From Drudge
A veterans group seeking to deeply discredit Democrat John Kerry's military service will charge in the new bombshell book UNFIT FOR COMMAND:* Two of John Kerry's three Purple Heart decorations resulted from self-inflicted wounds, not suffered under enemy fire.
* All three of Kerry's Purple Hearts were for minor injuries, not requiring a single hour of hospitalization.
* A "fanny wound" was the highlight of Kerry's much touted "no man left behind" Bronze Star.
* Kerry turned the tragic death of a father and small child in a Vietnamese fishing boat into an act of "heroism" by filing a false report on the incident.
* Kerry entered an abandoned Vietnamese village and slaughtered the domestic animals owned by the civilians and burned down their homes with his Zippo lighter.
* Kerry's reckless behavior convinced his colleagues that he had to go — becoming the only Swift Boat veteran to serve only four months.
The Kerry campaign is planning to vigorously counter the charges and will accuse the veteran's groups of being well-financed by a top Bush donor from Texas, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
"They hired a goddamn private investigator to dig up trash!" charged a top Kerry adviser traveling with the senator late Tuesday. "This is pay for play, and the dirtiest of all dirty tricks ever played on a candidate for the presidency. How low can they go?"
Kerry supporters are comparing the effort by the veterans to the Arkansas State troopers tell-all against Bill Clinton.
UNFIT FOR COMMAND will not be released until August 15.
Interesting. Maybe instead of merely running away from his almost two-decade long liberal voting record in the US Senate, this book will cause John. F. Kerry to run away from his Vietnam service as well?
If so, what the hell does he have left to run on? His time spent at boarding schools in Switzerland, learning French? Or maybe he'll start talking more about his running-mate's life story?
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - stinky_ferret
Or, maybe he doesn't need any of those things to defeat the clown show which is in power now?
Drudge? Yeah, he's certainly credible.
2 - Lono
This is all crap. First off, Drudge is a partisan toolbox and has no credibility (think Mike Moore, to your people). Second, KERRY FUCKING SERVED IN WAR - which neither Clinton nor Bush did... so those who live in glass draft dodging houses should not throw stones.
Kerry has a lifetime of service. It is fair and understandable if you ... fuck it. Lemme just post my piece. It will surely be a flamewar, but look for it. It will be called 'In Defense of Kerry'.
3 - Corinna Hasofferett
Now you see why I'm not running for Presidency either in USA or in Israel.
Right now I'm the sole owner and writer of my life stories. At no account I'd allow a good for nothing z-rate scribbler steal my precious property!
Diogenes' advise:
Buy some candles and start your own search for Truth.
If you find it, wake me up.
4 - SFC SKI
It is a shame that mudslinging is the most noticeable aspect of US political campaigns.
" Second, KERRY FUCKING SERVED IN WAR "
Honorably?
I don't know how credible or not this book is, in any case, a candidate's military service, or not, is only one consideration we should look at in choosing the President.
5 - Rodney Welch
Drudge is farting in the wind and RJ will believe anything that suits his prejudices. Big deal.
6 - Shark
RJ, seriously, I can take the Kerry smears if they're funny, original, creative, inventive, and/or entertaining.
Quoting Drudge at length and adding two small paragraphs at the end is like vomiting on the wall and putting a cheap frame around it.
7 - Keith Sikora
This is why the only news source I can trust is "The Onion".
8 - Eric Olsen
If all of this is true, in fact if any of this is true, then why would his "brothers in arms" have supported him so eagerly at the DNC? I hate smears from all sides.
9 - Ed Godard
And I hate boring, ad hominem smears. If you want to make the case against Kerry or Bush, why look any further than their policies? There is so much ore ready for mining.
10 - Hal Pawluk
I almost didn't read this when I got to "Posted by RJ" but persevered until I got to "From Drudge."
At that point I skipped to the comments.
Mostly, it appears that I should have skipped it all (Corinna and Eric excepted).
Geez.
11 - Hal Pawluk
SFC SKI: "KERRY FUCKING SERVED IN WAR" Honorably?
Now that's the kind of smear I really hate.
We've seen a lot of that from the right-wing. The Bush-mafia push-polling that defeated McCain in the primaries comes to mind:
Voters in South Carolina report being asked "Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?" an allegation that had no substance but planted the idea of undisclosed allegations in the minds of thousands of primary voters.
If you have something to say, say it and back it up. What have you got on Kerry's service that would show it was other than honorable?
And as you said before you dropped that nugget: "It is a shame that mudslinging is the most noticeable aspect of US political campaigns."
