A Reprise Of The Kerry Controversies

Life is full of surprises, and it is certainly possible that the lying, crooked Republican Attack Machine has a few new aces up its sleeve for Tall John. However, the current Kerry Controversies may already provide adequate ammunition, so let's run through them quickly (and I think most people will find (6), "Happy St. Patrick's Day", to be news to them). A key ground rule - we encourage shameless self-promotion, so this is the time to hype your personal favorites down in the comments, and please leave links. We are even opening a thread to let people air some Bush laundry. Yes, this is my idea of a fine Labor Day - Bring it on!

1. Kerry's first Purple Heart - Three Men in a Boat:

Was Kerry's wound accidentally self-inflicted? Where is the paperwork? Here is a good Weekly Standard article (and my thoughts on it), and a recent discussion. The dagger, from Newhouse News:

Purple Hearts, lesser awards given for wounds received under fire, are even more subjective. Anyone can fill in the paperwork and forward it to a supervisor, who checks it and sends it up to an "approving authority." This may be a battalion commander, ship's commanding officer, or a medical officer in a combat hospital.

...Purple Heart citations "should be" supported by eyewitness statements.

None of that has been released. Kerry was wounded on Dec. 2, 1968; he moved to a new unit on Dec. 6; the citation for his first Purple Heart came through on Feb 28, 1969, which is roughly three months later. For comparison, his second Purple Heart had a two week processing gap, his third a gap of one month.

Kerry's CO on Dec. 2 (Hibbard) and the officer who oversaw the mission (Schachte) both seem to know nothing about the paperwork supporting Kerry's award, and were at least initially opposed to his being awarded a Purpel Heart.

Who filed the paperwork, who approved it, and what did the eyewitness statement say? Who knows? The records have not been released.

And Brinkley has not made available Kerry's War Notes for that incident. In "Tour of Duty", Brinkley does not mention Kerry's contemporaneous account, and instead relies on his own interview with Kerry in 2003. Kerry wrote nothing about his first combat, his first wound, his first award? Not even a letter home? How odd. Show us the Notes (Brinkley says that's fine, so it's up to the Kerry campaign).

My prediction - I have a somewhat lonely view that Kerry can defend the "accidentally self-inflicted" pretty well, but I don't know what surprises the records may hold, and he can be battered for the stonewalling.

2. Kerry's Silver Star with a "V". This has high octane potential. A prospective headline - "Swift Vet Allegations Lead to Pentagon Investigation of Kerry Medal". Oh, you don't like that, do you, Bob Shrum? (is he still with the campaign?).

OK, some of this may be trivial - the Navy has never awarded a Silver Star with a "V" for Valor, so Kerry can not possibly have one, regardless of what you see at his website on his DD-214. Clerical error.

But why are there three different citations for the same medal (two here, and the earliest version here)? Who knows? But Judicial Watch has triggered the beginnings of a Pentagon investigation. Maybe this will die a bureaucratic death right here. Or maybe not. Lots of links from Glenn.

[UPDATE: Steve Verdon is on this; here's a Foxy headline: "Navy Probes Kerry Medal"; from the Daily Torygraph: "Pentagon to check Kerry war record"; and Douglas Brinkley, perhaps with one eye on his career as a serious historian and the other on the polls, opens up some space between himself and Kerry (yes, we see the source, we worry about out of context quotes, but still...]

3. "The Manchurian Candidate", or, "The Eagleton Has Landed"

Kerry has not released his medical records (Bush and Cheney have). Despite his recent prostate cancer (we remember the deeply regrettable Paul Tsongas situation) and after the surprising medical problems of Bill Clinton, does Kerry really expect us simply to trust medical summaries based on the word of the fellow who has been his personal physician for nearly two decades?

And hasn't Kerry been politicizing his own health care coverage, despite some odd gaps that stuck him with a $9,000 deduction of his tax return - what's with the health care that wasn't there?

These are prudent, responsible points that a Republican spokesperson, or even the NY Times, might be willing to raise. And if the medical records show Kerry with botox and Viagra, or a history of psychotherapy and sedation, well, imagine Karl Rove's surprise.

