If true this should be a MASSIVE fucking scandal for Bush

[MnFats]

.....remember the furor when Clinton ALLEGEDLY held up air traffic while he got his hair cut? (which, it turned out, didn't happen.)

In today's St. Paul Pioneer Press there is a letter to the editor (and I assume the paper applies the same standards of accuracy to letters as it does for news) which alleges the following.:

Bush (as you probably know was in Mn. recently to pick up wheelbarrows of cash) kept a LifeLink organ transplant team ON THE GROUND while his "team" arrived....along with all the other aircraft....and the organs recovered from a cadaver were held too long and became useless, and a guy who was being prepped for a transplant elsewhere in the country DIED!

Did I miss something? It seems like SOME news organization would jump on that -- Bush's fund-raising is MORE IMPORTANT than life-saving transplant surgery? What if you were the family that had agreed to donate the organs and you found out they were never used??

I WANT this to be an urban legend. If true I will sink into a boiling rage......




ON EDIT: It does NOT say that a guy DIED because the flight team was grounded.....Accuracy, Accuracy. But it DOES imply that the organs were lost because of bush, and that still merits a scandal AT LEAST as massive as the one laid at Clington's feet.

[Skittles]

1. there ARE no "MASSIVE" scandals for Republicans

they simply are NOT held to the same standard as Democrats.

[Democat]

36. The media protects Republicans and tries to destory Democrats

Welcome to America.

[dusty64]

41. Ain't that the truth.

x

[SimpleMan]

2. Link??

-

[joshdawg]

3. I would also like to know more about this

Hopefully, someone will come up with a link.

[kwolf68]

4. This needs to be on the Limbaugh show

Since FatAss was so concerned about that haircut, I trust he'll really be pissed about this, because he is the "truth detector" and everything.

[Skittles]

43. I remember that haircut

I remember thinking at the time WHO GIVES A SHIT? IT'S A F***ING HAIRCUT. I was woefully ignorant of the Arkansas Project and what was to come.

[MnFats]

5. link, I think

www.twincities.com

that will get you to the PP.
Don't know if all the letters are on the website...

[TSElliott]

8. Did not see anything on the letters to the editor page.

here is the link

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/opinion/6748397.htm

[nostamj]

6. text of LTTE and link............

can ANYONE out there in MN (or elsewhere) CONFIRM this story ???

I would LOVE to hear what Jon Stewert would do with it!

BUSH FLIES, PEOPLE DIE


Flight grounded

When Charles Keiser, of Garretson, S.D., got his license, he signed up to be an organ donor. He died a few days ago, and the organ harvest team's flight was grounded because President Bush's Air Force One was scheduled to land.

How in God's name can a fund-raiser be put ahead of a person's life? Bush could have placed that heart on Air Force One, and gotten it to its recipient faster than anyone on earth. Isn't that what America is all about?

JERRY JOHNSON

Bloomington


http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/editorial/letters/6740752.htm

[alfredo]

9. Damn!

If that had been a Democrat, he'd be vilified on all news casts.

[Brian Sweat]

12. It doesn't say that someone died because of the delay.

It just says that this guy died and the flight was grounded while AF1 landed. I am sure that the flight was allowed to leave once AF1 had landed and Schleprock had deplaned.

[Paragon]

7. Newspapers are not obligated to factcheck letters to the editor

Sorry.

[MnFats]

10. Oh, yes they are.

I work for one.
The same libel standards apply to letters as to everything else that goes in.
they are obligated to check facts.

[Paragon]

11. Then it's the author of the letter who is libelous...

...not the newspaper. I *don't* work for a newspaper and I know that.

[Brian Sweat]

13. Not really,

the author could be held liable, but the newspaper could be too.

[MnFats]

16. OK. You don't work for a newspaper and you are incorrect.

I have a couple of decades of putting editorial pages together behind me and I cannot TELL you how many letters we have turned away or returned to the writer for editing because they contained allegations that could not be verified.
Part of the editor's job is to keep the paper out of a needless libel suit.
Again: libel standards apply to EVERYTHING that goes in the newspaper.

[Paragon]

25. Funny how that newspaper hasn't printed that as a story, then

:freak:

[w4rma]

17. Don't assume that the letter was false

I don't see folks assuming it was true.

[gratuitous]

20. The newspaper would almost certainly be named as a defendant

And have to prove that they didn't know, or through the exercise of reasonable caution couldn't have known, that the letter was in error. Newspapers, for obvious reasons, don't much care to have to answer libel suits. The sensational allegation that someone died while waiting for a harvested organ, and that that organ's delivery was delayed solely due to Air Force One, is serious enough that a newspaper would take a little extra care before publishing it, even in the letters to the editor.

Whether the suit would be successful is another issue, but the paper would certainly incur some costs of defense.

[papau]

14. "Bush fundraiser killed" letter by Johnson of Bloomington Link below

Flight grounded

When Charles Keiser, of Garretson, S.D., got his license, he signed up to be an organ donor. He died a few days ago, and the organ harvest team's flight was grounded because President Bush's Air Force One was scheduled to land.

