Kerry Bringing It On!

I am not making this up - a mere three years too late, Kerry has pieced together his autobiography:

John Kerry: I'm Now Prepared to Fight Off Swift Boat Veterans

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, perhaps preparing to get back into the presidential ring one day, claims he's now armed with materials that will make war record critics from his 2004 presidential campaign go running tail between legs.

The 63-year-old Democratic senator told The Patriot-Ledger on Tuesday that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group of Navy servicemen who served with Kerry and criticized his record in Vietnam, will be revealed as liars.

"We have put together a documented portfolio that frankly puts their lies in such a total light of absurdity and indecency, that should they ever rear their ugly heads again, we have every single 't’ crossed and 'i’ dotted, and I welcome that in a sense,'' Kerry said after addressing Boston's South Shore Chamber of Commerce. "It’s a shame we weren’t able to produce all that at the time.''

Cool - Kerry has finally wrestled his personal history to the canvas.  Did Douglas Brinkley, Tour of Duty author, finally allow Kerry access to Kerry's "War Notes"?  The WaPo couldn't get ahold of them back when a decisive rebuttal of the Swifties might have won Kerry the election, but maybe time heals all wounds.

Whatever - we spun this oldie back in May 2006, the last time Kerry claimed he was ready to bring it on against the Swifties.  I know everyone who followed the Swifties has a personal favorite, but mine is this - what in the record suggests that the two members of the Band of Brothers who now claim to have been with Kerry when he won his first Purple Heart were actually there?

The glaringly obvious reason for doubting their presence is this - Zaladonis was a crewman on Kerry's first boat from December 1968 to Jan 1969; because he was a former crewman for Kerry, he was interviewed by both the Boston Globe and historian Douglas Brinkley in 2003, as Kerry geared up his Presidential run.  In fact, in his book intro Brinkley claims he interviewed Zaladonis repeatedly.  Yet neither Brinkley nor the Globe reporters got from Zaladonis the news that he was with Kerry for Kerry's first combat and his first Purple Heart
- that only emerged in 2004.  Either Brinkley and the Globe share a glaring deficiency  in interviewing technique or the Zaladonis story evolved over time.

I still hope that reporters ask to see the relevant portions of Kerry's War Notes to evaluate his contemporaneous account of his first combat and first medal - should be easy, now that Kerry is ready.

UPDATE:  Critics, including our own Other Tom, get some ink in a follow-up.

Comments

[anduril]

what a sad excuse for a man.

[OPO]

Ya know, Jane introduced them after Ketchup's Republican died in a wierd plane wreck. He didn't want to be President, Kerry sure does. I like the foreign born South Afrcian spy theory for Heinz. It might be the truth.

Jane was a spy too. She spied for those Tom Tuttle people. Kerry forced the vets to 'sign the papers' in the states. She married the CNN guy who we all liked. CNN did alot of busines in China. Anyway, you ever wonder if Jane the matchmaker knew Plame?

Spies everywhere and see how they moved up? See who they are; dems.

[RichatUF]

I guess its not a full moon but Comet Holmes is visible. Took me a couple of days to figure out what the hell was in the NE sky...

Anyway-Sen. Kerry finally looking to kick ass and take names. I wonder if this ass-kicking includes signing a SF-180 so the issues can be put to rest. Funny passage about SBVT and the Plame book-goes to progressives not being able to detect irony.

[Jane]

Jane was a spy too.

I'd make a really good spy - until the grey goose kicked in.

[PeterUK]

So we get the Christmas Pantomime "Carry on Kerry in Cambodia" again this year?

[TruthIsHere]

What I want to know is WHEN are we going to impeach TORTURE-DENT Bush!!!1!!!1!! Time is running out before he get's away SCOTT FREE with his CrIMES AGAiNST HUmANITY!!!

[RichatUF]

Boston Globe re the SF180

Interesting that they didn't include the documents [iirc the only things on the Kerry 04 website were the award certificates and the DD 215 and not much else]

Bay Hap from CPT.Ed

[justoneminute]

http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/opinion/local_story_310184039.html?keyword=secondarystory

Delta IVs?

[PeterUK]

Truthishere,

"CrIMES AGAiNST HUmANITY!!!"

Do you cut up newspapers to make ransom notes as well?

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

The rich are different from you and me. They can help themselves living in a fantasy world.

[centralcal]

aw heck, Jane . . . you'd be an even more superior spy after the Grey Goose kicked in!

