Face the State

Face The State Staff Report

On the University of Denver campus Monday, John McCain’s college roommate joined a Medal of Honor recipient, a pioneer of space exploration, and notable local dignitaries to get students fired up about November’s election. Greeted by a cheering crowd, they were also met with a squad of Greenpeace workers who challenged the war heroes over McCain's environmental and security policies.

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As part the “Victory 2008” bus tour, McCain representatives met with DU college students to encourage them to volunteer for Republican causes and to offer “straight talk” on the presidential candidates.

Retired Navy Capt. Frank Gamboa and his wife Linda were swarmed by supportive students as the couple exited the bus. Gamboa, who was McCain’s roommate for three years at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, told the students how McCain’s character makes him the clear choice for president. “We were college kids just like you are now,” said Capt. Gamboa. “I trusted John McCain then, I trust him now and so I can confidently tell you: go with McCain.”

Capt. Gamboa, who was the first Mexican-American in the history of the U.S. Navy to command a ship as captain, came into town fresh from a New Mexico rally. Also mingling with the students and making his case for McCain was retired Maj. Gen. Pat Brady and retired Air Force Col. Eileen Collins, the first female pilot and first female commander of a space shuttle. Brady, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing over 5,000 soldiers as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, took time in between regaling the students with war stories to engage Patrick Silas, a Greenpeace organizer.

Silas, who was signing up members for his organization, an international environmental group, asked Brady what he thought McCain could do to prevent future “splinter-cell terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.”

Brady pointed to McCain’s experience as a military officer, saying it makes him best suited to keep the nation safe. Silas also challenged former American Legion National Commander Tom Bock and former Chief Deputy Attorney General Marti Allbright Whitmore about McCain’s energy policy.

Whitmore defended McCain's energy policies. "Oil and gas represent only a part of McCain’s energy policy,” she said. “[McCain] is absolutely committed to developing renewable sources of energy.”

Another Greenpeace activist who said his name was Jacob Ferguson accompanied Silas. When pressed whether they were being paid to gather signatures, both activists declined to answer only saying that they were currently “on a break.”

It is unclear whether the Greenpeace organizers supplied Face the State with their real names. A man named Jake Ferguson was an activist with the eco-terrorist organization Earth Liberation Front. Ferguson, who was involved in several ELF-sponsored acts of arson and sabotage in the late 1990s, eventually agreed to go undercover in exchange for leniency. His testimony helped federal prosecutors build a case against 13 suspected eco-terrorists.

Greenpeace currently enjoys tax-free status in the U.S. under two different IRS codes. While its traditional organization, Greenpeace Fund, Inc., is limited in its advocacy opportunities under its 501(c)(3) status, Greenpeace, Inc. can engage in more aggressive political activities as a 501(c)(4). Silas and Ferguson did not specify which branch they were working for and only said that their views did not express those of Greenpeace.