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The ‘Swift-Boating’ of Bowe Bergdahl [vast conspiracy includes Democrats and Afghan villagers]
National Review ^ | 6/6/2014 | Rich Lowry

Posted on 06/06/2014 3:12:46 AM PDT by markomalley

As the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap has curdled from presumed triumph to public-relations nightmare, the White House and its defenders have cast about for excuses to explain why the administration’s negotiating brilliance has gone unappreciated.

White House staffers told NBC’s Chuck Todd that they were taken aback at the “swift-boating” of Bergdahl by his former comrades. That’s a reference to the attacks on John Kerry when he was the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee by the troops he served with in Vietnam.

Rightly understood, “swift-boating” shouldn’t be a pejorative — it’s what happens when men in uniform feel betrayed by a comrade and tell the public what they believe to be the truth about his service. But for Democrats and the media, swift-boating is about the most heinous thing that can happen to someone.

Bowe Bergdahl thus joins Kerry as a victim of a partisan smear campaign — except, unlike the secretary of state, Bergdahl doesn’t have any prestigious medals to throw away (or pretend to throw away) at an anti-war protest.

Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, tweeted, “Really sad to watch Obama haters attack this kid who CHOSE to fight to protect the rest of us, just to score political points.”

On CNN, Van Jones said that “the airwaves are being filled mysteriously with former solders just trashing the guy.” Ah, but it’s not so mysterious, after all. “It turns out,” Jones intoned, “that there are Republican operatives who are working behind the scenes to get some of those guys on television — this is an orchestrated smear campaign.”

He was alluding to former Republican official Richard Grenell putting a few of the troops together with journalists. Evidently, these guys should have waited until former White House spokesman Robert Gibbs offered to hook them up, and otherwise kept to themselves their silly stories about what they went through in Afghanistan after Bergdahl’s disappearance.

More than half a dozen of Bergdahl’s former comrades have said he deliberately walked off his base in 2009 after becoming disillusioned with the war, and that soldiers were killed looking for him.

Let’s stipulate that — given the fog of war — these accounts might exaggerate the harm done by Bergdahl’s disappearance. But there is no doubt that they are sincere, and the anger is real. What are the odds that Bergdahl happened to get assigned to a platoon full of highly politicized soldiers who waited years for the opportunity to use the circumstances of his capture as a cudgel against President Barack Obama?

As the pseudonymous blogger Allahpundit points out, if there were comrades who would vouch for Bergdahl, or who were witnesses to him being snatched while lagging behind on patrol (as Bergdahl maintained in a video after his capture), we would presumably have heard from them by now.

The conspiracy against Bergdahl is so vast that it encompasses Afghan villagers. Some of them told the Washington Post that they saw Bergdahl after he walked away from his base, heading for Taliban strongholds and ignoring their warnings that he was in danger.

None of this necessarily means that the trade for Bergdahl was wrong, or that we shouldn’t have wanted him back. But it makes the deal harder to defend, which is why the initial White House spin about Bergdahl was so positive — until the facts got in the way. In the space of about three days, he went from serving with “honor and distinction,” per National Security Adviser Susan Rice’s initial assurances on the Sunday shows, to “innocent until proven guilty,” per Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey’s comment about a potential court-martial.

The top Taliban officials released from Guantanamo Bay to get Bergdahl back were last seen hugging and kissing supporters in Qatar, where they are supposed to be watched for a year. Even the president admits that they could return to the fight. Huffy complaints about swift-boating and partisanship aren’t going to put to rest all the questions about this deal.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: bergdahl; bowebergdahl
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1 posted on 06/06/2014 3:12:46 AM PDT by markomalley
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To: markomalley
Swift boating should be defined as the exposing of a poltroon who inflates his biography.

This is often confused, quite deliberately by the mainstream media, with "borking" which should be defined as "attack viciously a candidate or appointee, especially by misrepresentation in the media.” According to William Safire in The New York Times.

Our mission on FreeRepublic should be to "Swift boat" the unworthy and to prevent the "borking" of the worthy.


2 posted on 06/06/2014 3:21:54 AM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: markomalley

The White House is throwing everything they have at this story in the hopes of diffusing their compound lies.

The socialists are desperate to save Obama, so useful idiots, like Chuck Todd, go out and repeat anything in hopes it gains some traction and that the other media follow suit.

But its not working anymore,


3 posted on 06/06/2014 3:22:05 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi
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To: markomalley

Those who think this guy was a collaborating deserter are the ones who were there.

Those who think he served honorably were not.


4 posted on 06/06/2014 3:29:21 AM PDT by socal_parrot (I hate to say I told you so, but...)
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To: Erik Latranyi
"But its not working anymore"

Amen.
This time ZERO stepped in a pile of it.
If the Army follows the UCMJ it states that leaving your post FOR ANY REASON without permission from your CO is desertion plan and simple. Now we find out the scum actually helped (worked with) the enemy. That deserves the death penalty.