Kerry won't release his records if they are that ghastly, so we may have to settle for embarrassment and stonewalling. Later, we can mock the Times for going into the tank on this one (as they will, although see below).

4. Kerry was AWOL

I have heard this mentioned by a Rush sit-in on the radio. (To answer your question, no, there is nothing lamer. Except listening to the Sports Talk guys go on endlessly about the Mets).

The gist - Kerry was on Reserve Status from 1970 to 1972 (and still in the Reserve until 1978). Did he attend any drills, or do anything at all to meet his requirements? Or, were the requirements waived? Paperwork, please!

My assessment of this one - it may give momentary pause to the "Bush AWOL" crowd. But come on - Kerry had been on active duty, and the Reserve may have taken a very different view of the need to train him into fighting shape. What was the custom of the day, anyway - surely the military had plenty of excess bodies, and didn't need disgruntled vets hanging around?

I score this one as nearly legless, but that's just one opinion.

5. Still An Officer, If Not A Gentleman

Despite what you may have read, Hanoi John was still a officially a Reserve Officer during his protesting days from 1970 to 1972. you know I love this one. I ran it by a friend who had no interest in the "Kerry Awol" story, and he admitted that it gave him pause - didn't Kerry have some duty to what were then his fellow officers? How did he square that with accusing them of war crimes, throwing away his decorations, and meeting with the North Vietnamese? Beats me.

That said, this is a bit of an open secret, since the Kerry people have finally put the truth on their website. However, we have not seen corrections or new commentary in the media that mis-reported Kerry's status in April.

6. Happy St. Patrick's Day

According to Kerry's website, his last mission was on March 13 (the incident in which he saved Rassman and won a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart). However, Brinkley's "Tour of Duty" tells us that Kerry's last mission was in support of Nixon's Operation Menu on March 18.

Well, well. Kerry's transfer order went out on March 20, and he took leave on March 28, so Kerry seems to have been on station around March 18, just as Brinkley reports. But wait! Did Kerry really take SEALs to Cambodia? The Command History says that on March 18 and 19, Kerry's PCF 94 and four other boats swept two rivers, including the "Bo De", destroying 67 structures and 43 bunkers but not reporting enemy contact.

Hmm, George Bates of the Swiftees told a grim tale of Kerry burning a hamlet on the "Song Bo De". Same river, same incident? The website has not released the after-action reports for March 18/19, although the campaign claims that all of Kerry's records have been released. Why the deception? Kerry has already confessed to war crimes, so a bit of documentation shouldn't shock anyone. Or would it? Release the records! And correct the website, too.

Actually, these documents should be available to the public at the Naval Historical Center, if a Washington based sleuth is interested. Bring a digital camera.

7. Campaign finance - Can't say John Kerry and forget Johnny "Ka-Ching" Chung. Glenn remembered recently, I kicked it around a while ago, and who knows where the wind might blow this one? A scandal with "Ka-Ching" Chung and "Lucy" Liu Chaoying has something going for it, yes? But not much.

8. Don't Mess With Taxes - does anyone still think we will get a look at Teresa's tax return? Don't you want a hint as to the sort of Benedict Arnold tax sheltering in which she engages? (Sorry, Benedict Arnold had something to do with outsourcing, until Kerry dropped it. But I am sure it is still bad.)

In April, even the NY Times cared enough to ask. The campaign's excuse back then was that Teresa was filing an extension until October (why she could not release her 2002 return instead, we don't know). Will the Times ask again? Don't be silly. Will unrelenting pedants at Fox and the Wall Street Journal ask? Probably. Will they strike gold? Probably not. In fact, applying circular Republican logic, if there is gold to be found, the Kerry folks will just endure the embarrassment of keeping the tax returns private. Fingers crossed!

Have a great holiday. Feel free to pile on.

Comments

[Doug]

Missed one that fits the modus opperandi of Kerry.

He missed 3/4 of the public meetings of the intelligence committee. The attendance of closed meeting is not public information (why is the attendance of the senators on the comittee at closed meetings non public in the first place?). Pat Roberts (R) says he will release the attendance records if Kerry gives his permission. I bet it is not good.

