How Dick Cheney Got Me Expelled from The National Press Club

I was interning at Greenpeace's headquarters in Washington, DC. The news came over the wires that Dick Cheney would be speaking at a conference of the "Energy Efficiency Association," a front group for the oil, coal, and nuclear industries. My boss saw this as a perfect opportunity and sent me and another intern to the National Press Club, where Cheney was speaking, to call him out on his global warming hypocrisy.

Predictably, he gave a speech in which he expressed great concern over the fate of the planet, but then proposed dramatic expansions in fossil fuel use. It became apparent that he was only going to take questions from the polluter executives on the main floor, and so I decided to ask my question anyway, even though the moderator didn't call on me: "How can you talk about energy efficiency when your administration's budget cut funding for energy efficiency programs, and how can you talk about global warming when your administration has abandoned the Kyoto Protocol, the world's last best chance to stop it?"

I wish I could have heard the vice president's response, but his goons (not the Secret Service, who didn't participate in the whole episode) promptly came and dragged me out of the Press Club - for asking a question. Then, they tried to take me to a "private room" and interrogate me. Since they weren't police, I told them I wasn't going and that I was just going to leave, and did. That was in June, 2001. I guess we should have known what we were in for. Before I left, the goons told me that I was banned for life from the National Press Club (the incident actually received pretty widespread coverage at the time from Brian Williams on MSNBC and others, including this Financial Times article.)

But I said to myself, "Well, one day I'm going to come back here and speak at the National Press Club and tell this story!"

Speaking about Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party at the National Press Club.

And a few days ago, I did just that! The Close Up Foundation invited me to come speak about my new book, Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party, at the National Press Club. The friendly audience was about evenly split between Democrats and Republicans from all over the country, but they all loved the story of my expulsion -- and based on their remarks afterwards, all seemed to recognize in it early evidence of the Bush administration's contempt for free speech.

I guess the really sweet revenge would be if Bush-Cheney had actually done something about the climate crisis (or been interrogated themselves in a private room), but while we're waiting for a new president, I'm going to content myself with this small victory.

I'll be doing a book salon at 4 pm ET on Wednesday May 14 at OpenLeft.com.

Comments

[noneIn2008]

You must have done something about global warming. It stopped warming a decade ago. Yes, it has not warmed for 10 years. The last 2 years have had cooling. The oceans are now cooling.

[Beatcomber]

Hard to believe someone is this dumb.

[dadw5boys]

So the ice is reforming and the polar bears now can hunt from ice flows?

Oh no, Your Koolaide ration has to be cut so you can return to reality.

[fishsandwichesr2good]

Oh, you're so awesome. As liberals do at college campuses across the country on a recurring basis, you disrupted a conservative's speech. Yep, it's surely those wascally wepublicans that are anti-free speech. I wish some asshole had thrown a pie at you during your recent speech a la the idiots at Brown U and other colleges. FYI, the US had "abandoned" Kyoto long before Bush did it officially. Or had you forgotten about that 99-0 rejection by the Senate? Selective amnesia much?

[dadw5boys]

The Republican Senate?

[fishsandwichesr2good]

Numb nuts -- remind of the last time any party had 99 seats in the Senate.

[altohone]

When I was a courier I had to go into that dreary building almost every day.

I never thought the building was worthy of the fourth estate.

[burnt]

stick with it Glenn. thanks