I'm not a veteran, but I was at the VFW Cincinnati Convention, as shown in pic here. I also had two other SWIFTBOAT signs that I gave out for others to hold, one of whom was a real tall VFW'er.
Posted on 11/20/2004 2:11:56 PM PST by FairOpinion
The election is over but the bickering never stopped. Some voters are suffering from "post election stress disorder." Pundits and partisans are stepping up to next face-off: judicial appointments. Yet the country has united on one issue: Vietnam.
Ernest Lefever described the American attitude toward Vietnam: "The two diametrically opposed interpretations of Vietnam continue to vie for the American psyche. Until the issue is resolved, we will suffer from a kind of historical schizophrenia."
The parade of Vietnam Veterans across the stage at the Democrats National Convention received a standing ovation, the first of its kind from the protesting class. The Democrats saw John Kerry's Vietnam service as his most attractive quality. Some countered that Kerry's activities in the 1970's maligned two million American service members. The Swift Boat Veterans questioned if John Kerry's service was as honorable as that of his peers. But all agreed that Vietnam Veterans are national heroes, an admission long overdue by the Left.
John O'Neill shined a spotlight into the shadows and declared: We are not the war criminals John Kerry described. In his 1971 Senate testimony, Kerry had quoted hearsay from an anti-war conference, charging widespread atrocities and American war crimes. None of the testimony was ever verified. Several participants were proven to be impostors.
Forty years later, John Kerry "reporting for duty" exuded pride in his Vietnam service. He had no apology for the fellow soldiers he had described as "a generation of monsters," no explanation to the POWs for advocating a unilateral withdrawal of American forces.
America remembered how Vietnam Vets were treated. "My father had red paint poured on him when he came back from Viet Nam." Dave, now an Army Reservist, recounted. "You can't live a normal life when you're being spit on, when you have bags of feces thrown at you, or when some idiot is dumping red paint on you or calling you a baby killer."
Vietnam Veterans were personified as damaged victims and drug crazed social failures. Yet suicide rates, drug abuse rates and incarceration rates are no higher for Vietnam Vets than for non-vets, Mackubin Thomas Owens reports. In fact, 91% were "glad they had served their country." Broadcasting their proud faces, John O'Neill showed America that the crazed brother hidden in the attic is really the neighboring Grampa who shovels out the old ladies when it snows.
Like looking at a fun house mirror, America saw a reflection of itself distorted by time yet true today. The Iraq war is like Vietnam: O'Neill and his comrades, decorated veterans, pointed out the similarities.
The Media: The Swift Vets prompted a reexamination of the role of the media in undermining national will. The 1968 Tet Offensive, a US victory, was proclaimed a disaster by Walter Cronkite: "For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate."
Cronkite's pessimistic analysis is similar to the current media's declaration of quagmire two weeks into the Afghan War and at the first dust storm in Iraq. CBS's Harry Smith, like many of his colleagues, believes "we’re sinking deeper into the sand in Iraq." Now like then, some prominent journalists are champions of failure.
The Policy: In time, the once discredited domino theory gained new legitimacy when clusters of countries tipped to democracy, 120 in 40 years, while Indochina and the Middle East remained enclaves of brutal authoritarianism.
It became clear that the modern fascism of Wahabbism and Diobandism is spawned in repressive states, that terrorism has less to do with economic poverty than with political poverty. A free Iraq for a safer America is a statement that has credibility in the 21st century.
The Aftermath: In a 1971 debate with John O’Neill, Kerry discussed his proposed policy: “I realize that there would be certain political assassinations, and that might take place…. then I think to talk about four or five thousand people is lunacy in terms of the overall argument.” There were a hundred thousand immediate political assassinations.
A million died. A million fled. A million were imprisoned. These were the civilians American soldiers were working to protect, the Communism they were fighting to destroy.
The Hard Left, urging a quick exit from Iraq, appears to have as little regard for the Iraqis who stand with the US today. After reviewing the aftermath of withdrawal from Vietnam, others renewed their determination to prevail in Iraq.
Recently, pundits asked: "Why are we refighting the Vietnam War when there's a real war on?" America is coming to see one war, from World War One to Iraq War, an ongoing battle for the continued existence of America, in defense of the democratic political system. A wiser America has incorporated the lessons of Vietnam and is not swayed by the media bias, understanding both the Iraq policy and the consequences of its abandonment. The Vietnam Veterans deserve the same place of honor and gratitude as the doughboys and the flyboys. This is the new national consensus. We have the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth to thank for this new national unity, long over due.
Jane Novak is a New Jersey based political analyst and commentator in the US and Middle East. She maintains the blog armiesofliberation.com
Works Cited:
Vietnams Ghosts by Ernest Lefever http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.95/pub_detail.asp
Patriotism and the lack thereof: Ragin Dave http://www.4rwws.blogspot.com/2004_09_05_4rwws_archive.html#109449619572899214
Walter Cronkite broadcast: http://www.richmond.edu/~ebolt/history398/Cronkite_1968.html
Media Research Center: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20041110.asp#2
Harry Smith quote: http://www.mrc.org/notablequotables/2004/nq20041011.asp
Mackubin Thomas Owens "But Was It True" National Review Feb 23, 2004 pg 34-39
Kerry Quote: http://www2.swiftvets.com/index.php?topic=KerryONeill
I received a post card today from the Swifties
Dear Patriot:
Thank you very much for your recent contribution to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The only way we can get the truth out about John Kerry is with the help of Americans such as you.
We are proud to have you with us.