[Other Tom]

I'll tell you the largest single question remaining in my mind about the whole, sorry, failed campaign of self-aggrandizement and shameless, fraudulent exploitation of four months' service in a combat zone. It's not the first purple heart (absolutely no doubt in my mind what happened there, regardless of who was or was not in the skimmer), it's the third one. If anyone here knows the answer, please let me know.

As I recall, earlier that day Kerry had sustained a self-inflicted wound when he tossed a grenade into a pile of rice to disperse it and make it useless to the VC. Unfortunately, he didn't run fast enough and got shrapnel and rice imbedded in his backside and legs. Neither he nor anyone else asserts that he was engaged with the enemy at the time, so the wound did not even arguably qualify for a purple heart.

Hours later, when the mine incident occurred in the Bay Hap, he sustained an injury to his arm. I have never been certain of the cause of the injury, but I believe it may have occurred when he fell against the bulkhead of the Swift, either because a mine went off or when the boat made a sharp high-speed turn to return to where the other three unhit boats were attending to the stricken Swift.

Somewhere, some corpsman treated the grenade wound (Kerry acknowledges that). I'll assume that some corpsman also treated his arm, and thus that there are medical records of both injuries. Which one was the subject of the purple heart? The earlier wound would not even technically qualify, but had it been sustained in combat would not have raised an eyebrow when the purple heart was awarded. As Kerry no doubt knew, however, plenty of eyebrows would go up if he sought or accepted the award for the arm injury.

So: did someone move the purple heart papers forward on the assumption that Kerry's shrapnel wounds had been incurred during the Bay Hap incident? In short, did he capitalize on an unqualifying but mildly serious wound in place of a technically qualifying but ridiculous one?

(Once my PBR base was mortared, and we scrambled to the boats to get underway. In the darkness a guy slipped and fell into his boat, injuring his hand. He told his boss he wanted the paperwork done for a purple heart, and was damn near hooted out of the country. And he didn't get it.)

[centralcal]

Kerry is just pitiful.

Thank god he never became President.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Oops, that should have been CAN'T help themselves.

[Topsecretk9]

"CrIMES AGAiNST HUmANITY!!!"

Do you cut up newspapers to make ransom notes as well?

Posted by: PeterUK | November 06, 2007 at 07:38 PM

hEh

[PeterUK]

"I have never been certain of the cause of the injury, but I believe it may have occurred when he fell against the bulkhead of the Swift, either because a mine went off or when the boat made a sharp high-speed turn.."

Or could it simply be that Swift Boats are not design for a tall streak of piss like Kerry and he simply didn't duck going through a door or a hatch?

[hit and run]

Jane:
I'd make a really good spy - until the grey goose kicked in.

Dude. That's hawt.

Oh and Jane, I was wondering if this was you. From Mark Hemingway at the Corner:

Oh and by the way, if any of you reading this happen to be the student at CU in the early seventies who took it upon himself to knock unconscious an SDS organizer with a bullhorn because he was disrupting ROTC field drills — my father is still looking for you, so he can personally offer the thanks of a grateful nation.

Or was that Charlie?

[Sue]

Damn. I miss him. I sure wish he hadn't made that stupid remark about the troops that caused him to have to rethink running again. He was so much fun to make fun of.

[hit and run]

Day late and dollar short and all that but, I figured TM should be aware...because this could potentially bring together my two favoritest bloggers...one of them is asking about the home state of the other, regarding that other's preferred Republican candidate.

From Geraghty:

A Few More Thoughts on Giuliani's Chances in Connecticut

Earlier today, responding to a quote from Republican House candidate David Cappiello suggesting that Rudy Giuliani could put the state of Connecticut “in play,” I asked, “Could Connecticut really go from a Republican Senate candidate getting 9.6 percent of the vote in a three way race to turning red in a presidential race two years later?”

A few Connecticut readers have a bone to pick with my implied skepticism.

Alas, it was a more than a few posts ago at the Campaign Spot, and Jim seems to have moved on dot org...(oh and don't worry, Jim has already gotten the message about the 9.6 percent being due to a large number of republicans voting for Lieberman as an independent).

[PaulL]

It's very convenient that IT IS ILLEGAL for anyone in the know to comment on Kerry's original less-than-honorable discharge. Jimmy Carter upped it to an honorable discharge and all previous paperwork to the contrary was destroyed.