With the press focused on the 9/11 report and the failures of intelligence, shouldn't it matter if a presidential canidate missed a lot or the majority of meetings? Didn't this contribute to the failed oversight of intelligence on the part of Congress that 9/11 report says was a problem?

I always thought the press had a liberal bias but the silence about not releasing important records is stunning. Kerry better watch out because when the press figures out that he is a lost cause, they might decide to become journalist again.

[Gary B.]

Kerry's is always saying that when he's president, he won't be so secretive like the Bush administration is, and he'll take responsibility and be accountable for his administrations actions.

With all the issues facing him, this is a perfect opportunity to prove it. After all, he always holds everyone else up to such high standards, wheather it's the president or a fellow soldier lying in a casket with medals he might not have really owned.

[Snowy]

I beleive you also missed this one:

As Thomas Lipscomb has it:

" The Navy also questioned the listing on Mr. Kerry’s Web site of a DD215 form listing four bronze campaign stars for his service in Vietnam. According to its records, the Navy credits Mr. Kerry with two campaigns. That is sufficient for the wearing of the Vietnam Service Medal for one campaign bearing one campaign star for the additional campaign — not four. "

Full article:

http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/getmailfiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/2004/09/02&ID=Ar01702

[Attila]

I think it's time to lay off the cracks about the Mets. They're a bunch of physically and mentally disabled individuals. They deserve sympathy, not contempt. It's time for some magnanimity on your part.

-- Attila

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Just to be fair, I think Kerry was in the Individual Ready Researve following his separation from active duty, so he probably wasn't required to drill at all.

Not that this would protect him from the UCMJ on the Paris trips.

[jack risko]

It seems to me that the greatest long-term Kerry scandal may be that of the MSM. From the failed coverage of SwiftBoatVets at NYT, through the AP's phony boos story, to tonight's 60 minutes using the disgraced Ben Barnes to take a swipe at Bush, the MSM have disgraced themselves and lost the ability to deliver the 15 points that Evan Thomas bragged about.

Regarding Barnes, I have done a bit of work on him, including researching SEC documents in the public domain at dinocrat.com

The degradation of the MSM will be much in evidence over the next two months, and as Glenn says, the damage may be permanent.

Here's my conclusions on Ben Barnes, by the way:

Bush’s Guard service, already investigated by the LA Times and many others with no evidence of wrongdoing, has resurfaced because of the allegations of John Kerry’s third largest contributor of bundled contributions. And what do we know about this fellow, in addition to his ties to the Kerry campaignas its third largest fund raiser? Why, quite a lot, as it turns out.

Ben Barnes is a former Lt. governor of Texas whose reputation had been “ruined,” according to Insurance Journal, because of a stock-fraud scandal. According to Federal Prosecutors in New Jersey, Barnes bribed convicted GTECH felon David Smith to the tune of $500,000 in the mid 90’s. Finally, from 1992-1997 Barnes was being paid by GTECH a percentage of the take on the Texas lottery, up to $3 million per year, to help secure and maintain the single largest and most profitable piece of GTECH’s business, but had that contract terminated because of an investigation by the Texas Lottery Commission that could have “material negative implications” for GTECH’s business. This Ben Barnes appears to be one solid citizen, does he not?

[Jumbo]

STOP THE PRESSES! (Dramatic, but about as contemporary as "Draw sabers!")

Glenn Reynolds just posted up a link to a NewsMax story (I know, but it's a place to start) which reports Doug Brinkley spoke w/WABC in NYC today (Sunday) and opined that the Pentagon investigation into Kerry's decoration could destroy Kerry if it appears he intentionally supplied false informatiuon in connectiuon with his medals.

Well, yeah. But here's what is important: 1) Brinkley didn't dismiss out of hand th epossibility it could happen, and 2) he didn't spring to Kerry's defense as he did 2 weeks ago. All of which could very well mean Brinkley does not now have confidence that what Kerry told him was true after all. Is Brinkley getting ready to bail?

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/9/5/132437.shtml

[Snowy]

"Christmas in Cambodia" still figures as a big "controversy" IMO. Gunrunning, magic hat, taped dogtags, seared seminal moment recorded in the congressional records, mendacious "Apocalypse Now" film review, etc. etc.

