The arrest of Cindy Sheehan on February 1, 2006, in the House chamber of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., offers some valuable lessons to the investigative journalist. Presented below are a few of those lessons.
Do not look for Capitol Police arrest records at the Capitol Police Website; it's not much more that a recruitment gateway. If, however, you actually want a job with the Capitol Police, then you should definitely go to that Website.Although the Website noted above is primarily for recruitment purposes, one link at the Capitol Police Website is to the Press Room, where you will now find a press release dated 02-01-06 entitled "Accountability", which deals with the arrest of Ms. Sheehan and the related, subsequent events. The document is remarkable in its clarity. While upholding the actions of the officers involved in the detention of Ms. Sheehan, it bluntly states the following:
[N]either Mrs. Sheehan’s manner of dress or initial conduct warranted law enforcement intervention.
Also, do not call your Senators or your Representative to get help in tracking down any information. While some people have been fortunate enough to develop relationships with the aides to Members of Congress, the average citizen will come up bupkis. The people who work in those offices are almost to the last one of them bright, talented individuals. They will use their native intelligence to act like their as dumb as rocks when you start asking pointed questions about where information is hiding in Washington and why it's not where it should be.And the most important lesson of all has been reserved for last. Whatever you do—no matter how hard up you are for a source, for a lead, for even a tidbit of information—do not under any circumstances tell an important person, or even a person who thinks he or she is important, that you're a blogger. Lie through your teeth if you have to; just don't use the word 'blog' or any derivation thereof. You will be disrespected. You might very well get your feelings hurt. In fact, you'll be lucky if you don't get the telecommunications version of your backside kicked right out the door while it's still closed. And once you get up off the ground, dust yourself off, and go back to your blog to write a post, all you'll have is a story about how not to get the story you spent the whole stupid day chasing.The Dark Wraith has thus offered some insights.
Published 2/02/2006 01:21:00 AM
<< 10 Comments Total
Good morning, Dark Wraith.
Quoth the Dark Wraith
The charge against Ms. Sheehan was dropped for the same reason that the Bush Administration tries 'enemy combatants' before military tribunals and spies on Americans without warrants: the courts of the land cannot be trusted to make the proper decisions in such matters... yet.
That "yet" sounds ominuous.
From reading the insights posted, I'm thinking you had a very busy day! Even if you didn't get very far, at least you had a blog post:)
Cindy Sheehan's arrest exposed Bushco for what it is. Her peacfull demonstrations and subsequent arrest have done more to bring the message of the futility of this war to the people than any other person. They are scared of her.We are proud of her.
...and I hope she gets lotsa $$$ from her lawsuit: the better to fight them with!!
What a sad fvcking reflection on what this country has become.
Actually I'm surprised the jack boots even let her in the door to start with. On the other hand, the pukes will probably using that as evidence that we still have freedoms.
I wonder what would have happened if she held up a purple finger like some of the morons did last year?
Maybe you could cut a deal with Cindy to market T-shirts with her slogan on the front, and on the back I went to the SOTU and all I got was arrested.
Of course - there is the interesting case of the Republican Congressman’s wife. She was also removed for wearing a T-shirt, though hers said 'Support the Troops'. She wasn't, of course, arrested, as was Mrs. Sheehan - even though she reamed that Capital guard a new one. Her husband got up on the House floor the very next day, tears in his eyes, bemoaning the state of free speech in America today. Nowhere did he mention the arrest of Mrs. Sheehan. You would think it was his wife alone who had been disrespected.
I have noticed that it is only the right-wing blogasphere that's crowing over the Sheehan arrest. Politicians’ have decided to ignore it completely. Not so Fox news, however. Without blinking at the hypocrisy, they have been attacking Sheehan on one hand; whilst lauding Congressman Young’s wife as if she were Martha Washington. Now – I won’t be making any denigrating statements about Mrs. Young. Whatever her political persuasion, I understand she spends a great deal of her time the Walter Reed helping wounded soldiers. So this woman seems to put her money where her (or her husbands) mouth is.
The difference is in how these incidents were handled at the time, and are being dealt with after the fact. I too hope Mrs. Sheehan sues for false arrest. And, like you Dark Wraith, my interrogatives regarding this and other issues have bee roundly ignored to the point of absurdity by my representatives. Not that they have to give a damn about my opinion. I live in a state so red; it would have been labeled Communist 50 years ago for color alone. Here, Democrats are usually shot on sight (along with anything else that moves).
Good evening, Sir and Gentlebeings.
I'll be talking to some people from Code Pink who were with Cindy during the whole fiasco once she was out of the Capitol building.
I look forward to relaying the information.
And as far as your frustrations - the only thing worse than that is when people tell you that what they say is "not for attribution."
Being someone who learned about the rigorousness of stochaic variables from an excellent Chemistry teacher, the proposition that the supporting facts for any line of reasoning must be reproducible on demand from my father, who is an auditor, and who takes attribution very seriously having been influenced by a great many fine academics...
THIS DRIVES ME INSANE.
my christian background tells me it is wrong to lie. Gosh, I hope all Christians are just like me.....
I've written a bunch of letters and made phone calls to my reps. They must hate me. I'm paying attention. heh.
Good afternoon, BlondeSense Liz.
It still amazes me that the Democratic Senators and Representatives I routinely try to address have no time for me. As I note, their aides usually play the game of, "Now, what are you asking about?!" (As if I'm speaking Serbo-Croatian.) A couple even have a loony-catcher, a person who's specifically tasked to handle nut-jobs who call in.
To date, I have been as diplomatic as possible. My plan is to change my approach the next time I urgently need information. Anticipating the usual obfuscation, deflection, and other nonsense, I shall be a little more forthright.
Not threatening, mind you, and not even aggressive, but the next time I get a run-around, I will publish names of public servants who, because they don't want to make waves, pretend to be too stupid to understand, much less provide, what I want.
The Dark Wraith has had enough of spinelessness.