As many of you know, Leonard Clark is the liberal soldier in the AZ National Guard who has been arrested after his friend posted his emails and voicemails from Iraq at this blog which has now been scrubbed. A sample of what Leonard had to say in one email is here.
Here’s the latest from Kevin Spidel about his most recent communication with Leonard, a conversation he suspects was made under duress:
Leonard’s last message
(Kevin posted . . . on July 11th, 2005)You could tell he was in a room with people in the background and he was reading text that they asked him to convey to me. His text was this:
Kevin, this is Leonard Clark I have been ordered by my commander Captain Munch to ask you to not publish anymore material at all on the web specifically any pending voice mails you may have that I have sent you. The reason I have been told to tell you to do this is because he states that he believes operational security may be compromised.
More after the break . . .
His voice was very robotic. You could tell he was being made to read this.
This is scary times. On top of all this, PDA’s email [Note: PDA is Kevin’s organization, Progressive Democrats for America]has been all messed up the past few days. We have been losing emails.
Let it be known. We are being monitored.
Kevin added the following about Leonard’s arrest at at LeonardClark.com:
I have not confirmed the actual charges; however I have received a scripted message from Leonard directly. . . .
I have heard that he is been arrested due to his “campaign efforts.” In this regard, let it be known that he has NOT official filed for paperwork nor has ever asked for a penny for his efforts. He only made his intent be known that upon his return, he plans on running for Senate against John Kyle. I am a friend of Leonard. I own this site and started it for him, but it was my own initiative. It was not motivated based on the candidacy aspect. Nor does this site promote his intent for his candidacy. He simply made a few references in prior posts of his intentions.
Well, as one of the commentators at Leonard’s blog mentioned, if Leonard is being arrested for improper campaigning for that —
What About This Guy?
Michael Murphy Says:
. . . Isn’t interesting that a man who excercises his first amendment right to free speech gets arrested for campaigning for the US Senate even though he filed No papers or has a campaign committee nor has accepted donations. You might be interested to know, that during the last Pennsylvania state senate race Republican candidate John Pippy was permitted to campaign for political office even though his National Guard unit was activated and he was called up to duty. He got an exemption from Rumsfeld to be allowed to be put on the ballot. What is really upsetting is the SOB won . . .
Or This Guy?
Many people have told me that running for federal office my first time out is foolish. I say it is not, if you can dream it you can do it. Give shape to your imagination and make it a reality. Many say Representative Maxine Waters (D) CA, is not defeatable. I say this.
“Who is to know what is possible until you have attempted the impossible and and succeeded.”
Needless to say, I wonder if there may be other soldiers stationed in Iraq who have also expressed an interest to run for political office on their blogs. Obviously the stripe of your politics appears to make a big difference as to whether or not you may be charged with violating provisions in the Uniform Code of Military Justice which prohibit political campaigns.
And also needless to say Leonard’s arrest on such trumped up charges is even more of an outrage. This is intended not only to silence Leonard, but any soldier in the ranks who dissents from the party line on Iraq. This is how one party states and despotic regimes deal with dissent: through arrests and intimidation.
All the more reason we need to get the word out to the media. I’m going to include some email addresses at the end of this diary, and I encourage you to email the folks on that list. But I also urge you to write the best damn letter you’ve capable of in Leonard’s behalf.
Make these points in your letters, please:
Leonard blogged about his belief that the war was illegal and that the Bush administration had lied to get America to invade Iraq.
He did not compromise operational security by disclosing the specific location of his unit or any of its missions.
He is being brought up on trumped up charges of running a political campaign in violation of military rules even though he has never filed official papers for his candidacy or solicited funds for any such a campaign.
All he has ever done is to express his intention to run for the Senate upon his return from Iraq.
The only thing he is guilty of his expressing an opinion about the war and the conditions in Iraq which does not comport with the official position given by the Bush administration and the Pentagon.
