Posted on 08/09/2004 6:56:22 AM PDT by Elkiejg
SORRY, BUT IT'S THE RECORD HE'S BEEN RUNNING ON
Sorry, folks, but I just don't get it. Senator John McCain, Wall Street Journalist lefty Al Hunt; they're all saying what a terrible terrible thing it is to raise any questions about John Kerry's military service. Just one question: Why?
This really isn't all that hard to understand. Since the very first day that John Kerry began his active quest for the presidency he has focused on one thing; his record of service in Vietnam. Well before the New Hampshire primary Kerry's repeated focus on his Vietnam war record became somewhat of a joke. Many media figure I've talked to simply cannot remember one single campaign appearance where Kerry did not use his Vietnam record as evidence of his qualification to serve as commander in chief.
OK ... so if Kerry wants to present this evidence to the great voting jury out there, then the other side gets to present their evidence also. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are doing just that. They have a story to tell, and it seems a lot of people are interested.
There are always two sides to a story. People like the Wall Street Journal's Albert Hunt are making the assumption that anything that a veteran who supports John Kerry says is the undeniable truth; and any utterance from a veteran who does not support John Kerry is a damnable lie. Neither Kerry's veteran entourage nor the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth would end Diogenes' quest. The rational voter will listen to both sides, perhaps engage in a bit of personal research, and make a decision. Perhaps some voters will be somewhat surprised by the intensity and viciousness of the response from the Kerry crowd to the SBVT charges. Maybe they'll remember that it's the stuck pig that squeals the loudest.
The truth about John Kerry lies somewhere between two extremes. On the one hand the Kerry entourage may be right in their presentation of Kerry as a courageous war hero who's boldness in action led to three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star in just four amazing months. On the other hand, the charges set forth in the current Amazon.com bestseller "Unfit for Command" might be a more accurate portrait. John Kerry may indeed have been a manipulative schemer who's primary purpose in volunteering for duty in Vietnam was to build a war record on which to pursue a political career. Perhaps, as charged, Kerry did complain endlessly to his superiors when he felt that his assignment might be a bit too dangerous. Maybe he did manipulate the system to gain at least one, maybe two Purple Hearts from self-inflicted wounds.
The story that seems most plausible to me is that Kerry did volunteer for duty in Vietnam to enhance his political portfolio, and that he did push the envelope in his search for Purple Hearts. I also believe that he probably did act with gallantry when he saw some of his fellow Americans in danger. I would like to know more about the Purple Hearts. There's reason to believe that Kerry made up his mind to get those three Purple Hearts as quickly as he could in order to take advantage of the Navy's "three and you're out" rule. Right now I think the Bronze and Silver Stars were honorably earned.
Not so honorable, however, were the actions last week of Kerry's lawyers in their attack on various members of the SBVT. Particularly outrageous was their treatment of Dr. Louis Letson, the physician who treated Kerry for the wounds leading to his first Purple Heart. Last week Democratic Party and Kerry votes sent letters to television stations in battleground states threatening their very licenses if they dared to run the SBVT ads. In that letter they referred to Dr. Letson as a "phony" doctor and to his corpsman as a "physician." Dr. Letson served in Vietnam treating our wounded. Kerry saved lives? So did Dr. Letson, and to refer to him as a "phony" doctor seems to me to be every bit as outrageous as questioning Kerry's medals. Don't expect any outrage from John McCain or Al Hunt on this one, though.
Now ... here's a way that John Kerry can divert attention from his four months in Vietnam. He can cite some other accomplishments from his life that he believes would impress the voters. He can tell us of the great and wonderful things he did as the Lt. Governor of Massachusetts. He can regale us with some war stories from his days as a prosecutor. Hell, he might even tell us how he managed to seduce two incredibly rich women into his (marital) bed. I'm sure that there are a lot of young men just out of the service would love to learn that little stunt. Then ... for a real stretch, Kerry can tell us all of the great and wonderful things he accomplished in his 20 year Senate history. He's campaigning on the theme of a "Stronger America." Perhaps he can explain how all of his votes against funding for intelligence gathering and against the very weapons systems we're using today to kill terrorists in the Middle East made America stronger.
In the meantime ... someone owes Dr. Louis Letson an apology. We'll be placing calls to the attorneys who sent those threatening letters every single day until we find someone to talk to. Stay tuned.
THIS IS RATHER ODD, DON'T YOU THINK
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth run an ad attacking John Kerry's Vietnam war record. In that ad a man named George Elliott, a retired Navy Lt. Commander, said that he made a terrible mistake when he signed the documents for Kerry's Silver Star. After that ad surfaced a story appeared in the Boston Globe written by Michael Kranish saying that Elliot had recanted his story.
