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The Weblog at The View from the Core - Tuesday, August 17, 2004
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"Anti-War Veteran Accused of Exploiting P.O.W. Issue" An Associated Press article in the New York Times, July 23, 1971. At To the Point, Aug. 13: A number of wives of American prisoners of war lashed out today at John F. Kerry, the peace-group leader, accusing him of using the prisoner issue as a spring-board to political office. When Mr. Kerry, a spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, attempted to introduces relatives of war prisoners at a news conference, four women shouted, "That's a lie," and "What office are you going to run for next?" "This is a humane issue and should remain so," cried Mrs. Patricia Hardy of Los Angeles. One of the women accused Mr. Kerry of "constantly using our own suffering and grief" for his political ambitions.... Thanks to The Big Trunk, who relates his own Kerry experience from 1971: .... The take of the POW wives on Kerry in 1971 aligned perfectly with that of a fellow Dartmouth student when I saw Kerry giving his standard antiwar speech at Dartmouth that fall on his first tour as a celebrity. At Dartmouth Kerry spoke in a relatively small, informal venue (the student lounge on the second floor of Hopkins Center) before a large audience of wide-eyed students. Kerry gave his then-standard stump speech, reprising his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. One of the students in the audience stood up to walk out on Kerry's speech and shouted to Kerry as he approached the steps to go down to the first floor: "You phony. You're just in this for yourself." Kerry was only momentarily flustered, bending down to the microphone and asking the guy to stay and talk after he'd already gone down the steps. At the time I couldn't believe the obtuseness of the student. Like everyone else in attendance, I bought Kerry's act completely. In retrospect, however, that student strikes me as a person of uncommon discernment. See also John Kerry and Vietnam-Era POWs and John Kerry Is In Really Big Trouble. Lane Core Jr. CIW P Tue. 08/17/04 05:41:24 PM |
Kelly vs. Editors The august & omniscient The TV spot slandering John Kerry's Vietnam War service is easily one of the smelliest pieces of propaganda that has ever fouled the American airwaves. But don't take our word.... We will not repeat the charges, because it is obvious they are false. But it is important to note that not one of the people who appear in the ad served directly with Mr. Kerry, only on U.S. Navy Swift boats of the same type as his. In contrast, the men who actually fought side by side with Mr. Kerry on Mekong River patrol nine of whom attended the Democratic National Convention have consistently and without reservation testified to his bravery and leadership. They were his Band of Brothers 35 years ago, and they still are today.... Actually, the real contrast is something quite different. If you watch the Swiftees' ad, you will notice that four of the men challenging Kerry's veracity are in the group photo of Kerry and his fellow officers that the Kerry campaign itself has been using for months. IOW, Kerry himself has given those men all the standing they need to criticize his alleged war record. If they're good enough for him to use (without their consent) in his campaign, why aren't they good enough to impugn his credibility? Jack Kelly writes in the same newspaper, Aug. 15: Accepting the Democratic nomination for vice president, John Edwards said of John Kerry, "If you have any question of what he is made of, just spend three minutes with the men who served with him then." The Democratic National Committee is trying hard to keep you from spending a minute with most of the sailors who served with Kerry during his abbreviated tour in Vietnam, because they have unflattering things to say. The DNC is threatening to sue television stations which run a commercial produced by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Of the 23 officers who served with Kerry in Coastal Division 11, only one supports him for president. Two others are dead, and four want nothing to do with politics. The remaining 16 have declared him "Unfit for Command," the title of the book written by former Lt. John O'Neill, who took over Kerry's swift boat, PCF-94, when Kerry left Vietnam.... The Kerry campaign so far has responded to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth not by refuting their accusations, but by attacking their motives and their character. The Swifties are a Republican front group, Democrats charge, even though O'Neill says he voted for Al Gore in 2000. Co-author Jerome Corsi is an "anti-Catholic bigot." Since Corsi is a Catholic who regularly attends Mass, this charge is unlikely to be true, and is in any case irrelevant, since it has nothing to do with the truth or falsity of what the Swifties charge. Kerry could clear up much of the confusion if he would authorize release of all his military records. His failure to do so suggests there may be something he doesn't want Americans to know. The Kerry campaign so far has responded to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth not by refuting their accusations, but by attacking their motives and their character. By that reckoning, the But we knew that already. Lane Core Jr. CIW P Tue. 08/17/04 07:52:01 AM |
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