Politics is a dirty business, to borrow a tired cliche. Anyone running for office can expect skeletons, no matter how deeply buried, to be dug up.
But what is the truth about John Kerry’s service in Vietnam? He made his service and “three Purple Hearts” issues in his campaign, but those who served with Kerry paint a different picture of the man who saluted the American flag before his vacuous speech at the Democratic National Convention.
According to editorial reviews of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, the men reveal:
— How all three of John Kerry’s Purple Hearts were for minor injuries, easily treated with band-aids, not requiring a single hour of hospitalization
— How captured Americans were tortured in North Vietnamese prisons for not endorsing John Kerry’s false testimony-before the United States Senate-about alleged American war crimes
— How John Kerry carried a typewriter and an 8-mm home movie camera with him to Vietnam so he could record his own exaggerated version of his war exploits and film staged reenactments of his “combat actions” to advance his political career
— Why John Kerry’s photograph hangs in a place of honor in the Vietnamese communist “War Remnants Museum” in Saigon
The Kerry camp offers a lame response to the allegations. They reiterate the point over and over that none of the men in the ad served on the boat with Kerry. His lawyers’ come up with an equally lame letter. I presume you’ve seen the ad and read comments about it on the web. The men don’t assert that they were crewmates of Kerry’s. Cassandra over at I Love Jet Noise does a more thorough job responding of to the lawyers’ response.
Watch the ad for yourselves.
Robert Novak critiques both the book and the man:
I have read the book and found it is neither the political propaganda nor the urban legend that its detractors claim. It is a passionate but meticulously researched account of how Kerry went to war, what he did in the war and how he conducted himself after the war. The very serious charges by former comrades deserve answers but so far have produced only ad hominem counterattacks.
Why should details of what Kerry did more than 30 years ago be part of this election campaign? Only because the senator has made them integral to his strategy. Kerry as war hero received more attention at the Democratic National Convention than plans for the future. Thus, what he did in his shortened four months of combat becomes a valid campaign issue….
Unfit for Command sends a devastating message, unless effectively refuted. Perhaps most disturbing are allegations that are unjustified.
Is this stuff true? If so, will any of these revelations break Kerry? Doubtful. Bush-hatred is too entrenched.
Afterthought: I guess “they” don’t make real men anymore. Instead of turning his lawyers loose on TV stations showing the veterans’ ad, Kerry should be a man and clear up the whole thing. Tell us if the allegations are true. If not, sue for libel!
The First Amendment protected Kerry’s right to bad-mouth his country after Vietnam; the same amendment protects the media’s (and the veterans) right to show political ads.
Update: ResurrectionSong concludes that Kerry is a liar.
