T. Boone Pickens Responds to Letter From U.S. Senator John Kerry

PR Newswire ^ | 11-15-07 | T. Boone Pickens

[Anti-Bubba182]

T. Boone Pickens Responds to Letter From U.S. Senator John Kerry

DALLAS, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a copy of a letter mailed by T. Boone Pickens in response to a letter from U.S. Senator John Kerry regarding the Senator's military record and ads in the 2004 presidential election by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

U.S. Senator John Kerry 304 Russell Building Third Floor Washington DC 20510

Dear Senator Kerry:

So glad to hear from you regarding the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth political ad campaign, and an offer I made public at an American Spectator dinner in Washington, D.C. last week. I am intrigued by your letter, and am certainly open to your challenge.

My concern at the Spectator Dinner was, and continues to be, that you and other political figures were and are maligning the Swift Boat Veterans, and I want to prevent this important part of American history from being unfairly portrayed.

In order to disprove the accuracy of the Swift Boat ads, I will ultimately need you to provide the following:

    1)  The journal you maintained during your service in Vietnam.
    2)  Your military record, specifically your service records for the years
        1971-1978, and copies of all movies and tapes made during your
        service.

When you have done so, if you can then prove anything in the ads was materially untrue, I will gladly award $1 million. As you know, I have been a long and proud supporter of the American military and veterans' causes. I now challenge you to make this commitment: If you cannot prove anything in the Swift Boat ads to be untrue, that you will make a $1 million gift to the charity I am choosing -- the Medal of Honor Foundation.

                                                  Sincerely,

T. Boone Pickens

CONTACT: JAY ROSSER, 214-265-4165

[Judith Anne]

Definitely. For a million dollars, nobody would settle for a “he said-she said” as any kind of proof.

[DemEater]

“No he hasn’t.....for Kerry to PROVE the Swift Boaters WRONG, the info from those three things need to be inspected.......whay is that so hard to understand.....it’s called PROOOF.”

T-Boone said disprove ANYTHING that the SBVT charged. Presumably the things Boone asked for wouldn’t necessarily be needed to disprove any 1 charge they made.

[purpleraine]

Or a second mate witness.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

First Rush’s letter from Dingy Harry, and now this.

[antinomian]

It does look like Pickens changed the terms of his challenge. It doesn't matter though. Kerry is the one on the ballot, not Pickens, so it doesn't matter what Pickens comes out looking like. What Pickens has cleverly done is to reignite the whole secrecy issue surrounding John Kerry's military records. Kerry still has not made his records public. Letting some tame reporter look at them is not making them public.

I thought there was some discussion in an earlier thread that what Kerry is really hiding is his IQ test score from the ASVAB battery. He doesn't want anyone to know GW tested higher than him.

[Grut]

Given the public nature of the challenge and assuming it was recorded, I’d say that Kerry already has an enforceable contract with Pickens. If Kerry can in fact “disprove even a single charge,” Pickens will have to pay.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Johnboy is welcome to try and open himself up to discovery.

[Mr Rogers]

The key word is PROVE. Pickens won’t accept the ‘word’ of the men on Kerry’s boat, who won their own awards based on his ridiculous accounts.

That is not a change.

[Leisler]

Change the conditions? What were the original conditions? Terms? Agreements?

There weren't any.

Now there is, in writing.
Further, what was in Yawn’s letter to Pickens?

Since, as I understand it, other than the challenge, Pickens gave no specifics, I don’t see how he is changing anything he did say.

Anyways, Pickens letter is short, and basic enough. Kerry can easily comply. He won’t.

Kerry has to continue on with this. Just like the Emory historian Bellesiles had to keep and up the lying on guns in Revolutionary America, so too does Yawn on his heroic deeds in the jungles of Cambodia.

[Anti-Bubba182]

"..Sorry, But as I understand it, traitor Kerry never signed for the full release of his military documents..."

Kerry allows Navy release of military, medical records

"..WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry, ending at least two years of refusal, has waived privacy restrictions and authorized the release of his full military and medical records..."

[DBrow]

Thanks for the ping!

[Anti-Bubba182]

Welcome!

[DBrow]

“And he looks like a moron for doing it.”

It will be a fun show to watch, though- Kerry is not adept at this sort of thing, and during his failed presidential bid, sometimes went beyond what his trainers told him to say.

NASCAR is on Sundays, this will fill in the week nicely.

[Bommer]

Kerry was clever in doing this, he signed the 180, released his records, and now it’s not his fault nor responsibility if we can’t pore over them in detail..."

Actually it is. He is still in complete 100% control of who has access to the records. There is a record of what was declassified. If he will not allow anyone to see the complete record, it only makes the Swiftees case that much more stronger. T.Boone needs to keep the heat up. Upping the offer by $1 million a month with various proceeds to go to military children funds. Keep it going up to his re-election and he is doomed!

[Anti-Bubba182]

"...Keep it going up to his re-election and he is doomed!."

Not in Massachusetts. He could do worse and survive.

[DustyMoment]

Translation - Teh-RAY-zah! has cutoff his allowance and he needs the money.

Plus, he’s afraid we’ve forgotten what a disingenuous pathetic liar he is.

[ricks_place]

John Kerry voted for the Swift Boat Challenge before John Kerry voted against the Swift Boat Challenge.

[OldEagle]

"The key word is PROVE. Pickens won’t accept the ‘word’ of the men on Kerry’s boat, who won their own awards based on his ridiculous accounts.

That is not a change."

I have suspected for a long time that U S Senator JFK has had his records sanitized. Like a lot of other things it is possible and might account for the strange dates or the absence of any date on some of his papers.

I expect TBP is sharper than I so we shall see.

[RVN Airplane Driver]

I wasn’t in the boats but I was there at the same time in the same AO.....Kerry is a fooking liar...chicken $hiite too boot. We worked the air above those folks.... The kerry’s of the world all seem to come from the chicken shiites of the wealthy North East elites. Out of my flight school class that finally finished of 36....of the living only one is a professed “Rat”...and guess where he comes from? Massachusetts, thank you very much...and he finished right at the bottom of our class.....onc a “Rat’ dumbass always a “rat” dumbass’!!

[DBrow]

That was me that said he was so clever. I said it because in this fight, the press (or media, or DBM, or...) is the only factor that can bring this story to the people at large. The way Kerry did this, he can claim that he did what everyone has been demanding him to do, and the press will say, Oh, OK, and that may be that. They won’t dig or press him, they’ll turn on the Swifts.

They’l segue to what Kranish wrote about the supposed “full release”, and note that there are even more commendations and heroic acts than the modest Kerry had admitted to. This tactic works for the Clintons and may work for Kerry.

My hope is that he’ll goof up, which he tends to do on occasion, or that there will be a major news outlet that does not let him get away with these half-truths.

If he’s hoping for a VP slot, then some media outlet nationally may tackle the story- but if he’s merely ramping up for his re-election, then it’s the Boston Globe and the Herald, I don’t know what other papers there are but they probably are pretty insignificant considering that most of the population is inside of Rt 495. The Globe will defend Kerry no matter what he does or says, just like they defend Kennedy, Frank, Olbert, and the rest of the Progressive Caucus.