posted on August 9, 2004 03:35:15 PM new
New perspective of the pros & cons of kerrys campaign.
--------------
By Joe Mariani
August 9, 2004
Everyone knows by now that John Kerry served for four months on a "swift boat" in Vietnam. Don't say you haven't heard, unless you've spent the last year in a cave. Kerry mentions it several times per minute in every campaign speech he intones. He deflects nearly every question asked of him by holding up his Navy service in 1968 and 1969, especially questions about his plans for national security and defense should he become President. His campaign ads feature pictures of him in uniform. Former servicemen flank him at every campaign stop, some of whom even served with him. When he made his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, he made a show of saluting the audience and "reporting for duty." (Perhaps President Bush should take him at his word, and send him to Iraq.) The "highlight" of the evening was a nine-minute biographical movie (web site) directed by Steven Spielberg protégé James Moll, and narrated by Morgan Freeman. The bulk of the movie featured -- surprise! -- John Kerry in Vietnam, including footage filmed at the time by Kerry, or at his direction. (No one, of course, seems to have asked who gave him authorisation to use military personnel to shoot his personal home movies if the films were actually shot while in combat. No one has asked who authorised him to take military transport and personnel to visit areas where action had taken place in order to recreate the action for his own purposes, if the films were shot while off duty.)
So... we get it. John Kerry was in Vietnam. What no one can explain is how that alone qualifies him to be President of the United States. No one can explain how spending four months on a patrol boat thirty-five years ago is a better qualification than spending the last three years destroying terrorist training camps, breaking up terror cells in the US and abroad, uncovering a multinational nuclear proliferation ring, (web site) forcing belligerent North Korea to the bargaining table, cowing Libya into giving up its WMD programs and terrorist support, and winning two wars against terrorist-supporting Islamofascist dictatorships in the process.
Now a group of Kerry's fellow swift boat veterans has spoken out against him, saying that his service was undeserving of the medals he won in those four months. They claim that he was untrustworthy and manipulative. They call his leadership of Vietnam Veterans Against the War treasonous, pointing to the lies told about soldiers before Congress in the Winter Soldier investigation. (web site) They say that he isn't worthy of being entrusted with the Presidency of the United States, in their opinion. The media, if doing its job, would be asking for proof of their accusations about Kerry's deeds and misdeeds, so the truth can be exposed to public view.
When President Bush's Air National Guard service was questioned, the media repeatedly demanded (web site) that he provide proof of his service. Instead, the "mainstream" media is obsessed with the group's sources of funding. The media never seems to mention multi-billionaires George Soros and Peter Lewis (web site) funding MoveOn.org and other anti-Bush political action committees (PACs). Democrats are shocked -- shocked! -- to discover that some Republicans may have contributed money to the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. (web site) I'm not sure I understand their rather one-sided objections.
Are the same Democrats equally outraged that Soros and Lewis contributed to the Kerry campaign? Democrats attack the swift boat veterans as liars (though how they know this is unclear). Are they as outraged by the outright lies and manipulations (web site) in Michael Moore's hours-long anti-Bush commercial? No... they give Moore a seat in former President Jimmy Carter's skybox (web site) at the 2004 Democratic convention.
The reason Kerry showcases his brief Vietnam service is three-fold. First, doing so paints him as a tough combat veteran -- precisely the image a Liberal Democrat needs to cultivate when trying to convince most Americans to vote for him, especially during a war. Second, it insulates him from questions about defending America from our enemies -- President Bush's strength. When the answer to any question is, "I served in Vietnam, so I know what I'm doing," there's nothing a non-veteran can say without appearing to attack his Vietnam service. That's where people like these swift boat veterans, Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry (web site) and POW/MIA Families Against John Kerry (web site)"come in, people who can ask questions about Kerry's Vietnam service and his anti-war activism upon his return. However, doing so plays right into Kerry's third reason for touting his abbreviated Vietnam tour. Talking about Vietnam generates headlines for a media generally devoted to convincing the American people to vote for Kerry.
Personally, I don't care about Kerry's Vietnam service in the context of the Presidential election. I'm grateful that he and more than three million Americans served in that war. If this election was being held to decide who was the better swift boat commander, then John Kerry would win hands-down over George W. Bush... although Bush would probably win an election for best fighter pilot. But it's not about that. This election is to decide who should lead the nation through the troubling and dangerous four years ahead. We're still recovering from the terrible effects of 9/11, a massive recession, the exposure of long-term corporate scandals that further rocked the economy, and the first two major battles of a war that will likely span decades. The 2004 election should be about experience -- recent, relevant experience. "What have you done for us lately?" is the question we should be asking the candidates.