The Department of Defense is selectively enforcing a ban on political campaigns since it has permitted, and is permitting, Republican soldiers to campaign for political office while in Iraq
Okay, here is the list of emails addresses I have. I can’t vouch for all of them, but I believe most of them are valid:
Set 1: Primarily National Television News media
countdown@msnbc.com, KOlbermann@msnbc.com, CJ@MSNBC.com, JTrippi@MSNBC.com, hardball@msnbc.com, abramsreport@msnbc.com, dshuster@msnbc.com, dennis.sullivan@msnbc.com, norville@msnbc.com, joe@msnbc.com, msnbcinvestigates@msnbc.com, feedback@msnbc.com, rreagan@msnbc.com, viewerservices@msnbc.com, brian.williams@msnbc.com, imus@msnbc.com, chris.matthews@msnbc.com, msnbcreports@msnbc.com, today@nbc.com, info@cnbc.com, dateline@nbc.com, nightly@nbc.com, MTP@nbc.com, tom.lea@nbc.com, steve.majors@nbc.com, susan.dutcher@nbc.com, rod.prince@nbc.com, jonathan.wald@nbc.com, lisa.hsia@nbc.com, betsy.fischer@nbc.com, mtp@nbc.com, NETAUDR@abc.com, 2020@abc.com, nightline@abcnews.com, wnn@abcnews.com, support@abcnews.go.com, niteline@abc.com, abc.news.magazines@abc.com, phil.boyce@abc.com, thisweek@abc.com, mimi.gurbst@abc.com, mark.nelson@abc.com, virginia.moseley@abc.com, penny.britell@abc.com, muriel.pearson@abc.com, sharon.newman@abc.com, meredith.white@abc.com, gil.pimentel@abc.com, stu.schutzman@abc.com, evening@cbsnews.com, earlyshow@cbs.com, 48hours@cbsnews.com, ftn@cbsnews.com, 60m@cbsnews.com, thismorning@cbsnews.com, bpc@cbsnews.com, dij@cbsnews.com, efm@cbsnews.com, mkx@cbsnews.com, pma@cbsnews.com, rbc@cbsnews.com, sundays@cbsnews.com, grain@cbsnews.com, realitycheck@cbsnews.com, pls@cbsnews.com, pjh@cbsnews.com, wolf@cnn.com, 360@cnn.com, aaron.brown@turner.com, Paula.Zahn2@cnn.com, crossfire@cnn.com, daybreak@cnn.com, jeff.greenfield@cnn.com, livefrom@cnn.com, loudobbs@cnn.com, newsnight@cnn.com, tom.hannon@cnn.com, wam@cnn.com, livetoday@cnn.com, am@cnn.com, andrea.koppel@turner.com, bill.schneider@turner.com, bruce.morton@turner.com, carol.lin@turner.com, daryn.kagan@turner.com, david.ensor@turner.com, jeanne.meserve@turner.com, jim.walton@turner.com, deirdre.walsh@turner.com, kelly.wallace@turner.com, kyra.phillips@turner.com, lou.dobbs@turner.com, miles.obrien@turner.com, paula.zahn@turner.com, candy.crowley@turner.com
Set 2: New York Times, WaPo, LA Times and other National Print media
krugman@nytimes.com, vannatta@nytimes.com, tiwein@nytimes.com, miwein@nytimes.com, weisman@nytimes.com, liptaka@nytimes.com, bobherb@nytimes.com, reissc@nytimes.com, public@nytimes.com, dabrooks@nytimes.com, dakirk@nytimes.com, dasang@nytimes.com, editorial@nytimes.com, erschm@nytimes.com, executiveeditor@nytimes.com, febarr@nytimes.com, foreign@nytimes.com, justice@nytimes.com, burns@nytimes.com, cushman@nytimes.com, markoff@nytimes.com, judym@nytimes.com, letters@nytimes.com, ligree@nytimes.com, nytnews@nytimes.com, managing-editor@nytimes.com, liberties@nytimes.com, mossm@nytimes.com, national@nytimes.com, news-tips@nytimes.com, nicholas@nytimes.com, pekilb@nytimes.com, ropear@nytimes.com, rotone@nytimes.com, stolberg@nytimes.com, slabaton@nytimes.com, weisman@nytimes.com, lewin@nytimes.com, tiwein@nytimes.com, topurd@nytimes.com, washington@nytimes.com, safire@nytimes.com, executive-editor@nytimes.com, managing-editor@nytimes.com, bduffy@usnews.com, letters@usnews.com, gborger@usnews.com