But since Kerry is now on crack, has he worked up enough courage to finally accept a debate with John O'Neill?

[Jane]

Jane, I was wondering if this was you.

I wish it was. And it wasn't Charlie either. he never went to CU - too smart I suspect.

I was a hippie in Boulder, working for Mcgovern and sure that Nixon was behind Watergate months and months and months before it broke. We turned out to be right about Watergate, not so much about McGovern.

[Rickter]

OT, but Freepers are all over Hill's Huma... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1921983/posts

[hit and run]

By the way, covertiness now available at UrbanDictionary.com

There's thumb's up, thumb's down voting there...if you wanna give it a vote..uh, yeah, that's all we need something else to vote on.

[hit and run]

Jane:
And it wasn't Charlie either. he never went to CU - too smart I suspect.

Ooops, wrong about you...but....whadabout...

Sylvia, honey, as a graduate of U of Colorado and Duke, and a sometime faculty member at CU now, I can tell you that you ain't seen nothin'.
...
Posted by: Charlie (Colorado) | April 12, 2007 at 03:28 PM

[motionview]

My favorite, Thomas Lipscomb at SBVT, "Hanoi Approved of Role Played By Anti-War Vets".

...
Mr. Kerry had already had, in June of 1970, a meeting in Paris with enemy diplomats, ostensibly, he has indicated, to get a sense of how American prisoners held in Hanoi might be freed. Two historians believe Mr. Kerry made a second trip to Paris in the summer of 1971 and held further talks with the North Vietnamese. The Kerry campaign has denied this.

FBI surveillance and Mr. Kerry's own statements have established his two visits to Paris to meet with the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong delegations to the Paris Peace Talks as taking place in June of 1970 and August of 1971.

...

One trip or two? Regardless of the nuances Kerry & Co. have prepared over the last 3 years on all the other Swift Boat charges, this is really the core issue. This bears on PaulL's comment on the discharge. Believe it or not, even if you really, really want to, commissioned officers in the US Military are prohibited from treating with the enemy. If he had a less-than-honorable I think this would be the actioned offense that led to it.

It would be great if Lipscomb could nail down the FBI proof of the second trip. And it would be really nice if Kerry, in this burst of activity, releases his complete military records, not just his navy records.

[reliapundit]

John Kerry was and remains Unfit for Command.

The truly sad thiong is, he is still more qualified to be POTUS than Hillary or Edwards or Obama!

[Ann]

" a tall streak of piss like Kerry"

Posted by: PeterUK | November 06, 2007 at 08:17 PM

LOL, Made me think of an old southern saying about a compliment to a fine young man. It goes something like:

That PUK and H&R are like a tall, cooool, glass of lemonade.

"Kerry is a tall streak of piss"

Will never forget it! Love ya

[pagar]

Just saw this on Redstate, anyone know any more about It

"At tonight's American Spectator dinner in Washington, the venerable T. Boone Pickens apparently just staked $1 Million (yes, he's got the money) betting that no one - not even John Kerry and his magic hat - can prove anything the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth said in 2004 was false."

Would love to see T. Boone Pickens win this one.

[Other Tom]

I'm happy to be quoted, more or less accurately, in a follow-up article. Too bad he misspelled the name of my home town, but what the hell.

http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/11/06/news/news0l-kerry.txt

[martin]

"We have put together a documented portfolio that frankly puts their lies in such a total light of absurdity and indecency, that should they ever rear their ugly heads again, we have every single 't' crossed and 'i' dotted, and I welcome that in a sense,"

Remind me never to steal this man's strawberries...

[Sue]

How do you vote?

[hit and run]

Go Other Tom!

I do like this at the end of that article:

Kerry aide David Wade said Tuesday in a prepared statement: ``What was true in 1969 and true in 2004 is still true today: Sen. Kerry served his country with honor, and the right wing was disgustingly wrong to smear a decorated combat veteran. An assault on one veterans’ service is an attack on all veterans.

That makes sense, in context:

"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs."
--John Kerry, CBS Face the Nation, December 3, 2006

See? I mean, this is why Kerry didn't just claim one soldier was responsible for terrorizing women and children in Iraq. Attacking just one would have been attacking all of them. So...He went ahead and attacked all of them.

Principle.

[hit and run]

Sue:
How do you vote?

Click on my name to vote for Jmax!

