The Latest "Swift Vets" TV Ad
Published September 23, 2004
Even before Jane Fonda went to Hanoi to meet with the enemy and mock America, John Kerry secretly met with enemy leaders in Paris.Though we were still at war and Americans were being held in North Vietnamese prison camps.
Then he returned and accused American troops of committing war crimes on a daily basis.
Eventually Jane Fonda apologized for her activities, but John Kerry refuses to.
In a time of war, can America trust a man who betrayed his country?
This would be pretty damaging stuff, if the MSM hadn't done a hit job on the Swift Vets in a largely-successful effort to damage their credibility beyond repair. Yes, some of these guys have contradicted themselves in public statements over the years. But not all 250+ of them.
And what of John F. Kerry's credibility?
He said on the Senate floor in 1986 that he was in Cambodia on Christmas of 1968, being shot at by South Vietnamese soldiers who were drunk from holiday celebration. He claimed this was "seared" into his memory.
But, his own journal entries suggest he was safely inside Vietnam, with visions of sugarplums dancing in his head.
And other questions need to be asked about his Senate floor rant. For instance, why would South Vietnamese soldiers be in Cambodia? And if they were there, why would they be celebrating a Christian holiday (the Vietnamese are mostly Buddhist)? And why would they be shooting at an American boat? And why do Kerry's own journal entries, as well as every single one of even the few pro-Kerry Swift Boat Vets, dispute this?
Then there is the possibly self-inflicted wound he won his first Purple Heart for. In his journal writings, he claims that he had not even been shot at by the enemy yet, and these were written days after the incident took place for which he won the medal.
So, did he get his first PH for an injury that was self-inflicted? Because, if so, this medal is fraudulent. The US military does not hand out Purple Hearts for such things. If they did, every barroom brawl that led to a cut lip would be grounds for an awards ceremony.
There are other things as well, such as his comment that he learned about MLK's assassination while serving in Vietnam, even though MLK was gunned down many months prior to Kerry going overseas. And there is the mysterious "V" for "Valor" on his Silver Star citation, which is another thing the US military does not do. Except, it appears, in the case of John F. Kerry...
Anyway, I'm glad Kerry has finally shut up about Vietnam, and is actually talking about the issues of the day. But it's too bad the MSM is too lazy/incompetent/biased to demand answers to questions that have been raised about the issue Kerry ran the first 95% of this campaign on...
- The Latest "Swift Vets" TV Ad
- Published: September 23, 2004
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- Section: Politics
- Writer: RJ Elliott
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Comments
JFK could quiet a lot of the flap over medals by signing the 180 authorizing the release of ALL his service records. With 100 pages still unreleased, it would seem to be an obvious solution. What gives?
they are correct to focus on what happened after he left Vietnam nad the questions raised are legit, but I can't agree with the final sentence: whether or not his actions consisted of "betraying his country" is very much an open question. I am certain he believed he was helping his country.
If Kerry had stuck to current issues and presented a vision for the country rather than offering himself up as the "I'm not Bush" candidate the Swifties would have been a minor factor and this would be a really tight race right now. Hell, Kerry might even have the poll numbers that Bush now has.
Instead, Kerry ran on a 30-year old record, totally ignored the last 20 years of his career, and set himself up to get smacked down. Have you noticed the press doesn't spend a lot of time these days calling Kerry an intellectual and Bush dumb?
yes, I am certain the Vietnam emphasis will roundly be considered a tactical blunder of major proportions
"Have you noticed the press doesn't spend a lot of time these days calling Kerry an intellectual and Bush dumb?"
Only the former; the latter by now has become so obvious it's become common wisdom.
The press has never spent a lot of time calling Bush dumb. Nor have they been asking him many tough questions, nor have they been spending a lot of time checking his "facts".
The press has really hasn't done their job.
Maureen Dowd's latest cuts him a long-overdue new one.


RJ Elliott is a graduate student studying Criminal Justice at the University Of Central Florida. His likes include nature, sports, and pierced blondes. He dislikes daytime television, left-wing dictators, and lead-tainted Chinese imports. He is ambivalent about Angelina Jolie.

He hasen't shut up about Vietnam. In his speechs now he is attempting to Vietnamize the Iraqi war. The whole "wrong war, wrong time" nonsense is straight out of his 1971 testimony before the Senate.