, jallen@usnews.com, kwalsh@usnews.com, mzuckerman@usnews.com, vpope@usnews.com, whispers@usnews.com, alevin@usatoday.com, astone@usatoday.com, bslavin@usatoday.com, bnichols@usatoday.com, bwelch@usatoday.com, editor@usatoday.com, dmoniz@usatoday.com, ghager@usatoday.com, gflanders@usatoday.com, jlawrence@usatoday.com, jdrinkard@usatoday.com, jbiskupic@usatoday.com, editor@usatoday.com, jkeen@usatoday.com, kkiely@usatoday.com, kjohnson@usatoday.com, mhall@usatoday.com, rbenedetto@usatoday.com, rwolf@usatoday.com, spage@usatoday.com, tsquitieri@usatoday.com, tlocy@usatoday.com, theforum@usatoday.com, wshapiro@usatoday.com, letters@economist.com, amity.shlaes@ft.com, letters.editor@ft.com, philip.stephens@ft.com, greg.hitt@wsj.com, wsj.ltrs@wsj.com, wsjcontact@dowjones.com, jeanne.cummings@wsj.com, jane_mayer@newyorker.com, themail@newyorker.com, deborah.barfield@newsday.com, ken.fireman@newsday.com, Editors@newsweek.com, WebEditors@newsweek.com, Letters@newsweek.com, letters@time.com, lettersbwol@businessweek.com, letters@washingtontimes.com, gpierce@washingtontimes.com, jmccaslin@washingtontimes.com, dkeil@bloomberg.net, wroberts@bloomberg.net, ghall@bloomberg.net, hprzybyla@bloomberg.net, jcohen@bloomberg.net, NewsAlert@letters.washingtonpost.com, letters@washpost.com, webnews@washingtonpost.com, georgewill@washpost.com, jimhoagland@washpost.com, ombudsman@washpost.com, powellm@washpost.com, kurtzh@washpost.com, abramowitz@washpost.com, achenbachj@washpost.com, allenh@washpost.com, allenm@washpost.com, <aranam@washpost.com, argetsinger@washpost.com, asherm@washpost.com, chuck.babbington@washingtonpost.com, bakerp@washpost.com, balzd@washpost.com, barbashf@washpost.com, barkerk@washpost.com, barkinr@washpost.com, barrj@washpost.com, barrs@washpost.com, beckerj@washpost.com, behrp@washpost.com, belmanf@washpost.com, bennettp@washpost.com, benningv@washpost.com, bersellie@washpost.com, beyersd@washpost.com, blumj@washpost.com, bonesteelm@washpost.com, boustanyn@washpost.com, religion@washpost.com, bredemeier@washpost.com, brennanp@washpost.com, brooksd@washpost.com, brownw@washpost.com, browar57@aol.com, carlsonp@washpost.com, castanedar@washpost.com, cavendishs@washpost.com, chans@washpost.com, chandlerc@washpost.com, rajiv@washpost.com, cheaterry@washpost.com, chod@washpost.com, claiborneb@washpost.com, clarkp@washpost.com, cohensh@washpost.com, cohnd@washpost.com, coopermana@washpost.com, copelandl@washpost.com, davenportc@washpost.com, davisp@washpost.com, dawsone@washpost.com, dayk@washpost.com, deanec@washpost.com, deaned@washpost.com, deinerj@washpost.com, deyoungk@washpost.com, dirdam@washpost.com, dobbsm@washpost.com, drezenr@washpost.com, duttj@washpost.com, dvorakp@washpost.com, edsallt@washpost.com, eggend@washpost.com, ahrensf@washpost.com, aizenmann@washpost.com, nightwatch@washpost.com, donovanc@washpost.com, newsonline@bbc.co.uk, editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk, politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk, foreign@guardian.co.uk, letters@guardian.co.uk, politics@guardian.co.uk, online@guardian.co.uk, foreigneditor@independent.co.uk, newseditor@independent.co.uk, letters@iht.com, ellengoodman@globe.com, ombud@globe.com, kcooper@globe.com, letter@globe.com, johnson@globe.com, brelis@globe.com, oliphant@globe.com, editor@scoop.co.nz, alastair@scoop.co.nz, selwyn@scoop.co.nz, jhoward@minidata.co.nz, andrew@scoop.co.nz, wade@scoop.co.nz, jgreenburg@tribune.com, jzeleny@tribune.com, jzuckman@tribune.com, jcrewdson@tribune.com, MPossley@tribune.com, rkemper@tribune.com, bjapsen@tribune.com, csimpson@tribune.com, fjames@tribune.com, GWashburn@tribune.com, gdelama@tribune.com, mdorning@tribune.com, JPeres@tribune.com, cgarrett@tribune.com, oped@csps.com, vanslambrouckp@csps.com, ingwersonm@csps.com, cookd@csps.com, dillinj@csps.com, jonesc@csps.com, armstrongs@csps.com, sullivanc@csps.com, grierp@csps.com, axtmank@csps.com, chinnid@csps.com, kieferf@csps.com, marksa@csps.com, mclaughlina@csps.com, ron@csmonitor.com, richeyw@csps.com, grays@csps.com, letters@latimes.com, readers.rep@latimes.com, aaron.zitner@latimes.com, barbara.serrano@latimes.com, barry.siegel@latimes.com, James.Rainey@latimes.com, bill.rempel@latimes.com, bob.drogin@latimes.com, chuck.neubauer@latimes.com, davan.maharaj@latimes.com, david.kelly@latimes.com, david.savage@latimes.com, david.willman@latimes.com, david.zucchino@latimes.com, deborah.nelson@latimes.com, don.frederick@latimes.com, don.woutat@latimes.com, doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com, ellen.barry@latimes.com, esther.schrader@latimes.com, faye.fiore@latimes.com, glenn.bunting@latimes.com, greg.miller@latimes.com, janet.hook@latimes.com, joan.springhetti@latimes.com, joel.havemann@latimes.com, johanna.neuman@latimes.com, john.glionna@latimes.com, john.hendren@latimes.com, john.stewart@latimes.com, jonathan.peterson@latimes.com, josh.getlin@latimes.com, josh.meyer@latimes.com, judy.pasternak@latimes.com, julie.bowles@latimes.com, ken.silverstein@latimes.com, kevin.sack@latimes.com, leslie.hoffecker@latimes.com, letters@latimes.com, linda.finestone@latimes.com, lisa.getter@latimes.com, maggie.farley@latimes.com, maria.laganga@latimes.com, marjorie.miller@latimes.com, mark.barabak@latimes.com, mark.mazzetti@latimes.com, mark.porubcansky@latimes.com, maryann.meek@latimes.com, mary.braswell@latimes.com, mary.curtius@latimes.com, matea.gold@latimes.com, maura.reynolds@latimes.com, michael.finnegan@latimes.com, michael.kinsley@latimes.com, michael.muskal@latimes.com, millie.quan@latimes.com, nick.anderson@latimes.com, patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com, patt.morrison@latimes.com, paul.feldman@latimes.com, peter.wallsten@latimes.com, readers.rep@latimes.com, richard.cooper@latimes.com, richard.simon@latimes.com, robin.abcarian@latimes.com, roger.ainsley@latimes.com, scott.gold@latimes.com, scott.kraft@latimes.com, stephanie.simon@latimes.com, steve.braun@latimes.com, tom.furlong@latimes.com, tom.hamburger@latimes.com, tom.mccarthy@latimes.com, elizabeth.mehren@latimes.com, alan.miller@latimes.com</p>
Set 3: Misc. National media including Newswires Radio Magazines and Internet
feedback@ap.org, jloven@ap.org, lmargasak@ap.org, msilverman@ap.org, npickler@ap.org, rfournier@ap.org, sjohnson@ap.org, pr@ap.org, thunt@ap.org, traum@ap.org, info@ap.org, pr@ap.org, cochs@ap.org, pressreleases@upi.com, tips@upi.com, investigations_desk@upi.com, politics_desk@upi.com, info@ap.org, editor@reuters.com, patricia.wilson.reuters.com@reuters.net, todd.eastham@reuters.com, stella.dawson@reuters.com, arshad.mohammed@reuters.com, randall.mikkelsen@reuters.com, steve.holland@reuters.com, john.whitesides@reuters.com, news@capitolhillbureau.org, sheberer@pbs.org, charlierose@pbs.org, newshour@pbs.org, danschiedel@kozk.pbs.org, theworld@pri.org, newshour@pbs.org, ombudsman@npr.org, atc@npr.org, morning@npr.org, totn@npr.org, morning@npr.org, rsiegel@npr.org, ombudsman@npr.org, sstamberg@npr.org, totn@npr.org, freshair@whyy.org, watc@npr.org, wesat@npr.org, wesun@npr.org, npronsirius@npr.org, worldwide@npr.org, wesat@npr.org, atc@npr.org, ataylor@npr.org, bwilson@npr.org, bnaylor@npr.org, ombudsman@npr.org, cflintoff@npr.org, emcdonnell@npr.org, corrections@npr.org, cwindham@npr.org, dschorr@npr.org, dardalan@npr.org, dgonyea@npr.org, jlyden@npr.org, jcochran@npr.org, jwilliams@npr.org, krudin@npr.org, lhansen@npr.org, ombudsman@npr.org, mliasson@npr.org, lusa@npr.org, mblock@npr.org, atc@npr.org, morning@npr.org, nconan@npr.org, ntotenberg@npr.org, atc@npr.org, pfessler@npr.org, ombudsman@npr.org, pbreslow@npr.org, newstips@wdtn.com, drobinson@wdtn.com, ddmarko@wdtn.com, jason.pheister@wbns10tv.com, jason.pheister@wbns10tv.com, gramshaw@newshour.org, stephanie@stephaniemiller.com, brian_hill@metronetworks.com, mcurtis@njn.org, mail@uttm.com, maureensm@ffww.com, tgrieve@salon.com, talbotd@salon.com, kberger@salon.com, gsealey@salon.com, michelle@salon.com, mjacoby@salon.com, kaufman@salon.com, mfollman@salon.com, mkeeley@salon.com, modonnell@salon.com, kamiya@salon.com, scottr@salon.com, lauram@salon.com, ruth@salon.com, kaufman@salon.com, bwyman@salon.com, jmillman@salon.com, boehlert@salon.com, szacharek@salon.com, jsweeney@salon.com, abenfer@salon.com, ayork@salon.com, fmorgan@salon.com, klauerman@salon.com, jtapper@salon.com, daryl@salon.com, amontgomery@salon.com, cchocano@salon.com, ccolin@salon.com, areiter@salon.com, dawn@salon.com, dcruickshank@salon.com, boehlert@salon.com, stark@salon.com, letters@slate.com, ekelly@gns.gannett.com, fbremner@gns.gannett.com, jcarroll@gns.gannett.com, kscott@gns.gannett.com, lbivins@gns.gannett.com, mgroppe@gns.gannett.com, mmadden@gns.gannett.com, pbrogan@gns.gannett.com, rchebium@gns.gannett.com, aradelat@gns.gannett.com, cweiser@gns.gannett.com, dabrahms@gns.gannett.com, rrhodes@airamericaradio.com, tawalker@airamericaradio.com, geoff@radioleft.com, contact@pacifica.org, jonsintown@airamericaradio.com, me@glennbeck.com, nealznunze@cox.com, brinkerbob@aol.com, howie@wnir.com, colmes@foxnews.com, johncorby@clearchannel.com, bsteigerwald@tribweb.com, mitch@albom.com, sternshow@howardstern.com, buzzflash@buzzflash.com, kos@dailykos.com, mail@democracynow.org, imusshow@yahoo.com, info@jimhightower.com, billy.house@arizonarepublic.com, oped@thestar.ca, rob@opednews.com, jsmyth@plaind.com, mnaymik@plaind.com, feedback@necn.com, alan@alan.com, jnorman@dmreg.com, jconason@observer.com, editorial@progressive.org, news@michaelmoore.com, maillist@michaelmoore.com, MMFlint@aol.com, media@michaelmoore.com, info@michaelmoore.com, mike@mikemalloy.com, fair@fair.org, phart@fair.org, shohauser@fair.org, galbraith@mail.utexas.edu, dcorn@thenation.com, info@thenation.com, drshow@wamu.org, online@tnr.com, connectionweb@wbur.bu.edu, email@wrn.org, justicetalking@asc.upenn.edu, dastor@editorandpublisher.com, Lionel@LionelOnline.com, onthemedia@wnyc.org, editorial@flashpoints.net, now@thirteen.org, jridgeway@villagevoice.com, plorris@univision.net, dmedrano@telemundo.com, abenitez@univision.net, evaldez@univision.net, rvizcon@telemundo.com
Thank you all.