But if you meant covertiness, just click on the thumbs up icon on the page...oh, gosh that was presumptuous. Click on whichever thumb best represents your sentiment.

[Sue]

I clicked on the thumbs up and unless someone was voting at exactly the same time I did, it showed up as a thumbs down. I assure, I like it and I voted thumbs up.

[Clarice]

pagar, I wsa there. He DID say that.

[Ralph L]

Coronada? What does that mean in Spanish? An empty crown?

Kerry is too pigheaded to realize that the real and permanent damage to his prospects was caused by his recorded testimony to the Senate. Pricking the balloon of his war record was done to get enough publicity and funds to show people how he shat all over his former brothers-in-arms.

[Elroy Jetson]

Maybe John Kerry wants to take the goreacle's place and be the one who is going to rescue the party from Hillary!
Bring it on, Johnny! Remember you almost won in '04, and some of miss you in the spotlight. There hasn't been a lot of laughs on the campaign trail lately....
Please?

[Ann]

Clarice,

Pagar's link is to vote for Redstate. Please tell us more about the bet. If it is true, wow!

[narciso]

You know there really is no history of an avowed anti-war political figure, rising
to power in the US; due to his slandering
of a whole generation of his fellow vets, continuing by spreading toxic rumors about
US intelligence operations through collusion
with left wing conspiracy kooks; I refer to the Christics. Now one might say Harkin &
Bonior, the air force cargo pilot and the
Senate aide who publicized the 'tiger cages'
;the Abu Ghraib of the period are kindred
spirits. In other news the Vipsers headed
by Saudi shill; excuse me CIA station chief
Riyadh, during the oil embargo; Ray Close,
Larry Johnson, Vincent Cannistraro, et al have taken the waterboarding tack on the Mukasey front. This is highly ironic because
we know that the reports dealing with interrogation by Saudi national police, General Intelligence or National Guard to use Close and Cannistraro's experience; not
to mention the G-2 reports that Larry wrote
as an analyst at the Central America desk;
were let us say not obtained due to warrants. News flash; everything we knew about 'Curveball' was wrong; including the
fact that much of his information was validated by the Duelfer and Kay reports.
This brings us the distressing question; do we know anything for sure when it comes to intelligence; ie; has anyone actually seen
Bin Laden alive in person in the last three
years; where did the WMD stockpiles actually
end up, why don't we have a definitive source as to whether Ahmadinejad was one of
the embassy hijackers; or his other work with the vevak Sepah pasdaran; including the
hit on Quassemlou in Vienna, 1989?

[Sue]

http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/11/06/news/news0l-kerry.txt>Kerry's critics swing back

Other Tom's linky...

Good job OT.

[Ann]

Pagar's Post

Please Read!!

[Clarice]

Ann, that's it, basically. The acoustics were bad and though I was sitting in front, I couldn't hear much more of what he said but that.

[Ann]

Sue,
Thanks for the link!

[TM]

Re Kerry's third Purple Heart, the WaPo story linked in the post had this:

An unsigned "personnel casualty report," however, erroneously implies that Kerry suffered "shrapnel wounds in his left buttocks" later in the day, following the mine explosion incident, when he also received "contusions to his right forearm."

Anti-Kerry veterans have accused Kerry of conflating the two injuries to strengthen his case for a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Kerry's Bronze Star citation, however, refers only to his arm injury.

Something for everyone.

[juinute]

Just 1 minute and the lost war:

Dipo(State Department) blog deleted all references to the UN tax imposed by the Law of the Sea Treaty and native rights to the land and water.

The tax is not American or Canadian or Russian or British; it is a foreign body taxing authority.

Terrorism was the result in England(Live 8 G8 bombings)

They are passing the law as it is native month.

Another war lost.

[Sara]

"contusions to his right forearm."

Contusions means bruises. We give Purple Hearts for bruises? That seems a real stretch.

[Mustang0302]

Did he really claim he had a "dossier"? He couldn't find a non-French word?

[Capt. America]

In promoting his movie, "Lions For Lambs," Robert Redford is sponsoring a contest on You Tube entitled "What Do You Stand For?"

Please find the URL:
http://www.youtube.com/lionsforlambs

One of the Top 10 finalists is a virulently anti-America clip entitled, "What I Stand For In Under 30 Seconds." It looks jihadist but it was made by an American (under the moniker of prime63). Yet another unhinged Leftist.