Very truly yours,
Weymouth D. Symmes
Treasurer
I am very proud to be able to support such a group with their fortitude, prudence and justice to protect the American way. Thank you sirs for your efforts and may God bless you each and every one. PROSOUTH
(Note: you really should be listening to the MIDI when singing this...it is written to track with the particular MIDI chosen)
You came to the war zone and...joined us in battle and
A swift boat's in your command
We didn't know then you were out for yourself
And all the things you had planned
You won a few medals and for that you'd settle and
There was a record...now you could boast
Then you...had turned on us...just when it would hurt us the most
You turned on us when it would hurt us the most
Then in Senate hearings with the whole world watching you
Your brothers you had defamed
We're killers of babies and criminal scum
Of us our nation's ashamed
You won a few medals and for that you'd settle and
There was a record...now you could boast
Then you...had turned on us...just when it would hurt us the most
You turned on us when it would hurt us the most
When we came back home we thought we did our duty but
People would spit in our face
We felt that those jungles in which we had fought
Had been a friendlier place
You won a few medals and for that you'd settle and
There was a record...now you could boast
Then you...had turned on us...just when it would hurt us the most
You turned on us when it would hurt us the most
Our kids are serving now...they do it proudly and
You tell us you want to lead
We'd all walk through hell to be stopping you, John
Those words you had better heed
You won a few medals and for that you'd settle and
There was a record...now you could boast
Then you...had turned on us...just when it would hurt us the most
Listen, people, to the story of the man who won the day
We had really dodged a bullet...with his men he would lead the way
When he learned that John Forbes Kerry had been working on a plan
He could never let that happen...that man's unfit for command
DemocRATS would launch their salvos...he stood up to every blow
They used every dirty tactic...but they could not make him go
He risked his life once for his country...and stepped up again
John O'Neill and the SwiftVets...you will never know finer men
All the lefties got together and they said these men had lied
They would not debate the substance...John Forbes Kerry simply denied
We watched the charade keep going...records he would not reveal
Brokaw, Jennings, and Dan Rather thought that it was no big deal
DemocRATS would launch their salvos...he stood up to every blow
They used every dirty tactic...but they could not make him go
He risked his life once for his country...and stepped up again
John O'Neill and the SwiftVets...you will never know finer men
Voters finally paid attention...Kerry's wounded, and it showed
This man was a fake and phony...from his mouth the anger had flowed
On a fateful day it happened...on a Tuesday in '04
That is when he was rejected...Kerry had been shown the door
DemocRATS would launch their salvos...he stood up to every blow
They used every dirty tactic...but they could not make him go
He risked his life once for his country...and stepped up again
John O'Neill and the SwiftVets...you will never know finer men
Thank-you Swifties x 1000 and thank you FairOpinion for posting this article. I just found a new tagline (and bumper sticker)
If he ever DID that - the MSM would swarm. President Bush had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the Swift Boat Veterans!
Truthful patriots, they are. Anti-kerry patriots, LOL!
===
bdfromlv
Here, kitty, kitty!
John O'Neill and the Swifties (and the POWs who joined in) should be the Persons of the Year.
...I think they would at least qualify for an honorable mention in the Time Man of the Year selection.
A monster you are not. Keep up the good work.
I'm not a veteran, but I was at the VFW Cincinnati Convention, as shown in pic here. I also had two other SWIFTBOAT signs that I gave out for others to hold, one of whom was a real tall VFW'er.
John O'Neill and the Swifties (and the POWs who joined in) should be the HEROES of the Year.
Here is a great thread in response to a "thank you" from John O'Neill:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1280569/posts
Amen. If Hanoi John had pulled something like that during WWll he would have been shot for treason.
Roger that! I was thinking along the lines of Time Magazine's end-of-the-year award (which rarely goes to whom it's deserved-last year was notable exception). John O'Neill, the Swifties, and the POWs who supported them are definitely this veteran's heroes.
A lot of people who post to FR have to get over this fear of the LM. They are increasingly irrelevant. They literally conspired not to air a word of the Swift Vets complaints. And yet, for all that shameless silence, people knew about them - from talk radio, from FOX before it turned, from web sites and blogs, from word of mouth.
Still - however - I also worry that Kerry got 47-48% of the vote, whatever the final numbers. In fact, it wasn't sKerry who got those votes. It was the ABB. They would have voted for Hitler - himself - if he'd been running at the head of the Dem ticket against President George Bush. And if not Hitler, then Hitler's dog. In other words, not Kerry, but anybody or anything but Bush. It's possible that as the LM further embarrasses itself that some of these haters will be peeled away. And that would be the difference. But the LM have done their work, from K-12, college, through sitcoms and kid's tv, through the 'art scene', local tv 'news', at the workplace and almost everywhere else for that dependent national class that votes Dem. It's a vast sub-population of the stupid. And stupid shouldn't vote.
God bless the Swifties!
But let's not pretend that the Democrats standing ovation for Kerry's Band of Brothers was in any way a genuine display of gratitude for veteran's service to the nation. It was smokescreen BS, from the people who hate the military. They found a war protester who they thought they could pass off as a war hero, a completely cynical and insulting ploy, and it backfired.
The Democrats finally found a "Baby Killer" they could love, a dandy from Boston who pushed two million vets in front of a speeding bus by labeling them all war criminals. The Swifties called their bluff, and the people recognized the ruse. Notice there wasn't a WORD about Vietnam in the media in the last six weeks before the election?
The whole war hero thing fizzled, and they ignored it, in large part due to the Swifties brave efforts.
bump! bump! bump!
Re: "Kerry's Band of Brothers" - one of those guys could make a bundle of money from some publisher just for telling the truth about Kerry, in Vietnam and during the campaign.
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