John Kerry testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by William Fulbright, in April 1971. Photo UPI
Posted on 08/20/2004 10:50:50 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
US Senator John Kerry’s campaign team today called for a book which contains “proven falsehoods” about the presidential candidate’s Vietnam war record to be taken off the shelves.
Unfit for Command, written by a former US sailor who served in Vietnam, alleges that Mr Kerry lied to win his war medals.
It also claims that the former Swift Boat captain, who hopes to oust George Bush from the White House in November, won a silver star for bravery by actually shooting a lone, fleeing teenage Viet Cong soldier in the back.
Mr Kerry yesterday made his first direct attack on a group called “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth”, which made the damaging claims.
He said President Bush “wants them to do his dirty work”.
Today, Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton suggested on the online news site Salon.com that the publisher, Regnery, should withdraw the book from sale.
“No publisher should want to be selling books with proven falsehoods in them, especially falsehoods that are meant to smear the military service of an American veteran,” he said.
“If I were them, I’d be ducking under my desk wondering what to do. This is a serious problem.”
On its website, Regnery publicises books such as The Official Handbook of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, which offers “all the ammunition you need to help you win every argument against loony liberals” and Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has also launched a series of adverts criticising Senator Kerry, from Massachusetts. The ads are being funded by a wealthy Texan Republican donor.
Senator Kerry has used his former Swift Boat crewmates heavily during his campaign.
Many appeared with him on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Boston last month.
The White House hopeful has made political capital out of his service, telling convention delegates: “I defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as president.”
He returned from Vietnam after being wounded three times and became a prominent campaigner against the war.
Some veterans never forgave him for the anti-war stance he adopted and for his claims that some US troops committed atrocities in Vietnam.
Of course, I want Kerry to show what "proven falsehoods" there are in the book.
As, he has YET to be able to prove ANY...
John Kerry testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by William Fulbright, in April 1971. Photo UPI
Ha ha, they going to pull all of Moore's stuff too ?
New Swifty adv: http://humaneventsonline.com.edgesuite.net/unfit_video2.html
Nice. International coverage of Kerry's Campaign stepping on a supersize banana peel.
Look out below...
Dick Clarke's pathetic book has been proven to contain falsehoods by the 911 commission; was it withdrawn? joe wilson's "yellow cake" op-ed piece has been proven to be founded upon one big lie; did the NYT retract it? joe wilson's subsequent book was based on assertions that were proven to be false before it was even published; was it published anyway? F911 is a proven pile of lies; will it still come out on DVD before the election?
why are hit jobs allowed against george bush, but not allowed against john kerry?
*gasps*
A Democrat advocating BOOK BANNING?
Say it isn't so!
</sarcasm>
CW..what's MOST fascinting about this whole SwiftBoat thing, is trhe list of Dems who have NOT come out and made public statement of support for Kerry and condemnation of the book..Neither Clinton has said anything..nor Chuckie SDchumer..and where's Terry McAuliffe..I could add mnay more..but it's very curious..
It's what they do.
This kind of strong-arm tactic has always increased interest in the book involved. I think it's a win-win for our side.
Of course the odds of the publisher withdrawing a #1 bestseller are, well, zero.
I still haven't been able to find my copy. My Borders store tells me that as soon as copies come in, they're sold out. It really looks like this is liberal bias, seeing that there were hundreds of unsold copies of the Clinton autobiography available. Surely you could reasonably predict a very high demand for a book that's received this kind of publicity?
D
Yet they continue to hype F911 as the gospel truth.
What a bunch of hypocrites!
The Kerry campaign has not specified a single false allegation in the book, AFAIK.
Just a little past banning, and they'll be burning. Then they'll be the Fahrenheit 411 party as well as the Fahrenheit 911 party!
So when do you think O'neill will get the Big 60 Minutes hourlong interview to promote HIS book?
This must be what it felt like when all of those DNC-agents trumped their books all spring and early summer.
Timing is everything in politics (don't fire until you see the deep, dark, empty caverns of their sallow eyes).
"Ich bin ein Waffen SS"
Maybe salon.com ought to withdraw itself...
Last Price Day Change Volume
$0.16 0.03 (-15.79%) 0
I've heard your complaint about Borders before.
Get on the list and they more than likely will call you in a very short time. I think it's just a stall and when you get on the list they practically call before you get home.
Or order it on the net.
If photocopies of John Kerry's military records are in the book I would agree the book contains proven falsehoods.
And don't forget M Moore's KristalNacht tour with F/911
I think conservatives need a investigative show. What should we call it?
CBS Radio introduced the new Swift Boat ad today with "The Republican-financed Swift Boat veterans..." Such a lie--they are not funded by the "Republicans", which would be illegal anyway. Unlike their allegations in this morning's NY Times, this is not coordinated by Karl Rove, as that would be illegal and if it were true, they would be demanding he be charged with a crime. If we said, "The Democrat-funded MoveOn.Org.", they would be outraged.
If Kerry really had nothing to hide, he would release his records like Bush did, rise above it, shut up, and move on.