[pagar]

Thanks for your confirmation on what T. Boone Pickens said at the supper, Clarice.

My apologies for the ad at the front of the link I posted last night. It was my last post before I went to bed so I must not have checked the link. I only meant to post the
statement of the bet made by Mr Pickens.

Here is the entire quote of the post by Ben Domenech.

"At tonight's American Spectator dinner in Washington, the venerable T. Boone Pickens apparently just staked $1 Million (yes, he's got the money) betting that no one - not even John Kerry and his magic hat - can prove anything the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth said in 2004 was false.

Media Matters, here's looking at you, kids.

BTW, congratulations to Jeff Emanuel, in attendance tonight, who got at least a free dinner out of his excellent cover story for AmSpec. Kudos, Jeff."

It contains two more links inside it, but neither adds anything about Mr. Pickens. You can get to the other two embedded links by checking my original link.

[Jane]

wrong about you...but....whadabout...

H&R,

That was what I thought too, but once when I referred to "our alma mater" Charlie said "not me". My guess is he went there for grad school. I demand he come back and straighten us out.

[Jane]

Well good, JOM just got linked by Glenn. Expect the crazies.

[Daveg]

We have put together a documented portfolio that frankly puts their lies in such a total light of absurdity and indecency, that should they ever rear their ugly heads again...

Dear John:

Their "ugly heads" haven't gone anywhere, you self-important douche. What wait? Release your alleged documented portfolio and prove them as liars now.

Really, don't you want to clear your fine and honourable name? Don't you??

Love,

Cynical in Columbus

[Chuck]

Whew! I almost stopped at Jane's post when she shamefully did not capitalize "grey goose". Oh, the humanity of it all, oh the humanity. Er, should that be "inhumanity"?

Thankfully centralcal steeled my resolve just a few posts down.

Truthishere what in hell you drinking? Hopefully not Grey Goose. Just tell me you are and I'll revert to Smirnoff or some such.

[Jane]

Chuck,

Grey Goose and I are on a first name basis, thus no caps.

[BDT]

The statute of limitations just ran on any defamation action Kerry could have filed regarding the "lies" of the Swifties. We are all still waiting for him to release all his service records. What a joke. The last thing Kerry wants is the truth to get out.

Seems to me that Kerry is concerned about re-election to the Senate. The quotes attributable to him are simply a thinly veiled threat....if the Swifties come at him again he's going to get personal on them and their families. Creep.

The "Winter Soldier" complaining about others "distorting" the truth. He has absolutely no character. Good thing he's good at marrying rich widows and spending their dead husbands money. If he wasn't he'd be selling used cars somewhere. And probably doing very well......

BDT

[Jane]

I don't think Kerry is worried about re-election. We are unconscious here in MA. WE have no opposition. WE have a murderer in the other senate seat.

I do think the democrats have adopted a policy of hubris. If you say something often enough and with enough indignation, enough idiots will buy into it. Case in point Don Surber's latest which can be found by clicking on my name. (Thanks H&R for that tip for the link challanged.)

[capitano]

Good point BDT.

Maybe when Imus gets back on the air he can have JFKerry on to ask him about his pledge to release his service records -- all of his service records to the public and not merely selected records to his sycophant local press.

[Jane]

Don Surber suggests we help out the Democrats effort to hold impeachment hearings, and I agree. I called. Will you?

From Democrats.com:

So how do we reverse Conyers’ death sentence for H.Res. 333?

We must demand Judiciary Committee hearings for H.Res. 333 starting immediately after Thanksgiving.

How do we mobilize around this demand?

1. Call the House Judiciary Committee at 202-225-3951 and demand hearings on H.Res. 333.

2. Email all of the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee:
http://www.democrats.com/topelosiandjudiciary

3. If you live in the district of a House Judiciary Committee member, call their office and tell them you’re a constituent and you want immediate hearings on H.Res. 333. Then join your Congressional District Impeachment Committee
http://democrats.com/cdic-find and organize a HonkToImpeach rally in front of your Representative’s district office. Then keep up the pressure on your Representative every way you can, including letters to the editor, calls to local talk shows, and pointed questions at every community forum attended by your Representative.

[BDT]

Jane, MA elected Mitt Romney....... How did that happen?

[Jane]

You know I sincerely doubt that JFKerry released all his records to the Boston Globe. I just don't think they could or would sit on what I suspect is in it.