It is starting to seem as though "old" controversy isn't "newsworthy" any more, so we stop talking about it. Too bad.

[TM]

Good points about Christmas in Cambodia, and Kerry's dismal intellignece attendance record ( I have seen the Bush ads on those up in Maine, so it is not exactly under-reported).

If Brinkley is wobbly (he does have a career to think about after this election is over, and maybe he reads the polls, too), that opens a new horizon of speculation.

[Frank G]

Brinkley's too far gone to redeem his academic rep, whoring for Kerry in his book. He doesn't want to get sucked down as Kerry circles the drain. He knows something. Sign the 180, Senator!

[jdwill]

This isn't really new info, but an new body slam, perhaps. Check out the site http://stolenhonor.com/
for a new documentary being prepared by, suprise! Ken Cordier, Paul Galanti, and others.

Not sure when (or if given Kerry's current meltdown)they plan to spring it, or how. Its not like CBS, PBS, etc. will be falling all over themselves to play it.

[Fredrik Nyman]

Cue theme music:

9. How many of the classified intel briefings did Kerry attend? The chairman knows and is being tellingly coy about it.

10. His unimpressive performance during the elections in the Philippines in 1986 will probably come up again.

[carol]

Republicans have got to drop this thing about the spurious "V" on the silver star, which everyone will give Kerry the benefit of the doubt on since it could easily be a clerical error. Until something more substantial is revealed they should just be quiet about it. Focus on the Cambodia lie, the overwhelming evidence on the first purple heart, the two meetings with NVA in paris, and the bogus allegations of war crimes throughout the services.

[The Kid]

What about Kerry and Nicaragua? Opinion here, excerpt:

In April 1985, Kerry, along with Sen. Tom Harkin, ventured to Nicaragua to meet with President Daniel Ortega, a Marxist revolutionary who idolized Fidel Castro and received aid from the Soviet Union.

Kerry saw another Vietnam in the making because then-President Reagan was aiding freedom fighters in Nicaragua trying to overthrow Ortega's Sandinista regime.

"If you look back at the Gulf of Tonkin resolution," Kerry told the Washington Post on April 23, 1985, "if you look back at the troops that were in Cambodia, this history of the body count and the misinterpretation of the history of Vietnam itself, and look at how we are interpreting the struggle in Central America and examine the CIA involvement, the mining of the harbors, the effort to fund the contras, there is a direct and unavoidable parallel between these two periods of our history."

Kerry, in office only a few months and with no consultation with the administration or the State Department, decided to negotiate with Ortega. He and Harkin walked away from Nicaragua with an agreement for direct talks with Washington. President Reagan flatly rejected it.

Here’s a personal, thus even more biased, view:

But freshman senator John Kerry insisted on a more intimate approach. So mere weeks after entering office he set off for Managua with fellow freshman Tom Harkin of Iowa for a chummy face to face session with the Communist pedophile.
They returned rapt. Cuban and Soviet ties with the Sandinistas? Baseless rumors, Kerry insisted. John Kerry stood before Congress and waved a list of heart-warming liberal reforms that Ortega promised him were imminent. ("I hold here in my hands!") Actually he called it, "a wonderful new opening!" The Massachusetts senator insisted that Nicaragua would soon blossom into tropical Sweden.
Congress swallowed this bilge in one mighty gulp and killed the Contra aid bill (Kerry's goal all along.)
It took a whole week after the Congressional vote for Ortega to fly to Moscow, flout his Soviet ties for all the world to see, and return with a $200 million Communist aid package. Congress, rotten egg dripping slowly off their face, reversed itself and approved Reagan's Contra aid.
But Kerry was undaunted. Soon he was chairing "The Senate Subcommittee on Narcotics, Terrorism and International Operations" quickly dubbed "The Kerry Committee" by his media cronies and soulmates. Soon it was boasting, "77 instances where the Reagan Administration misled Congress about its policies in Central America!" (I hold here in my hands!)
Lest we forget, it was here that the famous "Iran-Contra investigation" actually started. Soon the lurid accusations spawned an "Iran-Contra Committee "of its own and John Kerry pressed ahead with his.
The Democratic crusade to throttle the Nicaraguan freedom-fight was now under full steam. One Cuba wasn't enough for these people. They were The Best and Brightest of a new generation. They'd picked up the torch from Camelot.
The honor demanded that they pledge themselves to creating another tropical Gulag and slaughterhouse on our doorstep.