Then things got curious.
After the Kranish story about Elliot's retraction ran, Elliot reportedly stepped forward and said that the Kranish article was wrong and that he had not, in fact, retracted his statement contained in the Swiftees' ad. It was also reported that Michael Kranish was somewhat of a Kerry insider, having written an introduction to the Kerry-Edwards campaign book entitled "Our Plan for America." That led to this story in the Globe written by Susan Milligan. Milligan said that the Globe was standing by it's reporting, and that Kranish did not have any connection to the Kerry campaign and did not write any introduction to Kerry's book.
Then things got even more curious.
Did Kranish write an introduction to the Kerry-Edwards campaign book or not? Has he been exposed as a Kerry supporter bringing his bias to his news reporting? Or has there been a simple misunderstanding.
Let's just say if you had searched Amazon.com or PublicAffairsBooks looking for the Kerry-Edwards book last week you would have seen a reference to an introduction written by Michael Kranish. Later, after the Kranish article about Elliot's supposed retraction appeared in the Boston Globe, the web pages for the campaign book suddenly dropped the references to Kranish and his introduction.
Interesting
If kerry never brought up his service record then i would say these commericals are out of line but he will not drop it, so he has to expect this kind of stuff. Kerry this isnt Massachusetts anymore
Boortz is great, as always.
This story won't go away. Do I dare start to hope that the media will actually start looking at the FACTS of Kerry's abbreviated tour of duty?
"My name is Steve Gardner. I served in 1966 and 1967 on my first tour of duty in Vietnam on Swift boats, and I did my second tour in '68 and '69, involved with John Kerry in the last 2 1/2 months of my tour. The John Kerry that I know is not the John Kerry that everybody else is portraying. I served alongside him and behind him, five feet away from him in a gun tub, and watched as he made indecisive moves with our boat, put our boats in jeopardy, put our crews in jeopardy... if a man like that can't handle that 6-man crew boat, how can you expect him to be our Commander-in-Chief?"
-- Steven Gardner
The above quote was from a press conference given at the National Press Club in Washington on May 4, 2004. You may view Steven’s comments at the following web site. Just scroll down to Steven’s picture and click on it.
http://swift1.he.net/~swiftvet/index.php?topic=SwiftVetQuotes
Searching through that web site, you will find 250 men who served on Swift boats, including the entire chain of command above Lt. Kerry, agree with Steven Gardner that Kerry is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief. That compares to the 13 crew members who support his candidacy.
Don't hold your breath until the media looks into his short tour of duty.
In 1971 when Kerry made public statements that he committed atrocities, was there an investigation? If so, what were the findings and have they been made public?
Very interesting. Do we need any more evidence of leftist bias in the media?
Problem with this is the Rats and media --I know, same thing -- can spin any Republican questioning of Kerry's service into "attacks". I think we need to hear more Bush supporters on TV
1) pointing out that they would love to be able to ignore an examination of Kerry's VN experience but that he is the one who keeps bringing it up.
2) presenting Kerry's Senate record and asking why Kerry is ashamed to run on that.
I watched the press conference where the letter surfaced that Al Queda was complaining Bush was "destroying us".
All the reporters could do was ask the same question over and over again - was Bush AWOL during his guard service. They were rude and fixated on this.
Now they don't want to even touch this issue with Kerry- not to find out the truth, nothing. I am so sick of the biased liberal media. I don't buy newspapers anymore, don't watch mainstream TV news. I've had it.
Not likely, unless some bombshell hits the Kerry story...even Fox News is backing off on the veterans' stories.....always the double standard for the Republicans.......very, very frustrating....
He was a manipulative schemer but Kerry never volunteered to get anywhere near Vietnam combat.
I see that you are doing the same thing that I am. I only watch the local news, don't take any papers, and watch Fox. Even Susan Estrich on Fox pisses me off and I e-mailed them to complain. Told them to buy her a can of Raid so she would quit squirming around from the ants in her panties. I can take Alan Colmes but not she drives me up the wall.
good point!
truth is you cant live in the "fish bowl" that is politics & put up "curtains" to selectively hide certain info from the public.
I don't know Neal Boortz.
But that is a GREAT title.
Like some FReeper's tag line says: "I went to Vietnam, yadda yadda yadda, I want to be President." That's the campaign.
Dan
Gotta love #9!
Dan
Oh, wow! It's awesome, thanks so much for ping :-)
Prime Choice... one of your best ever and absolutely perfect!
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