Privileged

Jon Gold
3/7/2010

This past weekend, I was privileged to be the "master of ceremonies" for the Treason In America: 9/11, The Wars & Our Broken Constitution conference in historic Valley Forge, PA.

First and foremost, I would like to say thank you to the beautiful Mrs. Betsy Metz for putting this conference together. Also, a big thank you to Chris and Cindy who were instrumental as well.

On Friday Night, Betsy hired a massive truck limo (I wish I had a picture... it held 30 people), and took us all out to dinner to her restaurant Daddy Mim's in Phoenixville, PA. The food was great. Richard Gage and I talked a little bit, and maybe came to an "understanding" of sorts. I think that's actually the first time we ever talked. Nice man.

Saturday night, Polygraph Radio provided some excellent music. I don't much like rap, so my favorite was Dave Cahill. Thanks to Eric, Flip, and Justin for dinner on Saturday.

Sadly, a few of the speakers couldn't make it. Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer was called to duty. He was nice enough to film a video that was shown at the conference. I liked his message about "common ground." It seemed to be a theme over the weekend.

9/11 First Responders Mike McCormack, and Michael Barrett couldn't make it, but thankfully, Charlie Giles did. I love you Charlie. You are such a sweet man.

Daniel Sunjata couldn't be there. A lot of people missed seeing him. I know that he was furious that he couldn't make it. I would never doubt his intent on being there.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see everyone speak. The ones I did watch were fantastic.

We started the show by watching a VERY old version of 9/11: Press For Truth. Ray Nowosielski gave it to me by mistake. It was still great. After the film, producer for 9/11: PFT John Duffy gave a talk on a new film they are working on. I look forward to seeing this film because it is greatly based on my friend Kevin Fenton's work with regard to Tom Wilshire. It's always fun to see you Ray, and it was nice to finally meet you John. Thanks for coming.

After the film, 9/11 Family Members Manny Badillo and Bob McIlvaine spoke. Thank you Manny for making it this weekend. It's always great to see you. When it came time to introduce Bob, I nearly broke down. My eyes welled up, and it was hard to breathe. I started to think about how much of an influence he's been to me, and I started to think about how sad it was that we are still here fighting this fight for people like him and Manny, Lorie, Patty, Mindy, Kristen, Monica, Sally, etc... and a new family member I met this weekend, Dave. He lost his uncle on 9/11. I was privileged to have dinner with him last night. Bob gave the best, most detailed presentation he's ever given bar none. Thank you Bob for coming.

Then came Charlie Giles. It's so fucking sad to see him wheel up to the stage in his scooter. He gave such a good speech. Thank you for coming Charlie, and thanks for having breakfast with me. Support H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act.

After Charlie, Heather La Mastro and Manny Badillo took the stage. Manny talked about the news regarding New Hampshire, and Heather read a beautiful poem she had written. Thanks Heather for the poem, and for coming.

Luke Rudkowski gave a great motivational speech. I have to admit. He's getting good. He also showed a few clips that were both funny and inspirational. Thanks for coming Luke.

Author of the book "Family Of Secrets" Russ Baker gave a great speech. I especially liked everything he had to say about George H. W. Bush. Thank you Russ for coming.

One of the greatest privileges of my life followed. It's not every day you get to introduce one your heroes. Someone who has become a good friend, and someone I will stand with in the coming weeks on the lawn of the Washington Memorial, Cindy Sheehan. I loved everything she has to say, and the way in which she says it. I wasn't the only one. Very few times this weekend did everyone stand up to applaud someone, but no one had any reservations after Cindy's speech. Thank you for coming Cindy, and I will see you in Washington. D.C. on March 15th.

Richard Gage gave the longest speech, and I didn't get to see all of it. He did have some technical problems unfortunately, but everyone applauded him as well. Thank you for coming Richard.

Jack Blood followed Richard. Jack is a powerful speaker and it was good to see him. Thanks for coming Jack.

William Rodriguez made a surprise visit. It's always good to see Willie. Thank you Willie for making the trip.

The first speaker this morning is someone I've known for years, but met for the first time this weekend, John Albanese. John gave one of the best speeches of the weekend I thought. Thank you for coming John, and bringing your great family.

Following John was Coleen Rowley. I could honestly listen to Coleen Rowley talk all day. She has a brilliant mind, and presents all of her information as a teacher would present it to a roomful of students. Thank you for coming Coleen.

Someone who doesn't get much attention, and someone who I think should, Michael Springmann, gave an extremely interesting talk. I think everyone should do a little research on what Michael has to say. Thanks for coming Michael.

I didn't get to see Jonathan Elinoff's entire speech, but what I did see was interesting. It's very hard to believe so many coincidences could take place. Thanks for coming Jonathan.

Dahlia Wasfi was the second person to make me cry this weekend. The footage she showed of the Fallujah soccer field turned cemetery broke my heart. It also made me angry, and has fueled me for the coming weeks with Cindy. Thank you Dahlia for coming, and thanks to Flip for recommending she speak.

ABCNews attended, and gave a few interviews to people like Coleen Rowley, Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, Betsy Metz, and a few others. Dylan and Korey's interview, to me, was priceless. After Dylan told me what he said about who ABC should be speaking to, and how they weren't planning on speaking with Bob McIlvaine, I got mad. When Betsy told me that ABC asked to interview her, she asked me to come along. She gets nervous you know. So, I decided to bring Bob along. They absolutely refused to speak with Bob. I told them that if they weren't going to talk to Bob, then I wasn't going to talk to them, and walked away. Hopefully the film of this will be posted online soon. Oh yeah, I brought a camera man along. Thanks to Russia Today for attending.

Unfortunately, I started to get sick at the end of Sunday, and had to leave. I'm sorry that I missed out on the rest of the day, and I'm especially sorry that I didn't get to say good bye to so many good people.

I want to thank everyone who attended. I think everyone took part in a little history this weekend.

When Betsy told me that I was going to be "Master Of Ceremonies," I laughed. Now, I consider it to have been one of the greatest privileges of my life.

Thank you Betsy.