Posted on 07/30/2004 11:56:49 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
BOSTON - John Kerry skipped past his role in the Vietnam protest movement that brought him to prominence when he talked of his younger days fighting for his country and ignored that conflict when praising the American tradition of going to war only "because we have to."
Kerry once famously called the Vietnam War "the biggest nothing in history," and says he is still proud of his anti-war activism when he came back. But in the text of his televised speech at the Democratic National Convention, he emphasized his war record and offered mere clues to his protesting past.
A video introduction shown at the convention before the broadcast networks began carrying his speech included a clip of the young Kerry, in military garb, testifying to Congress against the war in 1971.
And his speech made passing reference to his generation's marches for "civil rights, for voting rights, for the environment, for women, and for peace."
Kerry short-handed a few telling policy details in other parts of his speech.
He declared, for example, that "we value health care that's affordable and accessible for all Americans" and called that care "a right for all Americans."
But his plan, while aimed at expanding coverage and reducing premiums, does not ensure coverage for all. His campaign says the plan would extend coverage to an additional 27 million people, which would leave more than 10 million without health insurance.
He rhetorically asked, "What does it mean when 25 percent of the children in Harlem have asthma because of air pollution? America can do better. And help is on the way."
A study by Harlem Hospital Center last year found 25 percent of the children in a 24-block area of Harlem had the disease. But blaming all of that on air pollution as part of a case against the Bush administration is not supported by the study.
Apart from genetic factors, the study found that the asthmatic children were about 50 percent more likely to live with a smoker. Pollen, dust, animal dander, cockroaches and cold air were thought to be among the contributing causes, along with urban air pollution.
On equipping the military, he said, "You don't value families if you force them to take up a collection to buy body armor for a son or daughter in the service." He's had a long-running dustup with Republicans who criticize him for voting against an $87 billion package for Iraq and Afghanistan that included money for thousands of extra sets of body armor.
His campaign said he voted against the bill, among other reasons, because it included no-bid contracts for companies.
Kerry emphasized throughout his speech his credentials as a Vietnam veteran. "I defended this country as a young man," he said. "We fought for this nation because we loved it and we came back with the deep belief that every day is extra."
There was no telling from his remarks that Kerry became a leading anti-war protester after his return from Vietnam.
Testifying to Congress on behalf of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, he detailed atrocities he said were committed by U.S. troops in Vietnam, including rapes, beheadings and random killings of civilians, only to acknowledge later he had not witnessed these acts.
He tossed away the ribbons he had received with his war medals, threw away the medals of other veterans who weren't able to attend a protest and told the 1971 Senate hearing: "The country doesn't know it yet, but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence, and who are given the chance to die for the biggest nothing in history."
Despite his judgment then that Vietnam was about "nothing" - and despite other wars and invasions of arguable necessity - Kerry suggested Iraq was a departure from a long-held practice of last-resort wars.
"As president, "I will ask hard questions and demand hard evidence," he said. "I will immediately reform the intelligence system so policy is guided by facts, and facts are never distorted by politics.
"And as president, I will bring back this nation's time-honored tradition: The United States of America never goes to war because we want to, we only go to war because we have to."
Kerry didn't found the VVAW, but he did become a national officer in it after discharge sometime in 1970-1. He actually went to Paris twice and met with the Vietnamese Communists. The first time he was there was in 1970 on his honeymoon. When he returned from the second meeting, Kerry advocated before Congress accepting essentially the North Vietnamese 8 negotiating points. He also advocated the cut off of funding to the South Vietnamese thus guaranteeing a Communist victory, which led to executions or reeducation camps or refugee status affecting millions. South Vietnam is still under the heel of the Communists.
I still believe that Kerry threw his medals away, which explains why one of his Bronze Star and one of his Silver Star citations are signed by John Lehman, SECNAV (1981-87). As I have indicated on other threads, these were for replacement medals.
You're right and I'm wrong, although I think that's one of HIS misleading claims. (I.e., that he is some kind of founder or co-founder.) He also seems (in the wake of news stories describing proposals by some VVAW members to assassinate hawkish US Senators) to be misstating how early he parted company with the VVAW.
