Posted on 08/24/2004 4:45:39 AM PDT by KeyLargo
www.suntimes.com
Open the records and shut the speculation
August 24, 2004
While George Washington seems to have managed to become president without having too many people leaping to impugn his character or questioning his role in the American victory in the Revolutionary War, just about every other candidate who would become president since then has found his military record and character the subject of intense public scrutiny.
Sen. John Kerry is no different. Though the past fortnight's debate over just what went on in the four months Kerry saw duty in Vietnam is particularly bitter, even in the rough-and-tumble annals of American presidential politics.
Part of this is Kerry's own fault. America likes its heroes to be humble, and by making his Vietnam duty the cornerstone of the Democratic National Convention -- from the chorus of military buddies to his starting his speech by snapping off a salute and announcing "John Kerry reporting for duty,'' the Democratic challenger held up his service as iconic, emphasizing his few months in Vietnam over his many years in the U.S. Senate.
The savage partisan attacks Kerry has been enduring appear to be having an impact. As one Democrat close to the campaign told the New York Times, "When you're basically running on your biography, and there are ongoing attacks that are undermining the credibility of your biography, you have a really big problem." Some of the emotion in the campaign inspired by 250 other Vietnam veterans is obvious payback for Kerry's later opposition to the war and allegations that American servicemen committed war crimes.
Since there is ample blame to go around, the question should be not who is at fault for this sideshow, but how to end it. Nothing is more unappealing than the thought of this bickering over 35-year-old history extending any closer to November. The American people deserve better than that. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether John Kerry was a war hero or a self-aggrandizer half as much as his views on the economy, education, health care and the war on terror matter.
So how to get back to the actual issues? We think the best route is for both candidates to release all their military records and be done with it. Kerry should let the Pentagon share its files on the matter. And George W. Bush -- who is still being sued by the Associated Press for records related to his service in the Texas National Guard -- should do the same. Then perhaps we will only have a week more of this nonsense before we can move to more important matters.
Politics has been on a downward spiral for many years. It wasn't enough for Bill Clinton to be a bad president, in his enemies' eyes, he had to be a rapist too. It isn't enough for those who hate the current president to question his policies or motives, he has to be tarred as an imbecile. These are childish squabbles, not worthy of the great democratic traditions of this country, and can only be remedied by restraint and candor on both sides.
There's more to this story
People tend to admire reticence in veterans. As much as we may want to know what it was like, in our hearts we respect those who'd rather not say. There is something suspect about those always reminiscing about their exploits in battle. You tend to write them off as braggarts at best, and liars at worse.
But when a man's honor is being besmirched, as John Kerry's has been, you would expect his former buddies to leap to his aid. There is something disquieting in the silence of Chicago Tribune editor William B. Rood, who says he knew of facts supporting the beleaguered Democratic candidate and his account of events, but said nothing and did nothing until the campaign came looking for him and asked for his support. Only then did he come forward with his story.
That makes one wonder. As does Rood's telling the story only once, for his newspaper, and then refusing to answer the legitimate questions about his account. This is a matter of both political and historical importance, too vital to be allowed to be influenced by selfish motives. We are in the news media ourselves and understand the value of a good scoop. But he gave it to his newspaper; he should now be willing to answer questions about his story and about how he came to tell it. Doing otherwise casts doubt on the value of his testimony.
If you would like to help the Swift Boat Vets ( as I have, and I urge all to do-- even a few dollars will help ) kindly click on this logo:
If, perchance, the top "click the pic" link is not visible, click here:
I have to agree. And rightfully so.
Here's the contrast:
There's is something about the way Kerry handles himself that screams selfish opportunist, arrogant, elitist, lying SOS!
He is a phony, and I don't even need 254 SBV to tell me that.
"What records is the AP suing for?"
I had the same question. I hope someone knows the answer.
The President did release ALL records, and three weeks ago the Pentagon found his missing pay records and made them public.
This is just more blatant lying by the MSM.
LLS
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,123438,00.html
The AP wants the actual microfilm stored in the TX archives because they don't believe the administration released everything. Apparently, the Pentagon and the National Guard are a little bit too busy right now to (once again) drag out 30 year-old records because some news organization, with no evidence, thinks the administration is holding back something.
But to this "journalist" that's the same thing as Kerry refusing to release records.
Thanks for the information. Maybe they could send Sandy Bergler to view the microfilm for them.
In a nutshell, this is the Democrat's view of "character".
This may be the newest MO, BTW. So what if Kerry lied about his record. Everybody lies. What matters is his views on health care, blah, blah, blah...
The Kerry campaign may actually be toying with the idea of coming clean and admitting he exaggerated (if not outright lied) about his record and that he feels terrible about it. Then say "let's move on". If he did that, he would be the MSM's biggest hero since Clinton.
... to his starting his speech by snapping off a salute and announcing "John Kerry reporting for duty,"... He didn't "snap off" a salute. I thought it was rather haphazard.
But my point here is that the first words out of his mouth were his name. Tell me there were folks in the audience who didn't know who he is.
This is just more of his narcissistic personality shining through.
A better line would have been, "I'm reporting for duty as ordered by YOU!"
The applause would have been deafening!
Hell will be frozen solid before Kerry makes his 180 available. IMHO.
When/if Kerry is revealed to have put himself in for his own medals. It will be all over, a blood bath landslide against the RATS.
I can hardly wait, but I will not hold my breath.
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