PrairiePundit

A band of brothers

A response to the Cleland side show via The Corner: Dear Senator Kerry, We are pleased to welcome your campaign representatives to Texas today. We honor all our veterans, all whom have worn the uniform and served our country. We also honor the military and National Guard troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today. We are very proud of all of them and believe they deserve our full support. That's why so many veterans are troubled by your vote AGAINST funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, after you voted FOR sending them into battle. And that's why we are so concerned about the comments you made AFTER you came home from Vietnam. You accused your fellow veterans of terrible atrocities and, to this day, you have never apologized. Even last night, you claimed to be proud of your post-war condemnation of our actions. We're proud of our service in Vietnam. We served honorably in Vietnam and we were deeply hurt and offended by your comments when you...

Another Kerry fantasy moment in Vietnam James Tarranto: From a John Kerry speech commemorating Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 20, 2003: I remember well April 1968--I was serving in Vietnam--a place of violence--when the news reports brought home to me and my crewmates the violence back home--and the tragic news that one of the bullets flying that terrible spring took the life of that unabashedly maladjusted citizen. In fact, Kerry did not go to Vietnam until November 1968.

Getting dodgy Fred Barnes: JOHN KERRY is very good at the political dodge. This consists of raising one issue to avoid talking about another. He's cleverly done this twice in recent weeks. First, he concentrated on his Vietnam war experience in his speech at the Democratic convention to avert discussion of his dovish Senate record on national security. Then this week, he blamed President Bush for attacks on his Vietnam performance to escape from addressing the Swift Boat veterans who were his actual attackers. And he may have to come up with a third dodge to keep from having to explain his 1971 testimony alleging war crimes and atrocities on a daily basis by American forces during the Vietnam war. The dodge has worked well for Kerry. At the Democratic convention last month, he didn't bother to defend his Senate positions on defense and foreign policy. In his acceptance speech, he devoted only 73 words to his two decades in the Senate. Instead, he surrounded hims...

Media double standard Rowan Scarborough: When Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe accused President Bush this spring of being "AWOL," the Washington press corps saluted and started marching. What followed was a series of big media investigations into whether Bush, as an Air National Guard pilot, actually attended drills, as he maintained, during temporary residence in Alabama. It wasn't the first time reporters had looked into the matter. It was at least the fourth. And this time, the White House produced additional pay records to prove Bush did his duty. Most reporters reluctantly gave up, although some organizations continue to seek more of the President's Guard records. This month, when Regnery Publishing (a sister company of HUMAN EVENTS) released a new book that dissects Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's Vietnam War record, the national press more or less yawned. The enthusiasm with which it greeted McAuliffe's call to ar...

Another book John Kerry does not want you to read His own "The New Soldier."

Kerry and the vets Jim Wooten: ... The story of the swift-boat veterans has been slow to develop in the mainstream media. The first accounts, as they moved from the Internet, cable television and talk radio, were to dismiss Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (www.swiftvets.com) as cranks and dirty tricksters mouthing outrageous lies for the Bush campaign. ... It's a phenomenon that grows despite the one-dimensional portrayal of them. Virtually every story I've read in any newspaper, or heard on any television network, is premised on the view that swift-boat veterans are liars and pawns. Yet, they are men who served and who afterward have led quiet and responsible lives. And some who speak up -- like swift-boat veteran Doug Regelin, who says flatly that Kerry's account of entering Cambodia is fantasy -- are not members of the organized group and do not plan to vote for either Kerry or Bush. The media appear to be picking sides and, in so doing, ...

Bush pulls a swift one Zev Chavits: ... On May 4, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth held a press conference in Washington, denouncing Kerry. It is possible Bush was taken by surprise by this. It is also possible the moon's made of blue cheese. Still, it is highly doubtful that Bush put the Swifties up to their attack. He didn't need to. They obviously hate Kerry's guts. All the President had to do was sit quietly and watch. Patience is the fisherman's friend. Some of the Swiftie charges against Kerry's war record are highly debatable. Others - that Kerry invented a "life-changing" experience in Cambodia or that he slandered U.S. troops when he came home from the war - are matters of public record. Either way, one thing is indisputable: The allegations have done Kerry a great deal of harm. It took him a surprisingly long time to realize that. When he did, he tried to get off the hook in awkward ways - dispatching lawyers to sca...