[Jane]

MA often elects a republican Governor - we had Weld for a long time remember? For the most part the Governor is impotent against a state senate that is about 97% democrat. I think the current tally in the senate is 34 democrat, 5 republican, and the house is even worse. At this point we have an absolutely wretched dem Governor, who is such a failure that a republican will have a good shot next time - but that never seems to have a trickle down effect. And for the most part the republican party doesn't even bother because the democrats have so much money.

[BDT]

Just what I needed....another reason to hate the Red Sox...

[Other Tom]

TM, your most recent post quoting from the WaPo settles it for me. The paperwork for the Bronze Star and that for the Purple Heart are entirely independent of each other, and are processed separately and almost certainly involved different people. And even if the people involved were the same, it's highly unlikely that they would take notice of a detail that is very important today in light of Kerry's subsequent behavior, but would not have raised any red flags at the time.

I think he finessed this one, as with so much in his sorry career.

[PeterUK]

"How do you vote?!

Early and often.

[pst314]

Kerry's strategy is, instead of actually refuting his critics, to simply claim that he has refuted them--and of course to continue to refuse to release his military records. This strategy will work very well for such uncritical and/or dishonest audiences as the New York Times and CBS News.

[PeterUK]

"An unsigned "personnel casualty report," however, erroneously implies that Kerry suffered "shrapnel wounds in his left buttocks"

I think you are taking this far too lightly,brain injuries often have very serious repercussions.

"left buttocks",does this mean the man is one of the multi-buttocked people?

[DANEgerus]

Yet John Kerry(D) still hasn't released his military records?

Certainly he isn't making any attempt to "defend" himself from smearing our troops in Senate hearings or for the fraudulent 'phony soldiers' of the VVAW.

And all these lies, by John Kerry(D), about his magic hat, CIA missions carrying guns to the Khmer Rouge Communists up a river in his own mind... were all part of his vicious lies smearing our President's service, and the service of his fellow 3.5 million veterans of Vietnam... all to cover up John Kerry(D)'s collaboration with the North Vietnamese and his own dishonorable discharge.

Never have so many paid so much for so few... for the one... the 2nd biggest A-Hole in America.

[kimsch]

He has all this documented for 'the next time'. Why doesn't he release all his new documentation now? Why wait until 'next time?' Because there may never be a 'next time' that's why...

[Clarice]

OT,I seem to be losing brain cells at a frightful rate. COuld you explain your last post to me. I've forgotten all the details about the medals.

For fun--
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/11/ladies_first.html>Ladies First

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

Your article inspired me this morning.

All three of the front page articles at AT this morning were excellent.

For those who would like to join a growing trend vote for Climate Audit again today.

[Clarice]

HEH!!Liked yours, too.

[Jane]

Both articles are great. You guys rock!

[Clarice]

Thnx--

[willis]

"Their "ugly heads" haven't gone anywhere, you self-important douche. What wait?"

Ease up Daveq. If anybody knows an ugly head, it's John Kerry.

Kerry and Kucinich in 08. Thats entertainment!

[MayBee]

Have you all noticed Hillary has stopped doing the laughing thing?

[Clarice]

UN conferees fly to Bali to discuss climate change in between breaks. Claudia Rossett reminds us the last time they did something like this we got the scandalous OFF program and hopes they just stay on the beach.
http://pajamasmedia.com/xpress/claudiarosett/2007/11/06/more_on_the_uns_december_pajam.php>Bali Hi

[RichatUF]

clarice-

from your article...

In other words, the workaday UN conferees will be jetting to Bali for a routine in which they spend almost half the 12 days of the conference engaged in unstructured activities, start work mid-morning, lunch from 1-3 P.M. and knock off in time for cocktails a nap, milk, and cookies.

Almost like a day at pre-school...

[Clarice]

Of course, as Instapundit noted the other day--it would have saved a great deal more energy (and money) if they'd simply held a teleconference.

[maryrose]

Rick Ballard and Clarice:
I got my uplift of the day after reading your articles. Keep them coming..
Maybee: Yes I have noticed the disappearance of the cackle though it is still used to skewer her on Saturday Night Live. Hil still smiles in debates at inappropriate times. Sometimes it looks like she has a hanger stuck in her mouth.

[JorgXMcKie]

Given the 'ugly head' thingy, I also supposed Kerry's wound was in his upper buttocks, the set on his shoulders.

