http://p216.ezboard.com Check out the media control here. Looks like a failed attempted assassination gone down the memory hole.
Not many people know that Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor was nearly killed on July 4 of 2003 in Philadelphia during a ceremonial opening of the National Constitution Center. What a psy-ops event that would have been.
All the news articles have been scrubbed from online.:wtf:
I read the interviews when they were still available online with the stage hand union members who said that they warned that a 600 pound set piece was dangerous.People were sent to the hospital and one was knocked unconscious.
The stage hands were used as patsies by an outside ontractor who was warned by the stage hands that the set piece was dangerous. www.nbc10.com/4july/2312737/detail.html
Quote: National Constitution Center Ceremonies Marred By AccidentIndependence Day Kicks Off With Opening Of Center Dedicated To ConstitutionPOSTED: 11:14 am EDT July 4, 2003
UPDATED: 8:57 pm EDT July 7, 2003
PHILADELPHIA --FOURTH OF JULY The end of the ceremonies to open the new National Constitution Center in downtown Philadelphia were marred by an accident as Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and other participants in the ceremony were pulling the ribbons to officially open the Constitution Center.
When the ribbons were pulled, a wooden arch framing the stage fell forward instead of backward, as it was reportedly designed to do.:evilfrown:
-
www.hallwatch.org/news/10...index_html
How Well Did the Press Cover the Constitution Center?
By Ed Goppelt Tuesday, 07/08/03
....
Would a USA Today reader even realize that a Supreme Court Justice was almost killed on national television? Only in the fifteenth paragraph of USA Today's story does the paper get around to mentioning that dignitaries "got a scare during the ceremony."
In my opinion some of the best reporting on the story comes from the Philadelphia Inquirer. See Schogol's 7/6/03 stories on the accident and previous black eyes to the City's reputation. Soteropoulos and Twyman's piece describing the scenery's fall 7/4/03 and Down, Wood & Tanfani's 7/6/03 report on the reasons for the frame's fall.
But even the Inquirer appears unwilling at times to acknowledge the seriousness of what happened.
For example, officials injuries are consistently characterized as minor, not just by the officials--this is to be expected--but by the reporters themselves.
* "none had serious injuries" (Inquirer-Downs, Wood & Tanfani)
* "It struck and slightly injured Street, Specter and Joseph M. Torsella"
(Inquirer-Schogol)
Why not let the facts speak for themselves?
* Of the five people injured, four of them considered their condition serious enough to seek medical attention from area hospitals.
* NCC CEO Joe Torsella lost consciousness after being hit on the head. See Kitty Caparella's 7/7/03 story
Some news organizations got basic facts wrong. For example, what did Justice O'Connor say when the frame collapsed around her and other dignitaries?
According to Channel Six O'Connor said "we could have been hit, bumped." I was watching the Channel Six's coverage of the ceremony. I heard O'Connor say something different: "we could all have been killed there."
ALL THESE ARTICLES HAVE BEEN SCRUBBED:
* "It struck and slightly injured Street, Specter :grr: and Joseph M. Torsella"
ALL THESE ARTICLES HAVE THE LINK BROKEN:
(Just the Philadelphia Inquirer?)
A Supreme Court Justice was almost killed during the dedication ceremony. If reporters had covered the Center seriously would we have been spared this near disaster? I don't know, but I do think the press can and must do a better job of covering the Center.
