LTE on Richmond Times Dispatch "missquote"

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Quoted from Phil Van Cleave in the VA-ALERT about the Bloomber Gun Giveaway II

And with all the interviews I did there was one major misquote. Not sure where we crossed wires, but the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the following quote attributed to me:
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Defense League President Philip Van Cleave of Chesterfield County said before the meeting that he feels sorry for the Tech families but added, *** "At some point, they'll get over their pain." ***
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I used a standard quote for that question with all the reporters. The correct quote was reported pretty much like this in all the other media: "Philip Van Cleave, the league's president, said he is sympathetic to the families, but maintained that some of the deaths might have been prevented if somebody had been armed."

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Well todays letters to the editor featured someone all upset over the "quote."

Defense League Remark Insulted Tech Families Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding the article, "Defense League Gives Away Two Guns": I read with shocked disgust the quote from Defense League President Philip Van Cleave, speaking before the Virginia Citizens Defense League meeting regarding the Virginia Tech shooting, "At some point, they'll get over their pain." Apparently neither Van Cleave nor anyone associated with printing this article realized how callous, insensitive, and ignorant this remark truly is. Anyone who has ever lost a loved one can attest that the pain never truly goes away. It becomes more dull with time, but it is always present.

The violence and horror of the manner of death of the Tech victims will always be an open wound for the families left behind. To make light of their pain is a travesty. At the very least, Van Cleave should be required to take a sensitivity training class -- at the most, he should have to make a public, as well as private, apology to every family member he maligned.

Regardless of what side one supports on the controversial gun-control issue, the truth remains: Automatic weapons serve one purpose only -- they are weapons of war and mass destruction, and have no place in ordinary society. To celebrate the ownership and possession of an instrument that has only one function -- to kill as rapidly as possible -- is a measure of the depth to which our society has digressed. What sad creatures we humans are.

Elaine Arendall
midlothian

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/opinion/letters.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-06-04-0067.html


Now I would assume that Phil contacted the RTD after the article was printed because of the misquotation. If that is true and the paper printed the LTE anyway I will be extremely upset. If they knew that it was a misquote, the only reason to publish that LTE would be to continue to conjure up a bad image for VCDL.

The Richmond Times dispatch should be the one to issue an oficial apology.

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vt357 wrote:

Quoted from Phil Van Cleave in the VA-ALERT about the Bloomber Gun Giveaway II

And with all the interviews I did there was one major misquote. Not sure where we crossed wires, but the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the following quote attributed to me:
--
Defense League President Philip Van Cleave of Chesterfield County said before the meeting that he feels sorry for the Tech families but added, *** "At some point, they'll get over their pain." ***
--
I used a standard quote for that question with all the reporters. The correct quote was reported pretty much like this in all the other media: "Philip Van Cleave, the league's president, said he is sympathetic to the families, but maintained that some of the deaths might have been prevented if somebody had been armed."

Click to expand...

Well todays letters to the editor featured someone all upset over the "quote."

Defense League Remark Insulted Tech Families Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding the article, "Defense League Gives Away Two Guns": I read with shocked disgust the quote from Defense League President Philip Van Cleave, speaking before the Virginia Citizens Defense League meeting regarding the Virginia Tech shooting, "At some point, they'll get over their pain." Apparently neither Van Cleave nor anyone associated with printing this article realized how callous, insensitive, and ignorant this remark truly is. Anyone who has ever lost a loved one can attest that the pain never truly goes away. It becomes more dull with time, but it is always present.

The violence and horror of the manner of death of the Tech victims will always be an open wound for the families left behind. To make light of their pain is a travesty. At the very least, Van Cleave should be required to take a sensitivity training class -- at the most, he should have to make a public, as well as private, apology to every family member he maligned.

Regardless of what side one supports on the controversial gun-control issue, the truth remains: Automatic weapons serve one purpose only -- they are weapons of war and mass destruction, and have no place in ordinary society. To celebrate the ownership and possession of an instrument that has only one function -- to kill as rapidly as possible -- is a measure of the depth to which our society has digressed. What sad creatures we humans are.

Elaine Arendall
midlothian

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/opinion/letters.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-06-04-0067.html


Now I would assume that Phil contacted the RTD after the article was printed because of the misquotation. If that is true and the paper printed the LTE anyway I will be extremely upset. If they knew that it was a misquote, the only reason to publish that LTE would be to continue to conjure up a bad image for VCDL.

The Richmond Times dispatch should be the one to issue an oficial apology.

Click to expand...

since when did the automatic weapons show up at the VT shooting (except possibly the local PD)?? and last i checked, they were semi-auto. as a matter of fact, i challenge Ms. Arendall to find methe lastlocal murderusing a fully automatic weapon.

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Someone should check Senator Webb's quote after the event, too.

Something about addressing the causes after the grieving is over.

Sheesh.

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Here is my LTE to the RTD today. Hopefully they will publish it (I had contacted the RTD on the phone a week or so ago, but to no avail. The context that I was addressing seemed to be irrelevent to them. The LTE is the only other resort to clear the air. Hopefully they will print it and this will be put to rest):


Dear Richmond Times-Dispatch Editor:

Referencing Monday's letter titled, "Defense League Remarks Insulted Tech Families," Ms. Arendall's letter was based around a misleading quote that was printed previously in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The quote was "at some point they will get over their pain." The article's wording left the impression that I was talking about the VT families getting over the pain of their dead family members. That, of course, would be a ludicrous statement, and I would agree with Ms. Arendall. Heck, my father died unexpected back in 1967 and I still haven't gotten over the pain - why would it be any different for the VT families?

I had been asked by a reporter if the drawing should be postponed, considering there were two families present who had lost loved ones in the tragedy. I explained the drawing HAD been postponed a month because of the VT horror, even though the drawing, which had been planned since last December, had absolutely nothing to do with the VT massacre.

I then said that in the event that the two families were feeling hurt [about the drawing,] that they would get over the pain [of the drawing] in time. The other reporters who were present during that interview understood the context of that comment.

I wish the RTD reporter had double-checked with me to make sure that he understood the quote correctly, but such is the state of human communication and, sometimes, miscommunication.

One never gets over the pain of the loss of a family member, I know first hand.

The VT loss hit VCDL hard. We had fought for two years in a row to fix Virginia laws so that adult university and college students who are over 21 and who have concealed handgun permits would be allowed to protect themselves while on campus. Unbeknownst to us at the time, it was a race against the clock and the cost of failure would be horrendous.

While the world which Ms. Arendall seeks would be wonderful - a world where everyone respects innocent life and no one fears death at the hands of a psychopath - it is not the world we live in. To expect someone to simply let a poisonous snake bite them rather than hurt the snake or to submit to a vicious killer because the police didn't arrive in time, is a terrible and unnecessary waste of human life.

Philip Van Cleave
President
Virginia Citizens Defense League
Midlothian

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Well Said

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Excellent LTE. Very effective writing.

The RTD cherry picked some wordsto make a story more salacious. I'm not confident they will even indirectly be a party to confirming it.

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i'd be surprised if they even publish PVC's letter. i'll definitely be on the lookout.