What about free speech? Robert Samuelson: The presidential campaign has confirmed that, under the guise of "campaign finance reform," Congress and the Supreme Court have repealed large parts of the First Amendment. They have simply discarded what were once considered constitutional rights of free speech and political association. It is not that these rights have vanished. But they are no longer constitutional guarantees. They're governed by limits and qualifications imposed by Congress, the courts, state legislatures, regulatory agencies -- and lawyers' interpretations of all of the above. We have entered an era of constitutional censorship. Hardly anyone wants to admit this -- the legalized demolition of the First Amendment would seem shocking -- and so hardly anyone does. The evidence, though, abounds. The latest is the controversy over the anti-Kerry ads by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and parallel anti-Bush ads by Democratic ...

Kerry's promises on budget do not add up Washington Post: Sen. John F. Kerry's pledge to reduce record federal budget deficits is colliding with an obstacle that may be growing higher by the week: his own campaign commitments. A Washington Post review of Kerry's tax cuts and spending plans, in addition to interviews with campaign staff members and analyses by conservative and liberal experts, suggests that they could worsen the federal budget deficit by nearly as much as President Bush's agenda. If projected savings from unspecified cuts do not materialize, Kerry's pledges could outstrip those of the president, whom the Democrat has repeatedly accused of unprecedented fiscal recklessness. ... Sen. John F. Kerry's pledge to reduce record federal budget deficits is colliding with an obstacle that may be growing higher by the week: his own campaign commitments. A Washington Post review of Kerry's ...

Big media's big mistake Suzannee Fields: ... Mark the calendar. August 2004 is the first time that the major, mainline media — CBSNBC ABCNEW YORKTIMES WASHINGTONPOSTLATIMESNEWSWEEK TIME MAGAZINEASSOCIATEDPRESS ETC. — ignored a news story that nonetheless became known by two-thirds of the country within two weeks of it being mentioned by the "marginal" press. It was only after a CBS poll showed that Kerry had lost a net 14 percent of the veterans' vote to Bush — without aid of major media coverage or substantial national advertising — that the major media outlets began to lumber, resentfully, in the vague direction of the story. And even then, they hardly engaged themselves in the spirit of objective journalism. According to Editor & Publisher, the respected voice of official big time journalism: "Chicago Tribune managing editor James O'Shea tells Joe Strupp the swift boat controversy may be an instance of a growing problem fo...

Medias Swiftboat U turn Jack Kelly: When John Kerry went postal last week, the major media's preferred strategy for dealing with the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — to ignore them — went down the toilet. Mr. Kerry melted down because the Swifties' exposure of Kerry's "Christmas in Cambodia" fantasy has struck a nerve, and is gaining traction, despite the major media's refusal to report on it. ... The Swifties have provided evidence that Mr. Kerry spent Christmas eve 55 miles from Cambodia. None of the sailors who served with Mr. Kerry on the two Swift boats he commanded, PCF-44 and PCF-94, have supported his claim, though Mike Medeiros, a crewmate on PCF-94, said they may have strayed into Cambodian waters inadvertently. But this was impossible, according to Doug Regelin, a Swift boat commander in 1969, but who is not a member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. PCF-94 was part of Coastal Division 11, which was stationed at An T...

Kerry's diary refutes claim to first Purple Heart Washington Times: John Kerry's own wartime journal is raising questions about whether he deserved the first of three Purple Hearts, which permitted him to go home after 4½ months of combat. The re-examination of Mr. Kerry's military record, prompted by commercials paid for by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the book "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" by two of the group's members, continued even as Mr. Kerry stated that voters should judge his character based on his anti-war activities upon returning from Vietnam. ... Mr. Kerry has claimed that he faced his "first intense combat" that day, returned fire, and received his "first combat related injury." A journal entry Mr. Kerry wrote Dec. 11, however, raises questions about what really happened nine days earlier. "A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us u...

An interview with John O'Neill David Limbaugh: David: Before I get into the questions I had prepared, I noticed in your interview with Jim Lehrer that there was almost conclusive evidence that both Kerry’s first and third Purple Hearts were fraudulent. Are you saying, then, that his Second Purple Heart was not fraudulent? John O’Neill: No, not at all. If we are using our standard of, you know, burden of preponderance of the evidence, the second Purple Heart would fall as fraudulent. It’s just that we couldn’t conclusively prove it was fraudulent, so we took the position that we have no position on the second Purple Heart. But we do have a great deal of evidence that it was fraudulent as well. A lengthy three part interview that is definitely worth the read. ... The third lie is whether or not there was fire. This is the only one as far as I know that the Kerry camp still contends. The Kerry camp claims that when Rassmann was picked up th...

