Swift Boat Writer Lied on Cambodia Claim

Yahoo! News & Associated Press ^ | 8/25/2004 | Elizabeth Wolf

[kezekiel]

Can you believe they are looking at the NIXON tapes to find something on these guys. Unbelievable!!

Oh, I dunno... what we strongly suspected during the Reagan years has become blatant in the Bush years--the mainstream media is solidy Democratic and any pretense of professionalism is perfunctory when the chips are really on the line. Kerry has all the credentials he needs in his ABB degree--Anybody But Bush. The editors, producers, and writers in the lamestream media will not let him down, when you can bet that almost to a person they are personally invested in seeing Bush out of office.

Of course, in classic projection, the more blatantly partisan they get, the more they will denounce Fox News, talk radio, bloggers, and Drudge.

[Shermy]

BTW, what was the question asked of O'Neill to which he responded?

[coconutt2000]

That is true - at the time Kerry was there those boats did not go anywhere near Cambodia. That is the point!

I suspect that O'Neill was posted to a border patrol after Kerry left.

[Camerican]

There's just a couple of itsy bitsy things the mainstream media doesn't get..... JOHN O'NEIL IS NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!!! JOHN O'NEIL DID NOT USE HIS CAMBODIA STATEMENT FOR ANY SORT OF CAREER OR PERSONAL ADVANCEMENT!!!

That is all.

[kezekiel]

Where have you been, K? This is old news. Well, it just hit the wire not but a half hour ago...

[blackdog]

The real question to ask..........Did he show Nixon his lucky hat?

[Plutarch]

It is unbelievable how the MSM watchdogs will bay like hounds after anything that might help Kerry, but cannot be roused off the front porch to pursue any story or fact that works against him.

August of 2004 will be remembered as The Great Unmasking---the ultimate incontrovertible confirmation of the MSM partisan agenda.

[TheLawyerFormerlyKnownAsAl]

"Chad Clanton, a spokesman for the Democratic presidential candidate,"

Nice try, Chadboy, spokesman number what is it, 35? 40? Don't quit your day job, if you have one.

[LS]

Don't worry about it. Every time they accuse any of the Swifties of anything, it picks that scab open again!!! The media, trying to carry Frenchie's water, are absolutely killing him with these stories!!! Way to go you idiots in the media!

[OldFriend]

Nothing coming thru at all, other than the stink of flop sweat.

[RVN Airplane Driver]

Remember that in March of 1970 Cambodia had a coup and Lon Nol became Premier and was sympathetic to the US....I have that "seared" in my mind because I took in part of the Consulate staff just a couple of days after the event, probably on about the 20th of March....so after that time-line US forces could freely operate in Cambodia.

[Steel Wolf]

"I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border,"

"I think I made it very clear that I was on the border, which is exactly where I was for three months. I was about 100 yards from Cambodia," O'Neill said in clarifying the June 16, 1971, conversation with Nixon.

From what I understand, it is clear from the tape that O'Neil and Nixon were refering to the Cambodian border region, not actually going inside Cambodia. Stripped of all context, it looks shady, but even a cursory examination shows it not to be anything interesting. Once again, the media is inventing news.

This is reminiscient of the 'Facts are stupid things' quote, where Reagan's following clarification was ignored, and the press ran with the original misstatement ad naseum.

[Burlem]

Anyone think Kerry will be asked about his voting record, at some point?

[SubMareener]

O'Neill was asked about this and said he was talking about a time after Kerry left in a place outside the delta in the open ocean off the south coast of Vietnam. Apples and Oranges.

[Zack Nguyen]

This article is worthless. This is the AP's pathetic attempt to fight for Kerry/Edwards 2004. I wish there were a stronger word than hypocrisy to describe them.

[rj45mis]

Actually I heard about this earlier (either today or yesterday; too many dead brain cells to recall exactly when). Sorry about the harsh tone in my earlier post.

[JoeSixPack1]

Elizabeth Wolf - how about we investigate your political ties there missy.

You are no journalist, reporter, nor anything worthwhile except a RAT HACK who needs to discover first hand the ins and outs of the unemployment line!

[Shermy]

Kerry's campaign has acknowledged that he may not have been in Cambodia on Christmas Eve of 1968, as he has previously stated. The campaign says Kerry does recall being on patrol along the Cambodia-Vietnam border on that date, although it's unclear if he crossed into Cambodia.

Actually the "campaign" floated the idea that he was in Cambodia on another date too. Anyway, the reporter is disingenuous in relying on the "campaign" rather than requesting access to all relevant records.

[snooker]

If we actually knew what Kerry's military service records said we would know what was in error, wouldn't we?

For some reason Kerry doesn't want to release the records. I wonder why.

[marron]

They are talking in an echo chamber, and they think they are convincing.

Normal people hear what O'Neill said, and they get it. They hear what Kerry said, and they get that too. They know what Kerry did when he got home, and they get that too.

O'Neill is solid, he is honest as the day is long, his story doesn't waver, and people can see him stating his case calmly while his attackers are beyond hysterical.

Kerry is toast. If they are down to slicing and dicing O'Neill's words to produce a falsehood where there isn't one, then they are over. Someone needs to tell them, gently, or else we will tell them less gently a couple of months from now.