Swift Boats Are Back And Lipscomb's Got 'Em

Kate Zernike of the Times gets a front-pager deploring the use of the term "swiftboating" to mean "the nastiest of campaign smears".  Thomas Lipscomb, who covered the Swift controversies in depth back in 2004, trounces her.

To which I will add my one original contribution to this stew:  The latest response by Kerry's defenders mentions Kerry's controversial first Purple Heart on p. 12 (of 15):

The attempt to denigrate the circumstances of Kerry’s first Purple Heart, for example, is disproved by the two enlisted men, Pat Runyon and Bill Zaladonis, together with Kerry, who state categorically your so-called eyewitness, William Schachte, was not on the skimmer in the action that night. (Responding to this lie,
Zaladonis has quipped: “me and Pat aren’t the smartest, but we can count to three.”8) Should William Schachte ever consent to sit in a room with them, which he has thus far refused to do, or to be interviewed publicly with them present, which he has also avoided, they will offer further proof of his lie.

I would be curious to see what proof they could produce.  What has struck me is that Zaladonis was interviewed repeatedly by Douglas Brinkley prior to 2004 for Brinkley's "Tour of Duty" hagiography, and was also interviewed by the Boston Globe for their 2003 Kerry profiles.  Yet neither the Globe nor Brinkley elicited from Zaladonis that he first met Kerry during this incident that resulted in Kerry's first combat, Kerry's first medal, and was later described by Zaladonis as "one of the scariest nights I've had in my life".  Instead, Zaladonis meets Kerry a few days later as a crew member on Kerry's first PCF.

Deficient interview technique, twice over?  Or did Zaladonis only later decide that his story was even more impressive if he put himself in the boat with Kerry?  Zaladonis first appears with Kerry on the skimmer when the Purple Heart story was being criticized in early 2004. 

Neither Brinkley nor the Globe will be following up on this, and Kerry's War Notes (aka his journal) have not been made available so that we could see his contemporaneous account of his first combat and first medal incident.  And a Bonus Note - although it was his first medal incident, the medal was actually awarded later than some of the others (IIRC); the presumption is that Kerry pushed through the paperwork after some other officers had gone Stateside.

Thomas Lipscomb had more on Kerry's first Purple Heart (and my thoughts).

Comments

[Neo]

I'm curious to find out exactly what mysteries that a bunch of "Swiftboater" that we never on Kerry's boat can prove or disprove.

So far I still haven't heard any except Kerry say he went to Cambodia.

[Neo]

Maybe these new "Swiftboaters" met that CIA guy with the "Magic Hat".

[clarice]

Lipscomb's piece is a truly extraordinary piece of work--worth clipping and pasting.Thank you for bringing it to my attention,TM.

[thegreatsatan]

Jesus, they keep letting that ignorant twat write about this stuff? No wonder Times readership continues to tank.

[Forbes]

Yeah, I second the motion Clarice. Lipscomb really points out the short comings of the agenda-driven press--and that should be an embarrassment to any reporters. Telling the story means getting to the bottom of it, and Lipscomb points out that these folks are just enablers of mostly hack politicians, like Kerry. Sad state of affairs.

[narciso]

You have to give him to wander into that
'den of scum and human villainy' that is
the Huff Po. Whether any of the facts will get through it's another matter. Of course,
Rand Beers, the man who made it unsafe for
missionaries to fly their families in passenger planes, has piped up on how McCain's experience in the Hanoi Hilton, has limited his foreign policy perspective.
How many people fit under that bus, anyway, it's getting awfully crowded. And the news
round up wouldn't be complete with Aparism "Bobby" Ghosh Time pean to female suicide bombers, using the example of Husna
who followed her Darwinian brother into the family trade of C-4 model. My local paper has of course, taken up the Bin Laden
hunt story; leaving out the role of Robert Grenier priority switch to South East Asia and N. Africa; way from Iran & Afghanistan.
And of course, the leaking of the oil contracts, has cause them to be re-evaluated
with oil moving toward $150 a barrel,

[JJ]

Wow on Lipscomb's post. His points are especially good because he lays them all out for independent verification -- something the Times does not do by assumption.