BTW, how come nobody's demanding that he be charged with perjury as he lied about war crimes before a Congressional Committee?
Even more curious....except for Rassman, not one of Kerry's boatmates has, to my knowledge, taken a position on the "Bay Hap" incident. Further, they refuted Kerry on "Christmas in Cambodia." Why are they so quiet about the Bay Hap?
This should be scaring the sh*t out of all of us!
For once, the Left has provided a glimpse into the truth of what we would face under a Leftist regime in this country.
In their world, what they say is true is TRUE. In their world, only TRUE things may be said.
This is a political campaign (flanked by Brock out there on the lunatic fringe) actively advocating the suppression of a book that criticizes it! We should be damned scared about that!
How long do you think FreeRepublic, or NewsMax, or Drudge, or FoxNews ... any of the bloggers who are ferretting out the real truths about JFK2 ... how long do you think the First Amendment would last under a Leftist regime?
Man the barricades, brothers and sisters. Warn your friends and family. The Kerry campaign has revealed itself for what it is ... and Stalin would be proud!
My Borders in Detroit no less has it prominently displayed next to Clinton's fat face cover in the New Releases/Politics session. I went over to the lookup terminal and left the web page up (including cover shot) to inform any other casual browsers.
I want to see "Cut & Run" Kerry defend his own book that he wrote with the VVAW.
15 Minutes. All the time intellectuals really need to absorb the facts.
Thanks for the pic. I had forgotten about Senator Fulbright. (ask yourself why his name is facing him??)
Here's a quote from Mr Fulbright referring to a protest by longshorman protesting the loading of a boat going to Egypt.
Too bad years later he didn't feel this way about Kerry.
from: http://www.alfredlilienthal.com/fulbright.htm
Taking the Senate floor on April 25, Fulbright denounced the picketing as "irresponsible intervention into U.S. foreign policy-making." Noting that the Constitution confines the conduct of foreign policy to the president or his designated representatives, the Arkansas senator said:
"Actions on the part of individuals or organizations which interfere directly or indirectly with the constitutional exercise of governmental authority or activity in the conduct of foreign policy should be avoided as inimical to the total national interest...Our constitutional system is designed to give free expression to the will of citizens of the United States. It must not be corrupted by calculated influence and pressure from any other source."
WTF!? This is getting so goofy that I can't believe it....
But for some reason, such a call by Kerry is perfectly legitimate in the eyes of Leftists and their "mainstream" [sic] media.
Ha Ha.
True.
This mornign of Fox..David Korn was ranting, as usual..when told that the Swifties detest Kerry because of what he said when he returned home from Nam..calling all Americans war criminals and baby killers..what was Korn's response.."It was true...have you forgotten about MY Lai?"
In addition, "Cut & Run" Kerry should explain the hiring of MoveOn people for his campaign. Talk about illegal cohesion! Rush used to always say if democrats are acusing you of anything, they are guilty of the same thing they acuse others of. Now I truly understand what he means.
The Kerry PageWhen I read “Tour of Duty”, I became concerned because the material on Kerry’s time on GRIDLEY appeared in many instances to be exaggerations and in some cases figments of an overactive imagination.
...
4. Later on page 87 Kerry talks about Olongapo in the Philippines. He talks about bloated corpses floating in the river and starving women with babies dying of malnutrition. Now Olongapo was a wild and wooly town that existed solely for the entertainment of the US Navy, but in over three years of calling there, I never saw a single instance of either thing happening. Kerry uncovered this in his first visit. If this was from his letters home then he was certainly writing for dramatic effect. Balderdash.
In that case, sue for libel. See you in court Kerrystein.
Howzat? : )
A reality show!
Ha!
Kerry and Edwards want to keep this controversy going through the RNC Convention. Why???
It's better for them than having to be confronted with their Far Left voting record in the U. S. Senate. If Kerry can portray himself as the "victim," he can keep it going. If his bluff is called and his records are made public, then he'll have to run on his Senate record (which should be the measure of what kind of President he'd make anyway).
As entertaining as all this is, Republicans are not doing the country a favor by enabling Kerry to pull this sham on the American people. He and the Liberal Senator from North Carolina should be forced TO RUN ON THEIR RECORDS. That is the only legitimate criteria for measuring their level of commitment to the defense of the nation. There's enough evidence from the last 20 years to label him as a person who does not speak truth, without going back to the 60's and 70's.
The call to silence the book reminds us of Hitler's burning of the books in the 1930's in Germany. What he was trying to do was to silence truth and the ideas of liberty in order that people would forget truth and not understand his real ambition: to assume power over the people.
I went to Walmart web site and checked on it and they said it was out of stock. I wonder if they decided to say that as opposed to being accused of censorship. I really doubt they are already out of stock.
I just got my copy at my local Borders. I just happen to be at the Mall of America recently. I stopped at every book store there and amazingly, no one had the book in yet.
I was told it would not be available until September 1st.
So how do they explain Mikie Moore and Al Frankin's book's getting published?
and it would end with the BIBLE.
Leftists will ban anything that keeps them out of power.
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