The Stories
* ROSE DEWOLF 'Multitude of missteps' led to mishap on July 4 (Philadelphia Daily News, 08/01/03)
* JOSEPH TANFANI Frame fall blamed on builder (Philadelphia Inquirer, 08/01/03)
* GAR JOSEPH Lawsuits unlikely after stage mishap (Philadelphia Daily News, 07/10/03)
* MICHAEL SMERCONISH FRAME FELL, NOT PHILLY'S ATTITUDE
(Philadelphia Daily News, 07/10/03)
* TOM FITZGERALD JOSEPH TANFANI Union denies role in collapse at center (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/09/03)
* DAVE DAVIES Stagehands: We had no role in frame collapse (Daily News, 07/09/03)
* PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Special Report: National Constitution Center (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/09/03)
* TOM FITZGERALD Designer of fallen frame apologizes (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/08/03)
* Editorial | Framing the issue (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/08/03)
* PHILLY FRAMED AGAIN (Philadelphia Daily News, 07/08/03)
* JILL PORTER Let's put mishap behind us; start acting like a world-class city (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/08/03)
* DAWN FALLIK Center chief: Officials pulled on sturdy ties (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/07/03)
* KITTY CAPARELLA Center chief took brunt of collapse (Philadelphia Daily News, 07/07/03)
* MARC SCHOGOL Another Thumb in the City's Eye (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/06/03)
* JERE DOWNS SAM WOOD JOSEPH TANFANI Fallen Frame Was Unsecured (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/06/03)
* MARC SCHOGOL Center's grand opening, accident mark the day (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/06/03)
* AP Dignitaries Injured after Stage Mishap (Channel 6, 07/05/03) MICHAEL BURKHART Constitution Center has gala opening (Courier Post, 07/05/03)
* SUSAN SNYDER A 'cowgirl from Arizona' receives the Liberty Medal (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/05/03)
* BOB WARNER O'Connor gets medal on 'amazing day' Philadelphia Daily News, 07/05/03)
* BOB WARNER July 4th -and what a bang! (Daily News, 7/05/03)
* AP U.S. celebrates 227th birthday (USA Today, 07/04/03)
* ACEL MOORE Legacy of hypocrisy isn't in the display at Constitution Center (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/04/03)
* JULIE STROIBER Public receives few tickets to award ceremony (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/04/03)
* Mishap Mars Opening of Constitution Museum (The New York Times, 07/04/03)
* JACQUELINE SOTEROPOULOS ANTHONY TWYMAN Unscripted Accident
Mars Ceremony (Philadelphia Inquirer, 07/04/03)
One link works. USA Today. Look at the minimization.
Looks like the July 4th flag waving for the war campaign was too important to give any weight (pun intended) to the near death of a Supreme Court Judge. www.usatoday.com/news/nat...july_x.htm
Posted 7/4/2003 7:06 PM Updated 7/5/2003 2:42 AM
U.S. celebrates 227th birthday
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The celebrations offered snapshots of the nation at hundred year intervals: Troops coming home from Iraq hugged loved-ones for the first time in months, President Bush marked the centennial of aviation, and Americans feted the birth of their independence 227 years ago.
The U.S. flag waves in the breeze as Fourth of July fireworks light up the night sky in Temple, Texas.
By Jerry Larson, Temple Daily Telegram, APAt Forbes Field in Topeka, Kan., parents, spouses and children of 135 National Guard soldiers, who were dispatched to Iraq five months ago, held emotional reunions.
"I'm not sure that any of us really appreciates the struggles George Washington went through in Valley Forge. This kind of personalizes those sacrifices," said Bill Burkett of Muskogee, Okla., whose daughter Stephanie was among the returning troops. Other troops came home Friday to North Carolina, Wisconsin and Maine.
Anecita Hudson, whose son was a POW in Iraq, began celebrating the holiday Wednesday at Fort Bliss, Texas, where Army Spc. Joseph Hudson and other former POWs received medals for bravery. The Hudsons were back in their hometown of Alamogordo, N.M., for the Fourth of July.
"Here in America, I really see that people are happy on the Independence Day," Anecita Hudson said. "It's really kind of overwhelming to see them all celebrating."
In Dayton, Ohio, President Bush climbed a flag-draped stage flanked by military jets to praise the work of U.S. troops and celebrate the 100th anniversary of flight in the ometown of the Wright brothers. "Today and everyday, the people of this land are grateful for their freedom, and we are proud to call ourselves citizens of the United States of America," Bush told a cheering crowd on a tarmac at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Natalie Neal, 39, of nearby West Chester, Ohio, was up before dawn to secure a place in the crowd of thousands. "There's not a better way to spend the Fourth of July than with your military and with your president," Neal said.