I attribute it all to Hanlon's or Ingham's razor -- which he as well does -- although he also points out that it reekth beyond even that.

[Thomas Jackson]

I see Kerry still hasn't post his 180 nor collected on the million dollar bet.

But in your heart you know that Kerry was one of those anti-war angels in heaven who warned God against hostilities against Satan.

[PeterUK]

A former British Prime Minister,Harold Wilson said "Two weeks is a long time in politics". Four years is a "lifetime",thirty three years an eternity.
Most people won't remember who John F.Kerry is,many don't know the war that he briefly visited.The might even think he was shot in Dallas
Vietnam is two generations ago,but the Democrats keep fighting it as it were their finest hour.Tell the average voter you won't be "swiftboated" and they will think you are turning down a sexual advance.
All Republicans have to do is focus on the here and now,addressing the current concerns of the electorate.

[kim]

I think you may find the wreckage of the Patriot Project in the archives of JOM, May of '06, where 'We wuz takin' it to 'em!'

There seems to be yet a new attempt to rehabilitate him. Please let it mean that Kerry is in consideration for Veep.
====================================

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

There seem to be some new specifics here:

A source who had been on the Harvard Law School admissions board revealed that with Kerry's bad military record he was turned down for admission though clearly qualified because they didn't want to admit someone who they thought would be unable to pass the bar.

What "bad military record?" There was no sign of it on Kerry's website nor in the Brinkley biography and Kerry had certainly never spoken of it. ....

Finally, a former Secretary of the Navy told me that Kerry had asked him to expunge the disciplinary action the Navy had taken against him for what the Navy regarded as treasonous activities supporting the enemy in a time of war so he could be admitted to a law school and get on with his career. The Secretary refused. So it appears that Kerry went to Father Drinan, the former dean of the Boston College Law School. Kerry had decided not to run against Drinan for an open Congressional seat Drinan then occupied. Kerry asked him for help. The disciplinary action disappeared from Kerry's official records with the general Jimmy Carter amnesty for Vietnam veterans with bad service records, the first bill Carter initiated after his inauguration.

I don't think I've seen the sources mentioned before.

[kim]

A key tender spot is his wartime journal and photos. Any call for them shut up his defenders fast.
==========================

[GMax]

Lipscomb points out directly that Kerry with all his dancing and weaving on what Pickens said while quoting someone else's website is pretty bizarre, but think you MSM morons. If Kerry could refute any of the stuff in the SwiftBoat ads, why would be doing this stupid Kabuke dance? As Lipscomb rightly infers, Kerry own actions here strongly implys that the Swift Boat Veterans were correct on every point. If not Kerry would certainly just release the information and make a big deal of the $1mm going to charity.

[PeterUK]

You want pictures of John F.Kerry,you got them. With another "war hero".

[Sue]

I still have nightmares on how close we came to this tool being president.

[RichatUF]

Patrick R. Sullivan-

This is a Belder Blog post going through the controversy at the time-lots of links to the original article.

[PeterUK]

This is a nice one of John F.Kerry getting a big "Thank you" from the Vietnamese

[PeterUK]

Of course John F.Kerry has always had patriotic friends John and Jane Fonda

[PeterUK]

Here is a shot of John F.Kerry training for his naval career.

[Rick Ballard]

"I still have nightmares on how close we came to this tool being president."

I never thought he had a prayer (I sure thought Gore did). I rate Obama as a much weaker candidate than Kerry, primarily because he has much weaker support among the <$50K white group. Kerry did OK with female side of that group and Obama doesn't.

It will be interesting to see if the PUMA movement really takes off. If it does, then Obama can kiss off a fair percentage of the >$50K female contingent as well as the white <$50K group as a whole.

McCain just needs to pound a drill and build energy policy.

[kim]

Pete, the caption of the photo with Jane Fonda calls Kerry a 'former Vietnam vet'. The unconscious ironies are always so good.
============================

[centralcal]

what does the PUMA acronym stand for?

[kim]

Party Unity My Ass, the rallying cry of the Clintonites.
=====================

[Rick Ballard]

Party Unity My Ass - seems that the Red Witch's covens aren't backing down.

