Well, Kerri should have been man enough to deliver it himself instead of sending Cleland. Even if it is illegal, it's not like that's ever bothered botox boy before.
Jerry Patterson, the Texas state land commissioner and a U.S. Marine who served in 1972-73, greeted the duo and handed back to Cleland and Rassmann a letter for Kerry signed by Reps. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., who spent 21 years in the Navy and Sam Johnson, R-Texas, who spent 28 years in the Air Force. Others who signed the letter are Robert O'Malley and James Fleming, who both received Medals of Honor for their service in the Marine Corps during Vietnam, retired Lt. Col. Richard Castle and Lt. Gen. Dave Palmer, a former superintendent at West Point. Officials said the two men were to be invited into the staff compound at the president's ranch and offered a discussion with Palmer and Patterson.
Patterson claims that Cleland refused to give him the Democrats' letter to Bush.
The letter from the president's supporters says Kerry can not claim to be a war hero while also claiming that he and his crewmates committed atrocities against the Vietnamese people. They also caution him against trying to silence his critics.
"You can't have it both ways. You can't build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up. There is no double standard for our right to free speech. We all earned it."
The letter from the "Bush supporters" was obviously handed out to reporters beforehand, since one of the reporters repeated the bolded paragraph above verbatim to Cleland, and asked him if the swift boat vets had a "right to free speech." Cleland, of course, didn't answer that question, but said something to the affect that "someone (meaning Bush) who didn't serve in Vietnam has no right to criticize those who did."
Another reporter asked Cleland why Kerry had asked him to do this today, when yesterday Kerry said he wanted to focus on the issues, not his Vietnam record. Another frothing-at-the mouth non-answer by Cleland followed.
After Cleland left, Patterson stepped up to the mike, but the reporters were more interested in who wrote the letter than in who signed it (the RNC conspiracy, of course).
Finally, an earlier version of this story on Foxnews.com reported that Cleland would be invited into a conference room on the ranch to meet with the vets who supported Bush.
Obviously, Cleland refused.
And there you have the rest of the story -- which, of course, will not be told by the MSM.