[TM]

Just for old time's sake - would it be worth doing some Auld Lang Syne posts recapping the Best of the Swifties? Arguably, if Kerry is ready for 2008 we ought to be as well.

My faves, in order:

1. First Purple Heart Dec 1968 - skimmer op - the case can be made, since the commanding officers did not deem it necessary to file an after-action report, that no combat ocurred and that Kerry's wound was self-inflicted. The paperwork for the Purple Heart was filed way late, almost surely by some other officer not familiar with the events (unless it was filed by Kerry himself.)

And my fave - I bet Zaladonis was not even there, though he now claims to be.

This one actually has the possibility of a resolution, since we have yet to see either Kerry's war Notes or the paperwork backing the Purple Heart. And the payoff could be big - if Zaladonis is lying to cover for Kerry, that really knocks the "Swift Boat liars" for a loop.

2. Christmas in Cambodia - I think Kerry is lost at sea on this one, but he does hint that he can salvage his story. Personally, I don't think there is much "new news" to be found here, but it is a good story because it represented first blood for the Swifites.

3. Bay Hap - March 1969 - Bronze Star, 3rd Purple Heart - did Kerry heroically pull Jim Rassman out of the river in a hail of fire? If so, why do none of the boast show extensive damage from enemy gunfire? And was the Purple Heart for a forearm bruise incurrred during the action, or a self-inflicted wound to the buttocks (a big target on Kerry) earlier in the day?

My take - Roshoman - every has a story and is sticking to it and "the truth" is not out there, pending the invention of a time machine.

4. Silver Star - I take a pass on this. No Swifties were there, so although it was fun to poke at Kerry's varying accounts over time (several citations and his Globe interview), the records are in, the medal was awarded for whatever reason (I think the Navy was keen to create heroes for PR purposes), and here we are. A payoff on this one is a longshot, although (IRRC) Lipscomb had some interesting ideas.

5. Kerry's second Purple Heart is not controversial - he still has the shrapnel in his leg.

And other suggestions?

[Rick Ballard]

Could you start with Genghis Khan's testimony? Maybe include some speculation as to whether he sold out to the commies in his first meeting with them - or was it the second one?

Telling Kerrytales without setting the scene - "Once, long ago, a terrific liar appeared before Congress in order to betray his comrades and country..." is close to a necessity, given that the vast majority of Americans weren't born when he started lying.

[Bingo]

Just for old time's sake - would it be worth doing some Auld Lang Syne posts recapping the Best of the Swifties?

Keep in mind that were it not for the Swiftees coming forward, America would still be reading Kerry's own fabulisms on his heroics in Vietnam...just like this...

With enemy fire coming from both sides of the river and swift boats evacuating from the area, Kerry's crew chose to turn their boat toward the ambush to save Rassmann.

John Kerry for President, Press Release, Jan 17 2004

[SPQR]

I think the most fascinating part is that Kerry himself is still so obsessed with this. There is something very odd about that man.

[PeterUK]

It should be possible to create a timeline for the somewhat brief period Lieutenant "Own" Hornblower was in Vietnam.Presumably the Lieutenant performed the usual offices of life,eating,sleeping,going to the bathroom,reporting injured,perhaps even drinking and consorting with ladies of the night.It is amazing that Kerry had time for the Navy at all,even more amazing that nobody has questioned the feasibility of all that derring do in a period of time which was so short.

[PeterUK]

John F.Kerry drops one

[vnjagvet]

Bring. It. OOOOOOOON.

Let's get this into the 2008 election even if Skeddy is not running.

This issue turned the last election because it got old VN vets like me off of our a**es and onto emails, blogs and webpages all over the country organizing friends and families and telling them the truth about the crap Kerry dumped on us before the US Senate Committee in the '70s, his unholy alliance with Fonda, et al, and his trips to Paris as minister without portfolio. (sorry for the run-on sentence.)

All on the backs of us poor slobs who just did our jobs in VN, returned and kept our mouths shut....

Until JFK "reported for duty".

Keep it up John.

[vnjagvet]

OT:

Great quote. Keep up the good work.

[Sara]

This issue turned the last election because it got old VN vets like me off of our a**es and onto emails, blogs and webpages all over the country organizing friends and families and telling them the truth about the crap Kerry dumped on us before the US Senate Committee in the '70s, his unholy alliance with Fonda, et al, and his trips to Paris as minister without portfolio. (sorry for the run-on sentence.)

