Apr 22 2008
McHenry Threatens Legal Action Against Sigmon
WASHINGTON — An N.C. congressman has threatened legal action against his Republican primary challenger over a television ad he claims is defamatory.
The 30-second ad about Rep. Patrick McHenry’s recent trip to Iraq — being aired on Charlotte-area cable channels and the Internet by attorney Lance Sigmon of Newton — accuses the Republican from Cherryville of “revealing troop positions, and just two days later, two Americans died.”
The ad also says McHenry could face 10 years in prison, citing an espionage act that prohibits aiding the enemy.
The controversy began last month when McHenry, a two-term lawmaker, returned from his first trip to Iraq.
So is the ad fair or slanderous? The ad clearly infers that McHenry is responsible for the deaths of two soldiers following the airing of his video in Iraq, however a chief investigator for the House has said that it is implausible that McHenry’s video could have anything to do with that. Personally, I feel the ad goes overboard and is misleading, but here it is for you to decide:
You know, I know it’s a little dramatic, but the ad has a point. The ad only places two facts together to allow the viewer to make the link- and I don’t necessarily think that’s wrong, especially after reading the details of those two deaths.
Keep in mind that many veterans have come out against Palarino’s guesses (note that he mentions in another article that it’s his opinion only, and other vets point out some facts that he had no knowledge of), and Palarino was not the “chief investigator”, at least in this context.
Long story short? Yeah, the video is dramatic, but I’m not going to take the opinion of someone who is literally guessing without full knowledge of the situation, as he admits. I’d much rather take the opinion of Iraq War veterans- lets face it, they know about it because they were on the receiving end of such attacks.