[kim]

TexasDarlin, she of the birth certificate fervor, is a roaring PUMA.
=======================================

[kim]

I am PUMA, hear me roar.
================

[kim]

I served on a site council for an elementary school in a slot reserved for a parent of a past student, and I was once described as a 'former parent'. I got a big laugh out of that one.
======================================

[MikeS]

Kerry's personal records would go along way to clearing things up. It's hard to remember stuff from almost 4 decades ago. I don't believe any of the witnesses are purposely lying.

I haven't seen any of Kerry's physical scars. They don't seem to keep him from wind surfing and snow boarding. His psychological scars are more obvious, but there is no telling when they happened.

My personal opinion is that even if the man had won the Congressional Medal of Honor 3 times, it wouldn't balance out the crap he pulled when he got home.

[kim]

Whoa, TexasDarlin now thinks the image at Kos of the birth certificate has been modified since first posted to put evidence of an embossed seal on it. Remember, he who shall not be named tried to give us the embossing the other night. What say JMH?
========================================

[JM Hanes]

Whenever Kerry gets to bask in the glow of the New York Times, you can be pretty sure Kate Zernike is supplying the glow. Obama seems to have had Kerry on the mind too, when he instructed us on the proper treatment of veterans: "And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters on both sides." Do you suppose McCain is wishing McCain/Feingold had outlawed coordination with the MSM yet?

Zernike's piece also merits a "Name That Party" badge. Who turned an honest search for truth into a verb for smear? I believe we've got Democrats to thank for that, no?

[Pagar]

I don’t know about anyone else, but every time I hear the term “swift boat”, I think of those few great Americans who had already risked their lives in fighting for America in Vietnam. Americans who again answered the call in 2004 to step forward and stop John Kerry (the American who did more than any other American to insure that North Vietnam was able to declare America defeated in Vietnam) from completing the efforts he made in the 1970s and since to defeat America.

The term Swift Boat Vets means freedom for America. May God bless them, every one.

[PaulL]

Patrick R.: The part about Harvard Law rejecting Kerry because of his bad military record, that was news to me as well.

[BumperStickerist]

There's a common denominator to John Kerry's and John McCain's service in Vietnam.

Each officer given the opportunity to walk away from their mission and return stateside:

John Kerry after receiving his third purple heart

John McCain after the USS Forrestal incident

John Kerry chose to leave; McCain did not.

That's always been my central beef with Kerry - he was a combat officer who walked away from the troops under his charge prematurely.

Because he could.

You can't "SwiftBoat" that.

-

[Sue]

Patrick & Paul,

I heard that during the time it was going on, but I never knew for sure if it was rumor or truth.

[PaulL]

The very important thing to keep in mind is that all the records of Kerry's less-than-honorable discharge were destroyed after Carter's order. There will never be an official record that reflects the original. All we can ever get will be the later, "honorable" records that Carter ordered.

It is a crime with strong penalties for those in the know to even discuss the original records. There was a hint back in 2004 that someone (was it an Admiral?) was going to reveal the truth in spite of that but he apparently thought better of it.

[Sue]

I'm listening to a dem strategist on H&C and he is outraged at the hypocrisy! Outraged, I tell ya'. And the irony is thick, but Mr. Outgraged doesn't get it.

[Sue]

The sneer in his voice when he says the name Bud Day is a sight to behold.

[Rocco]

I remember the Lowell Sun ripped him to pieces in the early years. Might be some gems in those archives.

[clarice]

I think this is the shrewd weasley at his finest and if it works the way I think it will, we won't have to put up with this running dog again.

[narciso]

Who are these people, Beers, Clark, McPeak, they are like a bad parody of the limousine leftist in the McCarry novels. They not only
insult the sacrifices that McCain made, but they wanted to be rewarded for it; in some perverse sort of patriotism; which borders on treason. It's interesting that Barak's Independence speech on patriotism, echoes the Time Magazine cover this week. Luce isn't just rolling over, he's doing triple somersaults in his grave. Aravosis, the one who misatributed the Pakistani ISI's leaks in 2004 to the Bush administration; which ended up collapsing the "Crevice investigation" and used this argument to
blame the administration for the London bombing. Doesn't he realize, if we loose, his head is on a gibbet or worse. The Bin Laden hunt story; of course, leaves out the
success in nabbing Hamzi Rabia, Anas al Liby, at least one of the Al Masri's

[BumperStickerist]

Aaaaannnnnndddddddd....

lest we forget ...