John Kerry was on the Senate Intelligence Committee for eight years in the 1990s, so he had access to up-to-date information on al-Qaeda and its activities. What steps did he take to fight terrorism? Why did he propose cutting the military in bill S.1163, (web site) just months after the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist bombing? Two years later, why did he propose in bill S.1290 (web site) to "reduce the Intelligence budget by $300 million in each of fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000?" In 1996, why did Kerry propose in bill S.1580 to reduce military funding (web site) by $6.5 billion? Why did he vote against funding vital military equipment like the MX missile, the Patriot missile, the Apache helicopter, the Blackhawk helicopter, the B-1 Bomber and the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, as his voting record clearly shows? (web site) More recently, why did he change his vote to deny our military in Iraq the equipment they needed so desperately? Kerry explained, (web site) "I actually voted for the $87 billion... before I voted against it." Partisans excuse his vote switch by saying that he did so only because those eeevil Republicans refused to take money from the citizens to pay for the war. Did the troops suddenly need the body armor any less? Would the bullets kill better if paid for by higher taxes instead of pork barrel reductions? In his nineteen years in the Senate, what vote, what piece of legislation can John Kerry trot out to show us he would make a better President than George Bush? Kerry's answer to questions (web site)like these is merely, "I defended this country as a young man, and I will defend it as president." We're back to Vietnam again, although this election is supposedly taking place in 2004.
John Kerry is hiding behind his Vietnam experience to avoid talking about the nineteen years he spent in the Senate voting against defending America, and the media is aiding and abetting him. The more we allow Vietnam to dominate the election discussions, the less we will be able to find out what a vote for Kerry would mean for our future.
posted on August 9, 2004 06:43:04 PM newThis election is to decide who should lead the nation through the troubling and dangerous four years ahead.
That would be President George W. Bush.
--------------
There were at least 3-4 articles on most of the websites I get daily updates from speaking to the issue of what the Swift Boat Vets are saying about kerry. Some are calling for this to be settled, once and for all, by kerry opening up his vet medical records. Think he will? Probably not...as it would make his stand on what a war hero he was look pretty silly.
But I'd personally like to see more discussion, in the biased media, about kerry's actions after he returned home. Siding with the enemy doesn't go over very well with a lot of people.
posted on August 9, 2004 06:54:17 PM new
As with Bush's lack of military experience, most people just don't care, seems to me. Sure doesn't look like it anyway.
___________________________________
Beware the man of one book.
- Thomas Aquinas
posted on August 9, 2004 07:57:01 PM new
I can't read the graphics very well....they're too small. But polls mean nothing at this point.
Many news media have been asking "Where was the poll bounce when kerry chose Edwards?" Where was the big poll bounce that was expected after the DNC convention.....most polls show them running pretty much tied at this point....especially when Nader is included in the mix. Which if I see correctly, your poll isn't showing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One thing is for sure: the extremists have faith in our weakness. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us." --Tony Blair
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"The War on Terror will not be won until America is united. And as long as Democrats target the Bush administration -- not the terrorists -- as the enemy, we are in trouble." --Oliver North
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Kerry claims, 'On one occasion [as a kid], I rode my bike into Soviet East Berlin. And when I proudly told my dad, he promptly grounded me.' Didn't there used to be a wall dividing Berlin that would have prevented this from happening???"
posted on August 9, 2004 08:40:00 PM new
Another group of voices that need to be heard are the VN POWS....who suffered at the words of kerry....who's presenting the biggest sham of all....his military service.
Washington Times 8-4-04
By Richard Tomkins
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Sen. John Kerry's bid to become commander in chief of wartime America has opened old wounds among some former Vietnam-era prisoners of war who bristle over the Massachusetts Democrat's anti-war activism.
His activities and statements, pushed out of sight by a campaign that spotlights Mr. Kerry's service in Vietnam, were used by the POWs' North Vietnamese captors to sap the morale of prisoners and U.S. troops still in the field in South Vietnam, say former POWs.
"They were always talking about [anti-war demonstrations], and they picked right up on Kerry's throwaway line, 'Don't be the last man to die in a lost cause, or die for a lost cause,' " said Kenneth Cordier, an Air Force pilot who spent 2,284 days as a prisoner. "They repeated that incessantly.
