Brit Hume and Lt Col Bill Cowan Supporting Switfee Story

Fox News

[what's up]

Hume looks to be going after the story. Asking ALL the right questions.

Basically the main topic was whether the other Swift Boat people would have been considered as "serving" with John Kerry.

Lt Col Bill Cowan who served on a Swift Boat said "Absolutely!" In FACT, someone on another boat might be able to BETTER see what was going on on Kerry's boat than the men on the boat themselves because they have a panoramic view of the scene.

[John Valentine]

I wouldn't hold my breath.

Beleive me, I'm not. What I AM doing is sending e-mails, links, and news stories to everyone on my e-mail list asking them to keep this story going and spreading.

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Actually, here's the direct link: John Kerry: Hunter, Dreamer, Realist

[Right_in_Virginia]

Please define "GOP insider".

[hansel]

From the wash post (that conservative bastion!):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59559-2003May30_4.html

and from the candidate himself:
http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/news/news_2003_0601.html


Hasn't made it into the network news yet. Not even Fox.

[austingirl]

Buh-bye, troll. You didn't last long.

[John Valentine]

jrlcislibplant member since August 11, 2004.

Credibility? ZERO.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Wow...a member since tomorrow. Didn't catch that. Thanks.

[Political Junkie Too]

Basically the main topic was whether the other Swift Boat people would have been considered as "serving" with John Kerry.

How is it that, with Kerry, if you weren't on the same boat you didn't SERVE TOGETHER, even if you got your briefings together, ate together, bunked together etc., and yet with Bill Clinton, he wasn't ALONE with Lewinksy because he considered himself to be in the larger area of the West Wing with all the other people in the outer offices and corridors?

-PJ

[Kaslin]

Brit should put Lt Col Cowan against Susan Estrich and let her spin that the swiftboats vets did not serve with Kerry so the Col could set her straight for once and for all

[AndyJackson]

You didn't last long

Pretty poor effort. One whiney snively little and poof.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Bill O'Reilly may change his tune in the next few days or any credibilty he had is destroyed. His show is built on "No Spin" or "We're looking out for you."

If he makes a conscioence decision to ignore this story (especially as more facts are revealed), he has no credibility. He will never, ever be able to make either claim again. The dems might love him, but he will have lost the audience who trusted him to deliver, regardless of what side of the aisle the story is on.

[Intolerant in NJ]

I've always liked Brit, but he disappointed me last week. He disappointed a number of people that wrote E-mails in defense of these Vets to Fox. That could be partial reason why Fox is changing its tune on this story...Absolutely right - here's a sampling from last week - O'Reilly: "Swiftvets are immoral"; Smith: "Swiftvets are liars"; Krauthammer: "ad is stupid"; Angle: "Swiftvet recants his testimony according to 'Boston Globe'" - Hume was only lukewarm on the whole issue; in the roundtable on his Special Report, he, Kondracke and Krauthammer seemed to think the whole Swiftvets issue was unimportant, with only Barnes saying it should be investigated further. I didn't see Hume on Sunday, but someone posted here that he said, approximately, "Kerry volunteered to serve, that should be the end of it".

Fox was in the tank last week - I sent them an angry e-mail over the weekend, as did my daughter, and apparently a lot of other Freepers - it would be nice to think that made the difference, but whateve happened Fox made an obvious U-turn between even Sunday and yesterday - that O'Reilly had an "immoral" Swiftvet on his show last night and showed him a bit of courtesy was a victory of sorts. Tonight, in addition to asking the right questions of Cowen, Brit on his own followed up on Carl Cameron's story on Christmas in Cambodia from last night, asking Cameron if there had yet been any reply from the Kerry campaign ("not very much of one", said Carl) - Fox was off the track for some reason, but they're chugging along nicely now......

[Patriotic Bostonian]

The Swifties had a news conference over Memorial Day weekend. All 24 swifties spoke. It was covered by C-Span. No other station carried this event.

[Kaslin]

It was something about a briefcase with a secret compartment. I did read an article about it this morning

[mwl1]

The RATS and the MSM made the specific whereabouts of George W. Bush during the Vietnam War to be of prominant importance. Kerry's whereabouts, and what he has said publicly of where he was, are therefore a wholly legitimate issue.

[nicmarlo]

bttt

[sport]

Thank you for doing that.

[hansel]

I watched it. It made me choke up when one of them mentioned his wife and daughter asked him if he was a war criminal.

Will they have another?

[Political Junkie Too]

...only Barnes saying it should be investigated further. I didn't see Hume on Sunday, but someone posted here that he said, approximately, "Kerry volunteered to serve, that should be the end of it".

That seems to be the crux of the argument. Barnes is saying that the swift boat veterans are also decorated, and also served, and yet nobody is giving them the same benefit of doubt. If Kerry is attacked over his activities in Vietnam, he's defended on the basis that he served honorably, but that same honor is not being shown to the swift boat veterans.

It may be that the next mantra is that Kerry "volunteered to serve" while others only served when drafted.

-PJ