In The New York Times, Sheryl Gay Stolberg depicts Ted Sampley as just another aggrieved vet:

The photograph with Mr. Kerry [and Jane Fonda] was taken two years earlier. But it brings up deep memories for people like Mr. Sampley....

Tomorrow I'm going to snail-mail this to her. It's the chapter on Sampley from Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW-MIA Myth in America by Susan Katz Keating (I quoted from it earlier today). Sampley is a sociopath who has hated Kerry for years because Kerry won't say that there are thousands of POWs and MIAs still in Vietnam.

Oh, and another thing, Sheryl: In your story you say that

on Thursday, a new photograph of the senator and the actress began circulating via e-mail. Unlike the image Mr. Sampley bought, which shows Mr. Kerry seated several rows behind Ms. Fonda, this picture — its origins are unclear — shows them side by side, Ms. Fonda behind a microphone and Mr. Kerry, holding a notebook, to her right.

That wouldn't be the photo even the Freepers say is fake, would it?

(UPDATE: Atrios points to this Snopes page, which shows the "photo" and debunks it.)