Kerry’s “hero” card is based on medals he received in Vietnam and is much celebrated, and unchallenged, by the mainstream media. I know many Medal of Honor recipients who have received less publicity for their medal than Kerry has for his. But medals don’t make a hero. It is how one uses medals that make a hero. Every honest soldier knows that medals are a function of circumstance, even happenstance, but most of all the support of ones fellow warriors.
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Senator Kerry threw his medals away (or ribbons, they are symbolically the same), a political act very difficult for any veteran to understand. He must have been proud of them for he wore them even on his fatigues, in violation of all regulations. But they were not his. They belonged to those who he served. By that act he symbolically denounced his fellow veterans -- again. Does one keep faith with those who wear the uniform by throwing away their medals?
This gentleman makes the connection brilliantly. Kerry threw away his honor and disgraced his fellow soldiers. He is trying to climb the backs of those he betrayed into the White House.
You have it exactly right. The most telling statement from Kerry applies equally to VietNam and Iraq: "I was for the war before I was against it." He wants to play both sides of the street at all times -- a man of zero principles.