12 - Steve Rhodes
The book is from the far right Regnery press. They have no problem publishing a book by Ollie North who lied before congress and sold arms to Iran in order to fund the Contras who used terrorist tactics.
More on Regnery.
And the co-author of the Kerry attack book has been used as a tool by Republicans against Kerry all the way back to the Nixon era. He also was one of the people Rove used to try and smear McCain.
13 - Steve Rhodes
Oh, and Drudge himself stole and altered (to try and cover his tracks) a photo Dan Perkins (Tom Tomorrow) took of Michael Moore and Bill O'Reilly at the Dem Con.
14 - Ed Godard
Hal- Here's one I've seen that takes the art of smearing to new, clever depths: 'John Kerry is not a child molester!'
15 - Hal Pawluk
Thanks, Ed - I needed that ;-/
16 - Mac Diva
Like Corinna said.
The smear campaigns against Kerry started some time ago. Each smear gets discredited. I wonder why we even waste time discussing claims so disingenuous it is clear they are false from the get go.
17 - Jim Carruthers
In other countries, like Canada, they get their elections out of the way in under 5 weeks, surely, the USA can just set up a 1-900 number and get this reality show out of the way before summer ends?
Because all this foo-far-ah is interfering with me finding out who beat the crap out of Paris Hilton. (Probably Drudge for getting all queeny about her saying he takes it up the Gary Glitter).
C'mon, priorities, people!
18 - Hal Pawluk
Clear to you, MD, but there's truth in the old proverb (also used by Goebbels):
"Repeat a lie five times and it becomes the truth."
We see the result of that in the the belief many people have that Kerry "voted against the war on terror" and that "he's a flip-flopper."
It's important to call lies lies when you see them (and I wish that opponents of the extreme right were better at doing that).
19 - Doc
The people who actually served *with*/under him were at the DNC supporting him.
These creeps weren't anywhere near Kerry.
Of course, this takes us away from Flyboy George's romps on drugs in Alabama instead of being in Vietnam himself...but we digress to this instead.
20 - Dirtgrain
This shit got shredded on Hannity and Colmes and Scarborough Country tonight. "Political pornography" is one phrase that stands out. If those shows are exposing it, then are there any Republican-biased outlets left that will support it? O'Reilly? Please don't say Rush.
21 - Sean
Kerry only served 4 months on the swift boats, sustained a few very minor injuries, heads home and begins his political career as dissident-war hero. All bases covered. Political viability in tact. However, most swift commanders served a year and none ever went home after 4 months with the kinds of injuries Kerry received. Yes, Bush is everything negative you could think to say about him. But Kerry ain't exactly a name to be shoutin' from the rooftops. I hope Kerry wins too -- but for chrissakes don't debase yourselves.
22 - Dirtgrain
". . . none ever went home after 4 months with the kinds of injuries Kerry received."
None? My friend was a medic in Viet Nam. He says people got Purple Hearts for all kinds of injuries (I used to think it was just if you got shot or severely wounded). I don't think Kerry's case is a unique one. But don't accuse me of debasing myself. I despise the bastard and what he represents (greed, corporations, privilege, etc.). He is the lesser of two evils, though.
23 - Jon
C'mon you Kerry supporters..this guy couldn't tell the truth if his LIFE depended on it! Get ur heads outta ur arses and wkae up! Kerry is a freakin socialist and a liar! He has been called out soooo many times and PROVED to be a liar it is funny.HE brought this all on by making it THE reason he should be elected. YOU guys just can't take it! Bash Bush..OK..bash ANY democrat and you go nuts. Hypocrites ALL OF YOU!
24 - Connie
How could anyone think that O'Neil is credible? Here's one for those that try to discredit Kerry's service by using the illogical reasoning that he was there for only four months and how could he earn those medals in such a short time. I know a VN vet who had the duty of taking care of the dead there. He said he saw more than one case of a soldier getting killed on his very first day in Nam. I guess their deaths are not as meaningful as someone that had been there a year.
25 - SFC SKI
Hal, I think you misunderstand:
SFC SKI: "KERRY FUCKING SERVED IN WAR" Honorably?
Now that's the kind of smear I really hate."
Now, I posted this because Kerry's military service does not, in my opinion, automatically make him the better person or the better candidate. I wrote the question "Honorably?" because if for the sake of argument the allegations against Kerry proved to be true, how would that change his supporters views?
My point was that military service should only be a part of the reason anyone should vote for any politician.