Posted on 08/23/2004 9:47:32 AM PDT by jbwbubba
Monday, Aug. 23, 2004 12:39 a.m. EDT Hentoff: Kerry in War Record Cover-up
Longtime civil libertarian and columnist for the left-wing Village Voice, Nat Hentoff charged Sunday that the Kerry campaign is engaged in a transparent cover-up of the Massachusetts Democrat's war record and an attempt to muzzle freedom of speech.
In an interview with WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg, Hentoff noted that the Pentagon has responded to a Washington Post Freedom of Information Act request for Kerry's full military file by turning over just six pages of their 100-plus page Kerry dossier, with a spokesman explaining that Kerry himself wouldn't authorized the release of the full file. Kerry has also refused to turn over diaries that the candidate kept during his Vietnam service, with the campaign insisting that an exclusive agreement with Kerry biographer Douglas Brinkley for his 2003 book "Tour of Duty" prevents any further disclosure.
But Hentoff said he wasn't buying that excuse, telling Malzberg, "I have done biographies of John Cardinal O'Connor and A.J. Muste and I've never heard of that kind of agreement."
"The question is, what is Kerry trying to hide?" said the Village Voice writer. "He claims he's interested in the truth. If he's interested in the truth, then release the records."
Hentoff said he's astounded at the media's response to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, whose eyewitness accounts have catapulted the issue of Kerry's war record to the top of the campaign agenda.
"I can't recall ever seeing such distortion of the motivations and the witnessing of these more than 200 Vietnam veterans," he complained.
Of Kerry's efforts to muzzle the Swiftvets by threatening lawsuits against TV stations who carry their ads, Hentoff said, "This tells you something about how a President Kerry is going to handle dissent."
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Of Kerry's efforts to muzzle the Swiftvets by threatening lawsuits against TV stations who carry their ads, Hentoff said, "This tells you something about how a President Kerry is going to handle dissent."
THAT says it all.
Kerry's done. You can put a fork in him.
Hillary's Reichstadt is now engaged.
It's just gettin better and better! Couple more weeks and sKerry will wish he had saved one of those grenades.
Nat Hentoff is the kind of liberal I would be proud to call a friend.
Wow! Whazzup? Is this a lib hit on Kerry? If so, he's in deep manure. (hi darks)
Interesting thing is that conservatives are civil libertarians in many cases. We believe in the rights set forth by the constitution. We believe in free speech, the right to bear arms, the right to judicial process and that the government not infringe upon them.
It scares them to death that ANYONE would try to use the power of the government to try to shut ANYONE up just because they put out a damaging message. That is one genie they aren't ready to let out of the bottle.
Can one win with the vast left and right wing conspiracies aligned against you?
i lived in NYC for 9 years...If the VOICE is calling out Kerry it is OVER!
I used to read Nat Hentoff every Saturday in the Washington Post which used to carry his column. Unfortunately, Mr. Hentoff, despite his mostly liberal point of view, is pro-life, and I think that's why the WP stopped carrying his column. He has always been a strong defender of freedom of speech.
If he doesn't have one handy, I'm sure Hillary has a spare one he can borrow!
And we could profit from his encyclopedic knowledge of jazz.
He is one of the few liberals I would LIKE to talk to.
Exactly! Can you imagine Kerry with the powers of the Patriot Act? No disenter would be safe.
That's because he's a civil libertarian. You know, as some around here call them, loserdopians.
I heard this interview. Hentoff was mocking Kerry about the Brinkley thing. In fact, the interview was pretty devastating. Hentoff is no lightweight.
Sounds to me as if John Kerry's Swift Boat to the WH is starting to spring big leaks.
KristallNacht begins for Kerry. The night of the long knives of Hitlary has arrived. Muhahahahahaha....
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