Strange RNC tale: A protester stole my name tag
Shortly before yours truly left Minneapolis-St. Paul today to return home (finally) after two weeks on the road, I got a call from a reporter (apparently from the Christian News Service) who asked a stunning question:
How did a convention anti-war protester get my name tag?
I had been wondering the same thing for a couple days, after two Missouri GOP delegates had told me an amazing tale of what apparently happened at a St. Paul reception Tuesday hosted by the Republican National Coalition for Life, led by St. Louis’ own Phyllis Schlafly.
I had gone to cover the reception, which was to feature and honor Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. ( Schlafly had set up the event to honor Palin months ago, well before she ended up as John McCain’s running mate.)
Palin was a no-show, presumably because she was working on her Wednesday night speech.
I had checked in at the press desk, and was given a hanging badge that read “media.” (I still have it, by the way.)
I waited around the reception for about an hour, working on a story in a corner on my laptop, until Schlafly kicked off the program. After getting the quotes I needed for the story, I left the ballroom and made a pit-stop in the nearby ladies room.
As I was walking out, I heard the melee in the ballroom and ran back in, just in time to see security men snag a protester who had jumped on the podium and yelled “Be pro-life, stop the war!”
The young woman was escorted out, still shouting. I wasn’t close enough to get a good look at her.
After hearing and writing down Schlafly’s response, I left for the convention hall a couple blocks away to finish the story and get ready for the evening’s events.
Here’s where it gets interesting.
The next day, Wednesday, I’m on the bus with the Missouri delegates.
Janet Engelbach, with Missouri Eagle Forum, then proceeds to tell me that she and another delegate at the reception had witnessed the woman protester being interviewed by a TV crew.
She had a name tag on. I’m told it read, “Jo Mannies, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.”
Engelbach said she jumped in front of the TV camera and — apparently channeling 1988 Democratic vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen — shouted, “That’s not Jo Mannies! I know Jo Mannies!”
Engelbach said the woman then quickly ripped off the tag and dropped it.
So, how did she get it?
I’m assuming that the woman at the press check-in desk who gave me the tag saying simply “media” had overlooked that I apparently had a tag waiting with my name on it. (Thanks Mrs. Schlafly — I think.)
I’m further guessing that the protester snagged a name tag in order to get into the reception, and that it just happened to be mine.
In any case, I’d pretty much forgotten about the incident until the reporter called Friday.
Apparently, the TV footage of my imposter also is circulating all over the Internet and on some TV stations — at least one local station aired it tonight, I’m told.
From what I hear, the alleged Jo Mannies is a heck of a lot younger and thinner than I am.
She’s apparently a lot dumber, too.
And, thank God for Janet Engelbach!
“Pinkos?”, “….those types.” (from a professed centrist)my gosh! The only one that made sense was for SVPPB to resign from blogging. Just kidding, pal. I am impressed with the young lady’s efforts to engage in that great American pastime-protest.
Don’t worry about defending yourself from right wing lunatics.
If Jo Mannies and the Post-Dispatch were non-partisan and unbiased, we wouldn’t be even thinking Jo could be a willing participant.
We all know the Post is a liberal rag, and that Jo Mannies has displayed he partisanship on many occasions.
I think Jo Mannies was in on the protest. Her whole story is just too much.
Jo, as a frequent PD reader and sometimes blogger, I think you do a great job. Anybody who suggests you were “in cahoots” with the protestor is ill informed at best and a typical right wing partisan at worst. Truth is stranger than fiction.
I attended the convention last week and can totally support Jo’s explanation. When I saw the story on the news, I was glad that someone (now I know it was Janet Engelbach)shouted that the woman wasn’t Jo. I did hear the protestor say that she had taken Jo’s credentials off a table. She did not look like Jo; nor did she look like the woman who disrupted the convention.
There is no way Jo could have given her credentials to a Code Pink protestor and still have been in the convention hall, which she was. Many of us saw her and spoke to her there.
Jo tries always to be fair. To suggest that she would give her press credentials to anyone is just plain ridiculous.
Hey, sick and vicious, get some new meds! Twisted, get out of your mother’s basement, and read what REAL citizens for life should be doing in November’s election!
http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/09/07/why-practicing-catholics-should-vote-for-barack-obama-not-for-john-mccain/
Observer, keep dreaming. Some of us reaize reality is out of touch for some, like you!
Jo, they forged a credential. It’s not hard to do.
Don’t believe a word of this “story.” There’s nothing strange or funny about this incident. Mannies’ coverage is anti-McCain, pro-abortion and anti-war. She is a darling of Code Pink and now we know she is an ally of the organization. This is a classic example of the media attempting to disrupt Republican events so they can report on the news they helped create; a sad commentary on so-called “journalism.”
No wonder pharmaceutical companies do great business. Just look at the examples here.
Jo, you better read the print forum on the message board at http://www.stlmedia.net. Your name came up. Not in a very flattering way.
Think of the word libel.
Hmmmmm something rotten in… St Louis. Just a little too convenient.
All eyes on this one!