Of the 'Band of Brothers' that Kerry had on stage with him for his "Reporting for Duty" ironic foreshadowing moment, the black current-pastor hadn't actually, you know, served *IN THE BOAT* with Kerry.

Or, actually, with Kerry at all, since Kerry'd gone by the time the guy showed up.

oops.

-

That said, Kerry was shot at by Vietnamese people who meant to kill him, so I don't question Kerry's personal courage. I do question Kerry's need to gild the lily of his military service.

[BumperStickerist]

Lastly, and this is for Tom ...

... I would bet good money, possibly euros, that Markos Himself will be in the rafters of the DNC Convention with a Bowie Knife clenched in his teeth at the ready.

The Balloons Will Fall on Time. This Time.

Oh Yes.

Ballons Will Fall

[RichatUF]

PaulL-

There will never be an official record that reflects the original. All we can ever get will be the later, "honorable" records that Carter ordered.

Not exactly. If Kerry had his discharge upgraded, he would have been issued a DD-215 (discharge correction or upgrade) with the original DD-214 attached. The form itself (DD-214 or 215) has 7 copies that go to different places, wonder if anyone thought to poke around Massachusetts VA to see if another copy (it would be copy 6 or 7, its been a while) is laying around in an old dusty file.

[JM Hanes]

Kim:

I say I may be wrong on the seal issue. As soon as I can throw together a few images for photobucket and check what the other folks out there are saying, I'll post an update with URLs here.

[Tom Maguire]

Patrick R.: The part about Harvard Law rejecting Kerry because of his bad military record, that was news to me as well.

I will split the difference with Sue - I recall the rumor but didn't think anyone had claimed a Harvard source backing it.

However! Here is the Lipscomb piece from Nov 1, 2004:

Mr. Kerry has said, "I applied to Harvard, Boston University, and Boston College. I was extremely late. Only BC would entertain a late application."

It is hard to see why Mr. Kerry had to file an "extremely late" application since he lost the congressional race in Lowell, Mass., the first week of November 1972 and was basically doing nothing until he entered law school the following September of 1973.A member of the Harvard Law School admissions committee recalled that the real reason Mr. Kerry was not admitted was because the committee was concerned that because Mr. Kerry had received a less than honorable discharge they were not sure he could be admitted to any state bar.

Well, OK. Some old links here - I mainly remember that Cecil Turner was not buying, which seemed like a good horse to ride.

[RichatUF]

I goofed my last comment-seems that DD-214's are 8 pages not 7 and that copy 5 goes to the Labor Department (beats me?), and I'm looking to see if that was the case back in the 70's when Kerry got discharged.

The Truth is out there.

[kim]

JMHanes, that certificate is turning into a real palimpsest. Heh.

The admiral reconsidered at the last moment, I believe the eve of the eve of the election, and didn't spill the beans.
=====================================

[bad]

If not Kerry would certainly just release the information and make a big deal of the $1mm going to charity.

You are a much nicer person than I, GMax. I assumed if Kerry could get his hands on a cool million he would augment his pocket money since Teresa keeps him on a short leash.

[bad]

JMH The link that Clarice provided to yessir yassar showed the original certificate as different than the one provided on Obama's campaign website. The obvious difference was that where the certicicate number in upper right hand corner (as we viiew it) was blocked on the campaign website, Yassir showed an unfilled box.

[PaulL]

Rich,

Are you saying that there could be an old record of the less-than-honorable discharge that still exists somewhere?

The way I recall it is that all the old records are supposed to be destroyed. It defeats the purpose of creating a new, honorable discharge if there's ever an old, less-than-honorable one attached to it. Then it would be a wink-wink situation.