All on the backs of us poor slobs who just did our jobs in VN, returned and kept our mouths shut....

Until JFK "reported for duty".

Keep it up John.

Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.

[Clarice]

There's a great post about Hillary's warroom and the secret dirt collecting website that's working for her under the radar (kinda like the Foley thing, isn't it?)
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/hillary-and-the-politics-of-personal-destruction>The Politics of Destruction

[Sara]

I know some here do understand vnjagvet's statement, but most out there just cannot understand the feelings of disgust and the internal rage that welled up in many of us when Coward Kerry stood in front of millions of Americans and "reported for duty." I threw up and all those old feelings that had been buried and left in the past came flooding in.

The Coward thought because we stood back and kept our mouths shut in the early seventies, it was a sign of agreement or acquiescence, but he was wrong. We were active duty and could not speak out. We were young and naive and we weren't the rebel types. We suffered in silence because our commands told us to. We believed in duty and honor to our country. And we were grateful when it was over and we could get on with our lives without being called baby killers and scum or have our children blackballed because their Dad was active duty.

When the build up for the Iraq invasion started, we were happy to see a change in the military attitude toward the families, including them more, setting up communications for them on a regular basis, support groups, etc. We didn't have any of that in the sixties and seventies. And at least one of us, me, made a vow that I would not let the anti-war groups drown out the voices of those who care about our troops and their commitments. When the Swift Vets organized, it gave us a place to find each other. And this time, the Coward didn't have the stage all to himself.

I would like to see the guy spend the rest of his life in Leavenworth. So bring it on John Coward Kerry. Bring it on. I might be old and decrepit, but I can still talk and I can still type. You can't silence all of us.

[ann]

Sara,

I salute you!

[Sue]

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2007/11/matching-headli.html#comment-89143094>Draft Gore Concert Canceled. Due to poor ticket sales. That poor man can't buy a break. I must admit, I laughed out loud when I read the headline.

[Sue]

Shoot. Here is the http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2007/11/matching-headli.html#comment-89143094>link

[Sue]

Well good grief.

http://video1.washingtontimes.com/bellantoni/2007/11/run_al_run_concert_called_off.html>link

[pagar]

"I would like to see the guy spend the rest of his life in Leavenworth."

You're not the only one, Sara.
While John Kerry was meeting with the enemy in Paris,in Jun 1970, others of us Americans military members were in the Combat Zone in Vietnam.
There is no doubt in my mind, that John Kerry knew that the enemy he was providing aid and comfort to in His meetings with them in Paris was at the exact same time killing American Soldiers in Vietnam. IMO, that makes John Kerry responsible for the deaths of US soldiers in Vietnam during the time he was aiding the enemy. His actions in the States to motivate the anti-war protesters also were coordinated with the enemy IMO.
Link

http://www.archive-news.net/Kerry/JK_timeline.html

"May/June 1970 Kerry and Julia traveled to Paris, France and met with Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, the Foreign Minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of Vietnam (PRG), the political wing of the Vietcong, and other Viet Cong and Communist Vietnamese representatives to the Paris peace talks, a trip he now calls a "fact-finding" mission.

(U.S. code 18 U.S.C. 953, declares it illegal for a U.S. citizen to go abroad and negotiate with a foreign power.)

Link to number of Americans KIA in Vietnam by month. I believe some of these would not have died if John Kerry and others had not encouraged the enemy to fight harder because of the assistance they were getting from John Kerry and the other antiwar protesters.

[Rick Ballard]

Pagar,

He and his party are responsible for the death of American troops again today. He (and they) have never stopped sacrificing American lives in their bid for power.

[Clarice]

Listen carefully again to his Congressional testimony and watch how Fulbright slips in the Paris talks to provide cover for Kerry.
It's easy to see now what he didn't see then--this was a carefully scripted Ted Kennedy-Fulbright operation with Kerry playing a part. (His speech was certainly written by Adam Walinsky,JFK's speech writer, and his opening remarks about being up all night writing it and his choice of garb all are theater.)

And how great was this charade? Today most people do not know we won on the ground..Do not know that it was JFK and his band of the best and brightest that escalated our participation in the war and do not know that this farce provided cover for the Dems to yank the war's funding ,undermine Nixon's effort to protect our South Vietnamese allies and cost millions of lives.

[Clarice]

It's easy to see now what WE didn't see then--******

[Ann]

Where is the vote linky, today?