Matthews to sexually-assaulted JFK intern: Shut up

Daily Caller ^ | 2.21.12 | Michelle Fields

[stylin19a]

Mathews supposedly “discovered” new information about JFK's inauguration speech

when in fact, it was already noted by a NYTimes article from 2005.

so, could matthews be a plagiarist ?

[infowarrior]

Let’s not forget either that PT-109 was lost to gross incompetence. He may have acted heroically after it was lost but I suspect that story is also manufactured. PT-109 was the only PT boat lost due to collision with the enemy in WWII.

JFK's 'moment of heroism'... Losing his craft in what amounted to a 'traffic accident' with the very type of enemy vessel he was supposed to be on patrol to engage and destroy....

the infowarrior

[stylin19a]

I’ve said it before, any time a Kennedy dies the country becomes a better place a devil gets horns.

with apologies to "It's a wonderful life"

[Do Not Make Fun Of His Ears]

In all fairness, the headline by Daily Caller is dishonest.

Chris Matthews did not in any way discourage the intern from speaking or sharing her story. And he called the facts horrific or some similar term. He did not deny them.

All he did was express his opinion that he did not know why she wrote the book and that he thought it wouldn’t sell.

I can’t stand Chris Matthews, personally, but fair is fair. I don’t respect dishonest, sensational headlines any more from Daily Caller than I do when they come from the left.

[Do Not Make Fun Of His Ears]

“As much as I despise Chrissy, there is nothing in the body of that post that supports that headline.”

Agreed. Can’t stand Chrissy either.

But “Thou shalt not bear false witness” is one of the Ten Commandments I guess Daily Caller feels they don’t need to observe.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

According to Tameichi Hara’s Wikipedia entry he was not personally involved in the sinking of PT-109 and would have had no first hand knowledge of the incident. He was certainly in no position to know JFK as a commander or naval officer.

Towards the end of the War, he did, however, train young men to fight dressed as women and children, so he would know about “somewhat less than heroic”.

[M1903A1]

Per his book, he was on one of the destroyers accompanying the Amagiri, and witnessed PT-109 motoring right into the Amagiri’s path. He also wrote his memoirs in the late 1950s, before Kennedy was a major figure, so he had no axe to grind about the incident.

[ladyjane]

If Mimi Alford had spoken up while Kennedy was still in office, this year her family would be observing the 50th anniversary of her death.

So true. Wasn't one of them found strangled by the canal in Georgetown? Her husband, Cord something-or-other was with the CIA but she had an affair for years with JFK. Her diary disappeared after her murder.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

He is apparently alone in claiming that PT-109 was moving. It was, by all accounts a moonless night. When you are in a moving ship it is difficult to judge the course or speed of another ship, only its course or speed relative to your own.

I would be surprised if he saw a PT boat that he did not warn the other destroyer. Ramming a PT boat could result in an explosion of its ordnance. In the event the destroyers screw was damaged.

Anyway, the accusation against Kennedy is usually that he was idling and allowed himself to be run over. Depending on the terrain features of the local islands, one ship can have a distinct advantage in detecting another, if one is hidden in the background of the islands and the other is silhouetted against the Milky Way, for instance.

The commander of the other destroyer may have had a better view of the collision than either of the participants.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

He is apparently alone in claiming that PT-109 was moving. It was, by all accounts a moonless night. When you are in a moving ship it is difficult to judge the course or speed of another ship, only its course or speed relative to your own.

I would be surprised if he saw a PT boat that he did not warn the other destroyer. Ramming a PT boat could result in an explosion of its ordnance. In the event the destroyers screw was damaged.

Anyway, the accusation against Kennedy is usually that he was idling and allowed himself to be run over. Depending on the terrain features of the local islands, one ship can have a distinct advantage in detecting another, if one is hidden in the background of the islands and the other is silhouetted against the Milky Way, for instance.

The commander of the other destroyer may have had a better view of the collision than either of the participants.

[MtBaldy]

Not quite:

http://www.historynet.com/pt-109-disaster.htm

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I think that that account more or less supports my view; not hagiographic, but realistic, with a healthy dose of skepticism. Kennedy’s service was honorable, if not especially heroic. No more honorable than millions of other Americans of his generation.