The need for regime change in Zimbabwe Independent: The United States has called for the building of a "coalition of the willing" to push for regime change to end the crisis in Zimbabwe. The new American ambassador to South Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said quiet diplomacy pursued by South Africa and other African countries in its dealings with the Zimbabwe president needed a review because there was no evidence it was working. She said her country would be willing to be part of a coalition if invited. The US could not act on its own, "put the boot on the ground" and give President Robert Mugabe 48 hours to go as requested by beleaguered Zimbaweans but the US would be willing to work in a coalition with other countries to return Zimbabwe to democracy. Ms Frazer, in a meeting with journalists in Johannesburg yesterday, said: "There is clearly a crisis in Zimbabwe and everyone needs to state that fact. The economy is in a free fall. There is a cont...

The myth that Kerry knew siftboat job was dangerous when he took it Spinsanity: The myth that Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry volunteered for swift boat duty in Vietnam knowing it was particularly dangerous continues to spread despite clear evidence to the contrary. As we have written before , Kerry actually volunteered at a time when swift boats were engaged in relatively safe coastal patrols. They were redeployed to the rivers of Vietnam -- a far more risky mission -- after Kerry's decision. Kerry himself has admitted as much, writing in 1986 that "When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing." Yet Kerry's campaign website , vice presidential nominee John Edwards and former president Bill Clinton have all suggested Kerry knew the risks. As Edwards put it , "He volunteered to go to Vietnam and to capt...

Do liberals need simple rhymes to remember political speech? John Kerry accused the Bush administration of running a "fear and smear" campaign. He added, "You can't lead America by misleading the American people." Democrats are always talking about how much smarter liberals are than conservatives, but most conservatives can undertand their message without resorting to elementry rhymes. Jesse Jackson is a frequent user of this technique. When he was running for the White House his polls started tumbling when someone named him Rev. Rhymer. Kerry's you can't lead by misleading remark appears to be plucked from an old playbook before evidence began mounting that Kerry has been misleading the country about his war story. We now know that his christmas in Cambodia story was just a convient political fantasy passed off as a road to Damacus experience that was seared into his memory and changed his attitude about the war. Today we find the Washin...

Why Vietnam matters John Kerry could never be the person to heal the wounds of Vietnam, because he was significantly responsible for some of the worse. His trashing of veterans including military leaders at all levels was one of the bright shining lies of war opponents that was calculated to make Americans want to lose the war. It was and is unforgivable and in and of itself makes him unfit for command. The reason Vietnam matters is that it was turned into a quagmire by policies of liberal Democrats who did not have the will to fight the war effectively nor the political courage to not fight it. This is same problem the Democrats have today. They are an antiwar party cross dressing as nuanced hawks--exactly what they did in the 60's when they also characterized proponents of a more effective strategy as wildmen and crazies. Then when their strategy did not work, instead of taking responsibility for the mess they made, they blamed it on the military and later President Nixon....

The Cambodia Whooper finally makes the Washington Post Joshua Muravchik: ... However seared he was, Kerry's spokesmen now say his memory was faulty. When the Swift boat veterans who oppose Kerry presented statements from his commanders and members of his unit denying that his boat entered Cambodia, none of Kerry's shipmates came forward, as they had on other issues, to corroborate his account. Two weeks ago Kerry's spokesmen began to backtrack. First, one campaign aide explained that Kerry had patrolled the Mekong Delta somewhere "between" Cambodia and Vietnam. But there is no between; there is a border. Then another spokesman told reporters that Kerry had been "near Cambodia." But the point of Kerry's 1986 speech was that he personally had taken part in a secret and illegal war in a neutral country. That was only true if he was "in Cambodia," as he had often said he was. If he was merely "near," then his deli...

The Cambodia Whooper finally makes the Washington Post Joshua Muravchik: ... However seared he was, Kerry's spokesmen now say his memory was faulty. When the Swift boat veterans who oppose Kerry presented statements from his commanders and members of his unit denying that his boat entered Cambodia, none of Kerry's shipmates came forward, as they had on other issues, to corroborate his account. Two weeks ago Kerry's spokesmen began to backtrack. First, one campaign aide explained that Kerry had patrolled the Mekong Delta somewhere "between" Cambodia and Vietnam. But there is no between; there is a border. Then another spokesman told reporters that Kerry had been "near Cambodia." But the point of Kerry's 1986 speech was that he personally had taken part in a secret and illegal war in a neutral country. That was only true if he was "in Cambodia," as he had often said he was. If he was merely "near," then his deli...