Posted on 03/15/2004 8:36:18 AM PST by cyncooper
John Kerry receives a military decoration during the Vietnam War in the 1960s.IN A front page article in Friday's New York Sun newspaper, a conservative writer, Thomas H. Lipscomb, takes on Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and a letter that may or may not have been written by Kerry - a letter that may or may not be housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society here.
Lipscomb, who has written a number of pieces critical of Kerry in the past and served as editor of Richard Nixon aide H.R. Haldeman's memoir, "The Ends of Power," would not appear to be an unbiased observer. And the New York Sun is widely viewed as having a conservative agenda. That said, the tale Lipscomb spun Friday is worth considering here, if only because the story's key element, Kerry's letter, involves Madison.
The letter in question is Kerry's 1971 resignation letter from the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW).
In historian Douglas Brinkley's current best-selling book on Kerry and Vietnam, "Tour of Duty," Brinkley wrote the following (according to the Sun): "In a Nov. 10 letter housed at the VVAW papers in Madison, Wis., Kerry quit, politely noting he had been proud to serve in the national organization. His reason was straightforward: 'personality conflicts and differences in political philosophy.' In two days, VVAW was meeting in Kansas City and he would be a no-show."
In Friday's Sun, Lipscomb wrote that in a footnote to that passage, Brinkley wrote: "I could not locate Kerry's Nov. 10 VVAW resignation letter supposedly housed at the Wisconsin archives. The quote I used comes directly from Andrew E. Hunt's essential 'The Turning: A History of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.'"
Hunt, however, told the Sun that there's nothing in his book about a Kerry resignation letter in Madison: "I never stated that there was a letter of resignation," Hunt said, "or even implied in my book that I saw one. I never could find one in the archives in Wisconsin. I don't know how Brinkley got the idea that I had. I never could figure out when Kerry resigned."
The exact date of Kerry's VVAW resignation is a big deal, the Sun alleges, because just two days after that Nov. 10 date on the letter, the VVAW had a meeting in Kansas City, Nov. 12-15, 1971 - the meeting referenced in the above excerpt from Brinkley's book - in which the assassination of United States politicians who supported the Vietnam War was discussed.
Or, as Lipscomb's rather breathless lead put it in the Sun on Friday: "The anti-war group that John Kerry was the principal spokesman for debated and voted on a plot to assassinate politicians who supported the war in Vietnam."
Lipscomb quotes two VVAW members who remember Kerry as being at the Kansas City meeting. In his book, Brinkley wrote that Kerry was a "no-show" at the meeting. When the Sun asked Brinkley who had told him Kerry didn't attend the meeting, Brinkley said Kerry told him.
Lipscomb wrote: "Whether or not there was a letter of resignation dated Nov. 10 is obviously important, since it predates the Kansas City assassination discussions by two days."
I don't know how "obviously" important it is, since Lipscomb notes that the plot was voted down. No doubt a lot of wild ideas were "discussed" in that turbulent time.
In any case, Kerry campaign spokesman David Wade told the Sun Friday that Kerry resigned the VVAW sometime in the summer of 1971, adding, "Kerry was not at the Kansas City meeting."
Is there a Nov. 10 resignation letter in Madison? On Friday, I called the Historical Society, and Deena Brazy agreed to search for it in the extensive VVAW collection.
In the meantime, I had a conversation with Barry Romo, a national coordinator with VVAW based in Chicago. Romo said that sometime in the early 1980s, "We took everything we had up to Madison." The VVAW collection became an important part of the society's extensive archive of social and political movements, including civil and reproductive rights.
Romo, who was at the 1971 meeting in Kansas City, said he had no recollection of Kerry being present and didn't believe he was there. "My memory is that he resigned sometime in October," Romo said. "A letter may have been dated a little later."
I left a message for Douglas Brinkley Friday at the University of New Orleans, where he is the director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies, but didn't hear back.
I did hear from Deena Brazy at the Wisconsin Historical Society, who could not find the Kerry letter. She said she searched both the "resignations" box of the VVAW collection and one containing correspondence from Massachusetts in 1971. Given the extent of the collection, of course, it's still possible the letter is in Madison.
Seems even leftists are doing a little digging, with some mitigating commentary thrown in for good measure.
I see.
It's okay that a candidate for the Presidency belonged to an "organization" that considered murdering U.S. Senators, as long as the "plot" was voted down and he didn't support it. Especially if it happened in a "turbulent" time and you can trivialize the matter by using lots of scare quotes.
Is there any doubt left that leftists will rationalize absolutely anything if it benefits their side?
OK
Nope
I don't know how "obviously" important it is, since Lipscomb notes that the plot was voted down. No doubt a lot of wild ideas were "discussed" in that turbulent time.
Yeah, and they never said anything threatening like call a teachers' union "terrorists." It was just satire back then. Everything was satire, Fonda's trip, the university bombings, the killings, the riots, the arson, everything. Even the ever popular ditty, "Ho. Ho. Ho Chi Minh, The FLN is sure to win" was nuanced satire, it was really a patriotic ditty in support of our troops. We were all patriots, see.. back then, well.. you know. . . .
Witnesses place him at the meeting and NO letter can be found.
But then it's only a democrat telling lies...let's just move on.
I wish I had ESP back in 2003, when the Rat candidates were preparing their presidential bids. I would have went down to Madison and did some searching on Kerry.
Fair is fair. I posted the notice about Chris doing this story on Hardball. It was a fairly done piece, so I retract my mocking of Matthews.
It was a pretty lengthy piece by Brian Williams that showed some interesting footage of Kerry back then, in addition to a clip from his Congressional testimony. Williams also had tapes of Nixon discussing Kerry with Haldeman and later Colson where they conclude Kerry is a phony and an opportunist.
Then Matthews had Pat Buchanan on who sounded sane and rational and presented an even-handed account of the WH assessment of Kerry back then and Chris asked him who had better character: Nixon or Kerry and Buchanan answered Nixon was a man of character with flaws, and there was a bit more discussion of Kerry having flaws, too.
Just like it's NOT okay for a vice-president to have once worked for a company that is supplying infrastructure support to a war approved by Congress, even if that vice-president doesn't work for the company now and has divested all of his stocks in it.
-PJ
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