How in God's name can a fund-raiser be put ahead of a person's life? Bush could have placed that heart on Air Force One, and gotten it to its recipient faster than anyone on earth. Isn't that what America is all about?

JERRY JOHNSON
Bloomington

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/editorial/letters/6740752.htm

[tom_paine]

15. Emperors are immune from this sort of thing

And, hey, it was probably only some poor person who doesn't count as a real human being in the eyes of the usheviks anyway.

Though I would like to see a link, even if it's local.

[DuctapeFatwa]

18. What will happen to the person who wrote the letter?

And the family of the guy who died?

The Lifelink crew?

Will they all have tragic accidents that are unrelated to the Charles Keiser incident?

[Clete]

19. This sounds very suspicious to me.

I would want more proof before I made an issue of it.

[Justice]

21. Can Anyone Find Charles Keiser OBT or Death Notice?

Not to be cynical, but it would provide support for the story. If the story is true, this is extremely callous.

[zbird]

22. Here's the link to the obit in Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, SD

He died 08/25/03, was 17 years old.

Charles Keiser
Garretson
08/28/03

Garretson - Charles Lawrence Keiser, age 17, of Garretson, went to dwell in the House of the Lord on Mon., Aug. 25, 2003 as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident outside of Garretson on Aug. 19th.

He was born in Riverside, CA on November 22, 1985. Charles attended schools in the Rancho Cucamonga area until moving to Garretson four years ago. Charles was an organ donor; LifeSource of Sioux Falls is handling these arrangements. Grateful for having shared his life are his devoted parents, Stewart Wm. Keiser, Garretson, and Karen Croy Keiser of California; and his other family and friends.

more...

http://cgi.argusleader.com/cgi-bin/obitsarchive.pl

[nostamj]

23. so, was "MF" was in MN that day???

hey MN DUers!! any coverage?

[zbird]

27. Looks like he was there August 26. nt

[DuctapeFatwa]

24. Here is something

http://sjk2795.k12.sd.us/friends.htm

[janekat]

26. can't find a thing....

only the obituary. We ought to check google and google news in a few days. It might take a few days for this to get out there. I have the feeling that we will not hear the end of this whether it's true or false.

[nostamj]

28. couldn't someone in MN call the paper?

and ask if it can be verified?

[janekat]

29. Anyone live near Bloomington?

Someone ought to try to call this guy and ask him about it. If someone can find his number - I'd call him....

What state is Bloomington in? Is this the Bloomington in Indiana?

[nostamj]

31. damn! I think I found him...

but I'm not sure about posting the info

BUT, I found a Jerry Johnson of JA Consulting in Shoreview MN

the page has a phone/fax and is dated 10/02

???

Google: "Jerry Johnson" Bloomington MN

[salin]

33. While the one you list

is my home town, given the paper (MN) - my bets would be Bloomington Minnesota (fyi there is also a Bloomington, Ill)

[janekat]

34. found something more about him...

apparently he's written other letters to the editor because I pulled something else up on google but the link is expired.

His name is Jerry E. Johnson

He's apparently a rabble-rouser (not unlike the rest of us!)

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=Jerry+E%2E+Johnson%2C+Bloomington%2E+A+law+is+a+law

http://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=JERRY+JOHNSON+bloomington&btnG=Google+Search

[cmf]

30. I think the best way to get verification..

would be by contacting Life Source. According to the Obit, they were handling the organ donation. They would know whether the organs were held up.

Life Source : http://organdonation.org/about.html

[Virginian]

39. Try www.unos.org - If anyone should know if it's true, they would.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) keeps the national waitlist for organ donation. It is through their computers that donor organs are matched to recipients. They set the policy under which the Organ Procurement Organizations OPOs such as Lifelink operate.
There is certain patient confidentiality that cannot be violated. This is of the utmost of importance and may be an information stopper. Don't expect to find out who the recipient was supposed to be, they know, but they cannot tell you.

[hippywife]

40. HIPAA

Since March of this year, it is considered a criminal offense for anyone involved in the treatment of any patient/client to divulge any information to anyone outside of a designated family member or POA (power of attorney), or the parties responsible for treatment or payment of treatment. They are not even permitted to even acknowledge that a person is/was under their care for any reason. This applies even after the person in question is deceased.

[zbird]

32. Upon careful reading of the LTTE, it doesn't say specifically that the...

flight was grounded in Minnesota. If this LTTE is true, the grounded plane could have been anywhere en route from Texas to Minnesota. LifeLink seems to be based in Florida and Georgia.

http://www.lifelinkfound.org/

[ElsewheresDaughter]

35. "MASSIVEFUCKINGSCANDAL" is just his sir name

move along

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[janekat]

38. I'm going to call this guy - but I need some help....

I think I found his phone number - but in case it's not him - I need someone who lives around there to help me find his number. Since I live in Florida and it's long distance - I don't want to be dicking around with calling long distance information.

[soupkitchen]

42. When you're responsible for so many deaths already what's one more?

His campaign donation was probably already in the bank anyway