"They used these photographs and inputs, voice tapes, whatever, from these peace people to try to convince us the whole country had turned anti-war and we were showing a very bad attitude and would never go home."
Jim Warner, a prisoner of the North Vietnamese in the Hoa Lo prison complex known to U.S. servicemen as the Hanoi Hilton does remember. In 1971, a North Vietnamese guard and interrogator nicknamed "Boris" by the prisoners pulled papers from his pocket and gave them to Mr. Warner to think about, he said.
Apart from clippings from a leftist newspaper in the United States, there was a typewritten transcript of Mr. Kerry's testimony before a U.S. Senate panel in which he repeated charges that U.S. troops were committing atrocities routinely, attacked the war and said communism was not a threat in Vietnam.
Mr. Warner said Mr. Kerry and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, which had staged large demonstrations in Washington, were often mentioned in the radio broadcasts that played incessantly over the camp's loudspeakers.
Mr. Cordier doesn't recall Mr. Kerry's name being used in interrogations, propaganda broadcasts on radio or during "attitude checks" political indoctrination sessions. But he said he remembers the North Vietnamese using photographs of war veterans throwing military medals over the White House fence.
Mr. Cordier and Mr. Warner said that although the war protest propaganda was sometimes disheartening, the North Vietnamese failed in their attempts to use it to break the prisoners' will.
"It didn't make us want to give up, it just made us feel discouraged that there were people who felt that way about us," Mr. Warner said.
During the Democratic National Convention in Boston last week, many anti-Kerry veterans' groups participated in demonstrations opposing his campaign for the nation's top job. Other groups are planning more demonstrations.
Mr. Cordier said he is bothered not just by Mr. Kerry's anti-war past, but his record till now, including his voting against funds for troops in Iraq.
"The measure of a person's character is their whole history up until the present," Mr. Cordier said.
posted on August 9, 2004 09:27:37 PM newDepends the poll, prof, you know that.
I do know that Bear....oh, there's one you forgot to quote on Rasmussen reports. Since we're always getting lectured here about how it's the electoral college that chose President Bush, and who cares if Gore won the popular vote, seems like this one is mighty important.
*I made it bigger for you Linda. My eyes aren't so good either!
___________________________________
Beware the man of one book.
- Thomas Aquinas
posted on August 9, 2004 11:29:03 PM new
Why thank you, profe. I can see that real well.
But this is only August....and many things can change in three months ....we haven't even celebrated the RNC convention yet....many things can change by November....so enjoy the results while you can.
posted on August 10, 2004 12:09:37 AM new
Yes, you're right, linda, those barbaric, immoral, unethical Republicans, who will stoop to anything, still have the October Surprise yet to come!
And some gullible Americans will probably fall for it but so many more are tired of the lies and deceit they just might see it for the trick it is and vote for a decent human being instead of a Republican.
posted on August 10, 2004 06:21:18 AM newI can't read the graphics very well....they're too small. But polls mean nothing at this point.
Funny Linda I mentioned the fact the polls meant nothing four months ago when Bush had the lead and you said the polls did in fact mean something. Seems as if you are doing a flip flop...hmmmmm.
Let's have a BBQ, Texas style, ROAST BUSH
------------------------------
YOU CAN'T HAVE BULLSH** WITH OUT BUSH.
------------------------------
We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union....
.....one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for ALL.
posted on August 10, 2004 10:08:52 AM new
logansdad - Funny Linda I mentioned the fact the polls meant nothing four months ago when Bush had the lead and you said the polls did in fact mean something. Seems as if you are doing a flip flop...hmmmmm.
I've said many times that we all use different polls when they're showing what we want them to show...how we like to post them when they're saying what we want them to say.
I've also said that who has taken the polls plays a large part in their results. If a poll is taken from say CBS/ABC it's likely to show results favorable to the lefties. A poll taken from a conservative media is likely to show more positive results for the righties.
Polls mean nothing....they're always from a select few....sometimes people who aren't even registered voters and they're been VERY wrong before. Think back to the McGovern campaign....what the polls were showing...and how different the 'real' votes were at election time.
posted on August 10, 2004 10:49:49 AM new
That 1st graphic was difficult to read. No surprises, that's about where the polls usually ride after the DNC. This election is getting interesting.