5 posted on 06/06/2014 3:30:06 AM PDT by DeaconRed (D-Day Thank you brave military for a job well done. . . . . We are free thanks to You! ! ! !)
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To: markomalley

The divide between right and left is so vast that although we use the same words they mean diametrically opposed things. To the right Swift-boating was patriotic Americans coming forward and telling their story to stop a charlatan from gaining the highest office in the land. To the left it means telling lies to defame a Gaia anointed saint who would make the land cool and prevent the ocean from rising so we can all eat Skittles from the Skittle tree and drink Starbucks which will bubble forth from springs. (Cue rainbow and pass the joint.)

But you’d think when the left formed its message to the entire spectrum they’d recognize the language divide as the right certainly does and craft a message that would reach the entire public. Instead, they fall back on lefty insider shorthand. It’s rather as if a set of twins who have developed their own language use their exclusive words to address the body politic.

The left does not appear to have a George Will with his carefully crafted prose which builds a logical case. Instead they use dog whistles and insider words and phrases only other lefties hear. I suppose we should count ourselves lucky they don’t have a George Barnard Shaw. The era when socialists knew how to persuasively write to sway the body politic has, thankfully, passed.

Swiftboat on, dude!


6 posted on 06/06/2014 3:31:24 AM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: DeaconRed

It has been a long time, but I seem to recall that “intent” plays a role in deciding if it is desertion or AWOL. If he intended to return it would be AWOL. His capture makes that distinction hard to determine. Is the fact that they were in a combat zone important?


7 posted on 06/06/2014 3:43:16 AM PDT by muskah
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To: DeaconRed
Bergdahl did not just desert. He joined jihad.

Bergdahl deckared Jihad in 2010

I already heard rumors that the military told the White House that they would shoot Bergdahl on sight. Another reason why the White House moved unilaterally and in secret from the rest of government.

8 posted on 06/06/2014 3:43:32 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi
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To: Gen.Blather

You’ve hit the nail on the head. The phrase “swift boating” is a dog whistle calling the leftist minions to attention.


9 posted on 06/06/2014 3:44:07 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: markomalley

More blood on the hands of the traitors.


10 posted on 06/06/2014 3:47:30 AM PDT by NTHockey (Rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners. And to the NSA trolls, FU)
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To: socal_parrot
Those who think this guy was a collaborating deserter are the ones who were there.

Those who think he served honorably were not.

Well said!

11 posted on 06/06/2014 3:50:39 AM PDT by GreenHornet
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To: nathanbedford

I donated money to the Swift Boat Veterans that election cycle. One of the things I have done that I am most proud.


12 posted on 06/06/2014 3:57:50 AM PDT by Lawgvr1955 ( Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: nathanbedford

Robert Bork was a fine man!


13 posted on 06/06/2014 4:11:14 AM PDT by The_Media_never_lie (The media must be defeated any way it can be done.)
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To: nathanbedford
It's important to bring up the true meaning of swiftboating. My definition is "telling the truth about the military record lied about by Democrats".

Let's say a Republican inflated, or lied about his military record. He gets attacked. Would that be condemned as "swiftboating"? Obviously not, except possibly by the desperate politician.

14 posted on 06/06/2014 4:18:59 AM PDT by Jabba the Nutt (You can have a free country or government schools. Choose one.)
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To: muskah
It has been a long time, but I seem to recall that “intent” plays a role in deciding if it is desertion or AWOL.
Been a long time for me too, but IIRC, you're AWOL for the first 30 days you're gone, then it becomes desertion.
Intent has nothing to do with it.
15 posted on 06/06/2014 4:56:16 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: markomalley

“The ‘Swift-Boating’ of Bowe Bergdahl “

Some on this site describe liberals as insane. I have not agreed with this assessment - however, I do note that one of the signs of some types of insanity is a paranoid fear that the entire world is in a conspiracy that actively works against the subject.


16 posted on 06/06/2014 5:17:49 AM PDT by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
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To: markomalley
As has been said forever; "if you're getting some flack then you must be over a target!"

Just more BS from the arseholes in the 'People's House'!

17 posted on 06/06/2014 5:36:09 AM PDT by harpu ( "...it's better to be hated for who you are than loved for someone you're not!")
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To: Erik Latranyi

hussein’s idea of military honor.


18 posted on 06/06/2014 5:53:09 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: All

MEGYN KELLY’S POWERFUL INTERVIEW WITH SIX MEMBERS OF BERGDAHL’S PLATOON

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/06/05/Megyn-Kellys-Powerful-Interview-With-Six-Members-of-Bergdahl-Platoon


19 posted on 06/06/2014 6:44:45 AM PDT by Hotlanta Mike ("Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it." Lao Tzu)
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To: markomalley

White House staffers told NBC’s Chuck Todd that they were taken aback at the “swift-boating” of Bergdahl by his former comrades.

That is because no one on the White House staff has an military background and have little to no understanding of the men and women that serve to defend our Nation.
Why would the men that he deserted from have any sympathy for Bergdahl? You just freed 5 of the enemy that their brothers had died fighting to capture. For what? An American that turned his back on his comrades? The White House is just full of idiots.............


20 posted on 06/06/2014 6:45:44 AM PDT by SECURE AMERICA (I am an American - Not a Republican or a Democrat.)
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