After seeing Danny Ortega make the deal with the Soviets and losing in the Senate, Kerry realized the gravity of situation and changed course, right? Er, not quite.

Towards that noble goal John Kerry committed himself body and soul. Soon his Committee was leaking lurid details of a nefarious CIA/Contra drug smuggling plot with a Cuban-American named Felix Rodriguez as the bagman and Vice President George Bush as a silent partner.
The commie-crackpot Christic Institute and Institute for Policy Studies served as the Kerry Committee's advisors. The latter had arranged his Nicaragua trip.

What a guy, no?
And then Kerry went a bit too far by taking on Felix Rodriguez. See the link. Kerry’s a bastard.

[narciso]

Let's add the fact that Ben Barnes, the President's great fixer, as 60 Minutes, would have you believe,
was in Geneva, as part of the UN Mission, at the time
he was supposed to have been arranging the opening at
the 'Champagne Unit'

There are other ironies; Kerry employed Jack Blum, for his made for TV star chamber; Blum, formerly of the
Church Committee's Covert Operations and Government
Oversight Hearings; between them. they revealed every
major secret, the US and/or American corporations had;
crippling American intelligence, and stigmatizing Am
multinationals. His BCCI committee, could have saved
itself much effort by investigating his Senate Committee
finance chair; David Paul, (recently released from prison, with little fan fare; except a fawning profile
in the Herald's business section; but hey Knight Ridder
had Clifford on its board)Paul's CenTrust was in turn
the South Florida front for BCCI; thanks to chief stock
holder Ghaith Pharoan; the son of the Saudi advisor of
American affairs to the Saud clan. He also received contributions from a clear drug money laundering outfits. The contributions from the Taiwanese and PLA
agents of influence; bear out his major focus in the
New War; which myopically ignored the burgeoning jihadist network

[JM Hanes]

From the UK's Telegraph via Patterico: http://patterico.com/archives/002666.php
___________________________

"Senator John Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate who is trading on his Vietnam war record to campaign against President George W Bush, tried to defer his military service for a year, according to a newly rediscovered article in a Harvard University newspaper. 

"He wrote to his local recruitment board seeking permission to spend a further 12 months studying in Paris, after completing his degree course at Yale University in the mid-1960s.

"The revelation appears to undercut Sen Kerry's carefully-cultivated image as a man who willingly served his country in a dangerous war - in supposed contrast to President Bush, who served in the Texas National Guard and thus avoided being sent to Vietnam.

"The Harvard Crimson newspaper followed a youthful Mr Kerry in Boston as he campaigned for Congress for the first time in 1970. In the course of a lengthy article, "John Kerry: A Navy Dove Runs for Congress",published on February 18, the paper reported: 'When he approached his draft board for permission to study for a year in Paris, the draft board refused and Kerry decided to enlist in the Navy.'"
______________________________

Kerry is not the only one who enlisted in the Navy when it was clear no deferments would be forthcoming, because you did NOT want to end up in Nam as a grunt.

Now if it's true that when Kerry initially opted for swift boats while they were still just patrolling the coast, it might even start to look as if Kerry were doing his level best to stay out of the fray and mostly suffered from bad karma. Has anyone listed what his other options might have been? According to letters home/diaries(?) he apparently sensed death all around him -- while he was cruising on the Gridley! Signs up for swift boats, which suddenly get exponentially more dangerous, racks up the required purple hearts as fast as possible and gets the hell out. For someone who purportedly trashed his ribbons, he has certainly showed an inordinate interest in upgrades for valor after the fact.

I've always respected the military service of anyone, hero, stalwart and coward alike. I'm just not convinced that gaming the system, no matter how well you do it, qualifies you for hero status.