{Might want to pay attention to the statement by ONE of kerry's commanding officers that they ASKED him to leave.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
John Kerry: NO COMMENT ON CAMBODIA
~12:45pm~ EST
JOHN KERRY "NO COMMENT ON CAMBODIA": But as I said - John Kerry is in trouble. Yesterday after facing the latest claim that John Kerry has often repeated - Kerry's campaign went speechless.
The claim - which is roughly "I was in Cambodia during Christmas of 1968...President Nixon knew I was...President Nixon lied to the American people telling them that we weren't there...I got fired upon by the Cambodians...these memories were seared - SEARED - into my memory..." at first was roundly denied by Kerry.
Then the Kerry campaign was presented documents proving the quotes from Kerry in an 1979 op-ed he wrote for a Boston newspaper and in 1986 he uttered on the floor of the Senate and had been entered into the official Senate record.
Then the Kerry people said they would, "get back to the press" on how to reconcile the claims that he was there - and now his denial of him ever saying it.
Does anyone remember Teresa Heinz Kerry just two weeks ago? "I never said that, I never said that, I never said that, I never said that, I never said that, I never said that." Six times she denied using the word "UnAmerican" - and yet all we have to do to prove it is play the tape from what she had just said it - not 30 minutes previous.
Is it just me or does anyone else see that these two have obvious blind spots - TO THE TRUTH. I would be very interested in hearing from democratic voters in how they reconcile - things have been blatantly said - with the claims of those who said them - that they were never said. It is as though they ask you to suspend reality.
~12:30pm~ EST
SO ABOUT THAT CHRISTMAS IN CAMBODIA I TOLD YOU ABOUT: John Kerry is in trouble. Last week the attack hounds like former Clintonite Lanny Davis were trying all they could to discredit the "Swift Boat Vets".
Even Bill O'Reilly was on the air on television saying it was not a good idea to run these ads and make these claims.
All I have said on is that these men have every bit as much right to be heard for their experience as John Kerry does for his.
Well last night - O'Reilly reversed course slightly - he had a Swift Boat guy on. At the end of the interview he was forced to admit that these guys are honorable.
O'Reilly and Alan Colmes also both repeated the Lanny Davis talking points saying that the doctor who had treated John Kerry for his purple heart was J.C. Carrion.
Had either one of them had taken the time to actually get former medic Carrion or Dr. Letson on their show - they could clear this thing up.
As you can hear on my website, Dr. Letson was asked to treat Kerry by Carrion (who was only a medic) because Kerry was in fact an officer. Letson treated the fragment in Kerry's arm, put the band-aid on him and had Carrion complete the paperwork.
Democrats seem content to not try to understand the truth here. Officers were regularly treated by the higher ranking physicians. Enlisted men did not get that same right. But many times medics would be left to fill out the paper work of the patient that the attending physician had seen.
One simple solution to this controversy - ask Mr. Carrion who treated Kerry. For that matter allow the major media (O'Reilly included) to interview Dr. Letson and Carrion side by side and see if the stories match up. THATS WHAT JOURNALISM SHOULD BE DOING!
Monday, August 9, 2004
SWIFTVET AUDIO IS FINALLY HERE.
DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING DEMAND FOR: The John Kerry SwiftVet Audio is finally hosted and available for your listening right here on the page. On the sidebar you can click to hear how John Kerry's commanding officer eventually had to ask Kerry to leave Vietnam.
In the second clip you can listen to John Kerry's "Purple Heart Doc" describes the "injury" Kerry suffered in order to qualify for it.
NOTE TO MEDIA: Any of these soundbites are free for your use to distribute, reproduce, transcribe, etc. The Audio that you will be hearing is the property of "The Kevin McCullough Show" and we give you full permission to use in anyway you see fit.
Monday, August 9, 2004
This one won't be able to be spun...
~2:51pm~ EST
KERRY'S COMMANDING OFFICER SOUNDS OFF: CLICK HERE TO LISTEN LIVE - Kerry commanding officer, Captain Adrian Lonsdale will weigh in on Kerry's "Christmas in Cambodia".
[ edited by Linda_K on Aug 10, 2004 12:20 PM ]
Everyone will stay misinformed if you continue to read rags as if they are truth. This story is so crazy that it's being reported in snoopes and urban legends.
But, when this one scrolls down the page, Bear will find another...and Linda will find a c&p of similar quality...and so it goes.
Which if I see correctly, your poll isn't showing.
.jpg)