Inside Politics

Kerry’s finger

“Democratic senator — and certain presidential nominee — John F. Kerry, gave the middle finger to a Vietnam veteran at the Vietnam Memorial Wall on Memorial Day morning,” NewsMax.com reported yesterday.

“Ted Sampley, a former Green Beret who served two full tours in Vietnam, spotted Kerry and his Secret Service detail at about 9 a.m. Monday morning at the Wall. Sampley walked up to Kerry, extended his hand and said, ‘Senator, I am Ted Sampley, the head of Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, and I am here to escort you away from the Wall because you do not belong here.’

“At that point, a Secret Service officer told Sampley to back away from Kerry. Sampley moved about 6 feet away and opened his jacket to reveal a HANOI JOHN T-shirt,” NewsMax reported.

“Kerry then began talking to a group of schoolchildren. Sampley then showed the T-shirt to the children and said, ‘Kerry does not belong at the Wall because he betrayed the brave soldiers who fought in Vietnam.’

“Just then, Kerry — in front of the schoolchildren, other visitors and Secret Service agents — brazenly ‘flashed the bird’ at Sampley and then yelled out to everyone, ‘Sampley is a felon!’

“Kerry was referring to an incident 12 years ago when Sampley confronted Sen. John McCain’s chief aide, Mark Salter, in a Senate stairwell after McCain repeatedly offended POW families at a Senate POW hearing. Sampley, whose father-in-law at that time was MIA in Laos, followed Salter into the stairwell and, when they emerged, Salter had a bloody lip and a broken nose.”

Black and white

Black preachers and white conservative activists came together yesterday in support of a constitutional amendment to ban homosexual “marriage,” Cox News Service reports.

“Same-sex marriage is not a civil rights issue,” declared the Rev. William Owens, president of the Coalition of African American Pastors, based in Memphis, Tenn. “You cannot have a civil rights issue for something that is wrong.”

“Marriage is a black-and-white issue. It is between one man and one woman,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

In announcing their alliance, the participants vowed to campaign within their different constituencies for a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. They also back similar provisions that will be on the November ballot in several states.

At a press conference in the Capitol, the ministers and political activists warned that candidates, members of Congress and the president would be held accountable for their stances.

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