[Maya]

There are 5 things that make me think "Christmas in Cambodia" could be true:
1) Permission to enter Cambodia to 20 kilometers was granted in October 1967 (www.specialoperation.com/MACVSOG/Overview.htm)
2) Maps with misplaced boundaries of Cambodia were created
3) Admiral Zumwalt's son received a bronze star for an Swift Boat action in Cambodia. In the biography it says:"Technically, his violation should have been reported up the chain of command, but at the operating level we realized it was done with some frequency both by our boats and aviators."
4) O'Neill's strange locution to Nixon--"I was in Cambodia"
5) A letter to the editor I saw where the vet said "We did it all the time"

[Snowy]

Uh, Maya

Odd that Kerry's own diary entry for Christmas 1968 doesn't mention Cambodia. All he talks about is sugarplums and so on.

Maybe his searing seminal experience in Cambodia really took place on Valentine's Day?

Which kind of makes his "Christmas" schlock that got seared into the Congressional records (when Kerry used it to influence American foreign policy) rather problematic.

[Gary B.]

Carol, I promise to drop the issue with the "V", but I can't stop the US Navy from investigating it, and they've begun an investigation because they have a problem with it. I remember Kerry sayin' the Navy had awarded him those medals and they never had a problem with them. But, they've realised they really didn't know what all he had? Hopefully he'll allow them the right to investigate it?

[BumperStickerist]

Carol -

It's meaningful in the sense that it's Kerry making the claim that he has the 'V'.

The Silver Star is only awarded for heroism under combat. This change apparently took place a couple of years later, presumably for political gain.

This is the equivalent of Kerry getting his transcripts from college amended to read that he graduated 'summa laude in excelsis' and then mentioning that fact to a crowd that didn't know any better.

Earning the Silver Star is one thing.

What you do with it is something else entirely.

Fwiw - Kerry's not wearing a combat V on the Silver Star during his Senate testimony.

[Gary B.]

Maybe everyone else was going to Cambodia all the time and Kerry was just jealous, so he made-up stories about his brain being scared by the monumental life changing Cambodia in Christmas event.

I guess it's just Ironic, the only guy who didn't get to go to cambodia anytime (he's admitted) was the only one who ran around bragging that he was their for over 30 years?

Any evidence presented by the MSM that supports missions by swiftboats to Cambodia, can't be trusted. The media is fabricating all kinds of stupid shit right now to save Kerry-auki's ass. The left is losing their grip with reality like a crack smoker jonesing for a hit.

[Jon]

Lest we forget the "I actually was Irish before I wasn't" canard:

http://nationalreview.com/mgraham/graham200403170834.asp

[Eric S.]

On your point #5, I was under the impression that Kerry made at least one VVAW appearance on a Reservist trip, i.e., he was campaigning against the war while traveling on the Gov't's nickel. Isn't that clearly a crime?

- Eric.

[Jumbo]

Maya, I think you mean well, but the reasons you assign are either irrelevant or are based on a false assumption.

"1) Permission to enter Cambodia to 20 kilometers was granted in October 1967."

True, but not for any Navy craft, an certainly not for any Swift boats. This permission was limited to the "Studies and Observations Group", in operation "Daniel Boone" (later called "Salem House"), and consisted of inserting small teams (12 to 20 men) composed of US and indigineous (Hmong tribesmen, etc.) a few kilometers into Cambodia for recon. Insertion was by HELICOPTER. NO Swiftboats were sent into Cambodia until many months after Kerry was home and working out how he was going to undercut the guys he'd left in Vietnam.
(www.specialoperation.com/MACVSOG/Overview.htm)

2) Maps with misplaced boundaries of Cambodia were created

Maybe. But any waterways large enough for a Swiftboat (Swfits were 50' long, 13' 6" wide, 47,000 pounds fully loaded and needing 6' of draft to operate:http://pcf45.com/), were a) blocked by concrete barriers, and b) wired and/or mined and/or patrolled by US PBR's to make sure US forces didn't "blunder" into Cambodia. Besides, Kerry was adamant he was in Cambodia, while under orders to be there. No wandering, no map problem, no mistake, no confusion. That possibility only arose in August 2004 when his dramatization of his service began falling apart, and has only been raised by his handlers: he remains silent.

"3)Admiral Zumwalt's son received a bronze star for an Swift Boat action in Cambodia..."

Yes...well AFTER the period in which Kerry was in country. Zumwalt III served in Vietnam from June 1969 until August 1970. http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietnam/Readings/zumobit.htm We had invaded Cambodia by then.

