Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief (John Lehman)

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature.

"It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said.

The additional language varied from the two previous citations, signed first by Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and then Adm. John Hyland, which themselves differ. The new material added in the Lehman citation reads in part: "By his brave actions, bold initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty, Lieutenant (jg) Kerry reflected great credit upon himself...."

Asked how the citation could have been executed over his signature without his knowledge, Lehman said: "I have no idea. I can only imagine they were signed by an autopen." The autopen is a device often used in the routine execution of executive documents in government.

Kerry senior adviser Michael Meehan could not be reached for comment on Kerry's records.

Where was our media when this was happening, and why didn't they investigate it.

Long story, but I believe that most went into journalism over the past 30 years to "bring down the establishment." Some of them have matured and tempered their ideas. But the core value remains: America was wrong to develop dangerous and leaky weapons of mass destruction, to build a missile defense system that could have triggered a global nuclear holocaust (self defense is immoral), and to fight the domino theory in Vietnam.

Today they make up stories like, "Russia would have collapsed of its own weight." (Why would it when it had all the resources it needed from its victims of communist imperialism?)

So we can't expect them to have anything else but a schizophrenic perspective about Kerry today.

I'm not saying that nobody who opposed the war were right. I'm saying that most of the grounds on which the war was opposed were lies, and adults should be more willing to question lies than youth. Those people are adults today, but they're still not willing to question the basis on which they built a failed world view.

A successful world view given their stated values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (OK, that means hedonism for them, but so be it) would have been to support the American way, which gave them all of that, and still does promise to deliver it to any culture that adopts our stances on the rule of law, freedom of commerce, freedom of religion, plurality in government, and equality for all human beings.

I think you and I would agree that at least half of these activists practicing under the cloak of journalism were dupes of KGB propaganda machinery. They need to step away from the fog of brainwashing and remember that America destroyed colonialism by neutralizing the great European imperialist powers, liberated Europe twice, terminated the Holocaust, defeated the Soviet empire, and defended democracy in South America, Asia, Africa, and the mid east.

If the hippies wanted freedom, this is where they should have been looking for it. For a 30 year run of historic ignorance, they've been selling themselves and the American people the idea that liberty doesn't come from the barrel of a gun held by a principled, justice-loving, freedom-loving, and decent soldier.

By the way, Zell Miller's quote of Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC was RIGHT ON in the Republican Convention.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.