox News Channel, CNN, and
CNBC. He is the president of Veritas
Media Group, a full-service media and political consulting and
production firm.Joe has worked with many of the country’s leading conservatives, serving
as a spokesman and the national media strategist for Ambassador Alan Keyes’
2000 presidential campaign. Prior to that, Joe was the executive
producer of Keyes’ nationally syndicated TV & radio simulcast. Joe also
has served as a producer on the syndicated radio shows of Lieutenant
Colonel Oliver North, Michael Reagan, and Ken Hamblin. He has produced
and directed numerous documentaries and biographical videos, including the
highly praised pop-culture documentary, “The Gates of Hell…,”
which was released in 2001. Joe has successfully launched programs for the
Free Congress Foundation, the Center for Security Policy, The Declaration
Foundation, and Salem Radio Network….
Veritas Media Group has no public records from what I can find. Not even the
link to the “group” info page goes anywhere.
Giganti is also “president and chief operating officer of Sovereign City
Communications, which is a full-service content and promotions company,”
that was first highlighted by a Democratic
Underground diary. More information on “Sovereign” can be found
in
this article, which also talks about its goals. “Relevant Radio”
and “Music that Matters Inc.” are also mentioned, though not directly connected to Giganti. ‘Directly’ being the operative word, if you ask me.
But Alan Keyes should be your tip off. Keyes ran against Obama for the Senate
seat the Democratic nominee now holds. I taped a
session Keyes did on Fox to illustrate to everyone what was coming from
these guys if Obama was the nominee. It’s not easy to watch, I realize, but
I knew there’d be more and wanted to have it on record. It reveals the bottom
line for wingnuts like Keyes and Giganti, whose radical “pro-life”
agenda is dangerous and will lead these people to no charge too low to discredit
Democrats. Enter Larry Sinclair.
Giganti looks like he could, could, be at the head of this nasty piece
of business with Sinclair, since Veritas Federal Media, the group sponsoring
Sinclair’s political porn presser, is obviously quite close in name to Giganti’s
original group Veritas Media Group, LLC, as well as his other group, “Veritas
Media Group.” Or maybe it’s just a coincidence that “Veritas Federal
Media,” with a similar name of other Giganti media groups, popped up to
sponsor Sinclair him on June 18th.
To give you some foundation, Giganti has also been the go
to guy in the past for the National Pro-Life Action Center, including several
events over the years. He specializes in misinformation and propaganda on
all things having to do with women’s reproductive health, including places beyond
our borders. He refers to these efforts as “so-called family planning,”
believing in abstinence only, of course, no matter the practical difficulties,
the actual evidence, or the dangers to women, including poor women around the world who are especially
at risk to HIV/AIDS.
Ms. Jacobson: The number of women with AIDS is increasing worldwide to about
half of the total number of infected persons. In sub-Saharan Africa, women
account for 58% of cases. Because of traditional practices encouraging child
marriages, and in cultures in which men assume control of sex in marriage
and in which women lack control over their husband’s behavior, we have a vulnerable
population of women and girls. We have a moral obligation to provide information
on safe sex and HIV prevention in family planning clinics and everywhere else.
Sexually active women seeking family planning services deserve information
on AIDS prevention, and HIV-positive women deserve information on high-risk
pregnancy and breast-feeding. It’s not just about abortion anymore.Mr. Giganti: I am not aware of any such statistics.
(snip)
Mr. Giganti: Regardless of application to the HIV/AIDS policy, so-called
family planning, or to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, there is only
one proven method: abstinence programs. There is a great deal of medical research,
including reports from the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],
that have shown that the HIV virus is smaller than the naturally occurring
pores in a condom, and that it therefore can pass right through the condom’s
wall. [Editor's Note: There does not appear to be evidence in the published
literature that HIV can penetrate latex or polyurethane condoms unless tears
occur, although condom use is no guarantee that transmission will be prevented
in all cases. Condom breakage and improper use do occur. According to an NIH
report, "Intact condoms (ie, pass the water leak test) are essentially
impermeable to particles the size of STD pathogens (including the smallest
sexually transmitted virus, hepatitis B)." According to the same report,
proper and consistent condom use reduces the risk of HIV transmission by 85%.]
This amounts to playing Russian roulette with one’s life, and it is greatly
irresponsible of groups that continue to promote the condom as a “safe
sex” alternative.
Rabid anti abortionists want to take down the Democratic nominee? No matter how they do it? Shocking! But as far as I can tell to this date, Sinclair is just another cog in the “FIRE!” in a crowded theater First Amendment, free speech smear merchant swiftboater wheel that just keeps going ’round and ’round and has become the signature of conservative dirty tricks that Donald Segretti ushered in with rat—-ing during the Nixon era. In the last 20 years, Republicans have taken it to a whole new level.
It’s not hard to see what Giganti wants out of Larry Sinclair, which is why
he’s likely paying to rent the room at the National Press Club. However, Giganti flatly denies it (updated):
“Joe Giganti wrote: I just read your posting that mentioned me and my former company, Veritas Media Group. I would like to kindly request you correct this libelous posting as my company VMG is no longer in existence and the PR firm actually sponsoring the Sinclair event–Veritas Federal Media–is a wholly different company that I have no affiliation with and I’ve never had any association with Sinclair either. It is one thing to advocate your position, which you have a constitutional right to do, but in the interest of your readers you would do well to make sure the time is taken to get the facts right. I appreciate your immediate handling of this matter before I need to involve my attorneys.”
As for the NPC, they rent rooms. Any right-wing reactionary with an agenda can rent one, even
if it is to smear the Democratic nominee for president. Because after all, the
National Press Club isn’t sponsoring the event. They’re just taking the money
from the guys who are fronting for Larry Sinclair who’s being given a platform
to launch previously uncorroborated statements and slander of the most despicable
nature against someone who might be the next Democratic President of the United
States. Or not, if Giganti and his political thugs can help it. That Sinclair is trumpeting “Press Club defends anti-Obama event” on his website says it all. As for the National
Press Club, they’ve gone tabloid. Anything for a buck, right?
UPDATE Think Progress adds something interesting. Seems the NPC s backing off a bit on the PR associated with this event. Wonder why? Feeling the pressure?
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