"4) O'Neill's strange locution to Nixon--"I was in Cambodia"

Here is O'neill's quote to Nixon:
"I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border," O'Neill is heard telling Nixon in a conversation that was taped by the former president's secret recording system. The tape is stored at the National Archives in College Park, Md.

Additionally, O'Neill himself served into 1970, at a time began sending boats into Cambodia in preparation for invasion.Parse it if you want, I see no contradiction.

"5) A letter to the editor I saw where the vet salearid 'We did it all the time' "

And 250 Swiftboat vets, who were there, said they didn't (during Kerrry's time there), and they say to boot Kerry can't be counted on. You're clearly not going to accept them, so why would you accept a line in a letter from "the vet"? Your obvious answer is, "becasue I WANT to believe it." Sorry, doesn't work that way.

Maya, I note your points seem to track closely to some put out by Randi Rhodes, who has a program on the "Air America" network which make Al Franken sound like a guy you'd like to go to a ballgame with. You've been fed a load of half-truths and intentionally misleading factoids. I think you'll find that, for the most part, you're far more likely to find a reasoned search for the truth on this side than from anybody who thinks Air America is a good place to get the facts.

[Snowy]

More controversy:

Kerry hiding from the national press

Kerry incompetent to manage his campaign.
Hugh Hewitt: "The Washington Post reports that there is yet another Kerry campaign shakeup:"'We need someone on the plane who has a relationship with him and is an adult,' said a senior campaign official, who asked for anonymity to talk more freely about strategy. 'You need heavier fire power here. There is no room for error in days to come, and this takes the pressure off of headquarters.'"

Can this incompetent be trusted with the presidency?

[pst314]

"Kerry's first Purple Heart - Three Men in a Boat"

...To Say Nothing Of the Dog

[Snowy]

Controversy:

Trying to steal someone else's combat record until he got caught

[Snowy]

Per the enlightening post from "The Kid"

"But Kerry was undaunted. Soon he was chairing "The Senate Subcommittee on Narcotics, Terrorism and International Operations" quickly dubbed "The Kerry Committee" by his media cronies and soulmates. Soon it was boasting, "77 instances where the Reagan Administration misled Congress about its policies in Central America!"

Would be fun to do a "77 instances where John Kerry misled Americans about just about everything"

[Jumbo]

Hey, Kitty Kelley's book is out! We don't have to shovel; we can use a backhoe! Lot's of good stuff about what a wretched bunch of homosexual pedophile cokehead alkys the Bush family is; And did you know GWB was AWOL?

BTW, you might have noticed that the AWOL stories have miraculously been regurgitated in Old Media. So there must be something new and important that's just come out, right? No, it's just "a story The People have a right to know"...over and over until they buy it. OM is so nakedly involved in this race they're beyond parody.

And regarding Snowy's notice of Kerry's absence from the scene, just give him about 48 hours. Once the Kitty Kelley book gets breathlessly treated as An Event That Could Derail Bush by OM, and once OM gets the Bush AWOL stuff churning again, Kerry knows that his boys are laying down covering fire and that it's safe to come out again.

[Jenjis K.]

Kerry claims he still carries shrapnel in his body yet he had an MRI study for a shoulder injury he claims happened on his campaign bus and also an MRI after a recent bike accident. My understanding from Vets that do in fact carry shrapnel is that they do not have MRI's because the strong magnets used in MRI's can cause serious injury. So I have to question if Kerry's shrapnel story is legit.

[Crank]

The thing that sold me on Kerry's first Purple Heart being fishy is the timing. He requests a Purple Heart, gets turned down by the officers on the scene, and then asks again in late February (after or close to his second P.H.) when the people who knew the facts were gone. If it was after he got #2, that raises the possibility that he went back to get #1 knowing that "one more and I'm outta here."

[brett klein]

Sen. kerry, the very fact that you went and struggled
is enough for me.
I was with the 101st. abn. div. throughout the war
andwhen you are elected, don't forget your broters
past and presant.
Your brother,
kidd
charlie co. 3rd hurd/327 inf/1st. bde/ 101st. abn. div.