Various pieces of info seem to indicate that Kerry was representing the VVAW well into 1973. Supposedly, he left the organization in 1972 after the famous KC meeting, which discussed assassination of US senators. In actuality, he only resigned from the national board as an officer. The VVAW was really a radical organization and had ties to the Communist Party and the Black Panthers, among others.
Distribute this post to everybody who wonders
about President Bush
and his service during Vietnam.
George W Bush's military record vs John Kerry's military record
Aerospaceweb.org was started in 2000 to provide information regarding a wide range
of aerospace-related fields, including aircraft design, spacecraft design, aerodynamics,
and aerospace history.
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0185.shtml
...Nevertheless, we have established that the F-102 was serving in combat in Vietnam at the time Bush
enlisted to become an F-102 pilot. In fact, pilots from the 147th FIG of the Texas ANG were
routinely rotated to Vietnam for combat duty under a program called "Palace Alert" from 1968 to 1970.
Palace Alert was an Air Force program that sent qualified F-102 pilots from the ANG to bases in Europe
or southeast Asia for periods of three to six months for frontline duty.
Fred Bradley, a friend of Bush's who was also serving in the Texas ANG, reported that he and Bush
inquired about participating in the Palace Alert program. However, the two were told by a superior,
MAJ Maurice Udell, that they were not yet qualified since they were still in training
and did not have the 500 hours of flight experience required. Furthermore, ANG veteran
COL William Campenni, who was a fellow pilot in the 111th FIS at the time,
told the Washington Times that Palace Alert was winding down and not accepting new applicants....
...
The point of this discussion is that the military record of George W. Bush deserves a fair treatment.
Bush has been criticized for avoiding service in Vietnam, though the evidence proves that
the Texas Air National Guard and its F-102 pilots where serving in Vietnam while Bush was in training.
Bush has been criticized for using his family influence to obtain his assignment,
but the evidence shows that he successfully completed every aspect of the more than
two years of training required of him.
Bush has been criticized for pursuing a safe and plush position as a fighter pilot,
but the evidence indicates the F-102 was a demanding aircraft whose pilots regularly risked their lives.
Bush has also been criticized for deserting the Guard before his enlistment was complete,
but the evidence shows he was honorably discharged eight months early because his position
was being phased out...
...
While it is not our goal to compare and contrast the records of the candidates on this subject,
the fact that the questioner cites John Kerry's military service makes us feel it necessary to comment.
It is interesting to note that there are just as many, if not more,
irregularities in Kerry's military record as there are in Bush's.
Kerry can certainly be praised for some of the actions he performed while in the line of duty,
but his record does contain some troubling portions as well.
Not the least of these is his involvement in the controversial group
Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) while he was still an active-duty member of the US Navy.
Kerry's testimony before Congress as VVAW spokesman in 1971,
during which he accused soldiers serving in Vietnam of being war criminals,
was found to be based on largely falsifed information as documented by Wikipedia.
The Boston Globe has also reported on troubling accusations regarding the circumstances
surrounding Kerry's medals, particularly his first two purple hearts awarded for
minor injuries that may even have been self-inflicted.
John Kerry's record
http://www.scaryjohnkerry.com/vietnam.htm
DD 214 shows 17 Feb 72 terminal date of Reserve Obligation for John Kerry
http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/jkmilservice/DD214.pdf
Kerry's anti war activities were doing this period!
What is Senator John Kerry's relationship to VVAW?
http://www.vvaw.org/faq/#4
Since Vietnam Veterans Against the War's inception in 1967, tens of thousands of vets, GIs and supporters have participated in and supported the actions of VVAW. One of those members in the early 1970s was John Kerry. Kerry was appointed to the VVAW Executive Committee to assist in preparing Dewey Canyon III, VVAW's limited incursion into the land of Congress in 1971 (Nicosia, 98-99). Kerry made his greatest contribution to the anti-war movement and to VVAW in his speech to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on April 23, 1971 (Brinkley, 371-373: Hunt, 109-110; Nicosia, 136-138; Wells, 495).
Content of the speech is found at:
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Manifestos/VVAW_Kerry_Senate.html.
By 1972, John Kerry had moved on from VVAW (Brinkley, 406: Hunt, 127-128; Nicosia, 211).
He was not one of the original founding members of VVAW in 1967.
Funny! Easter Bunny 'creeps'!!
ROTFLOL!
You did a replacement insert. Great picture of Kerry with his 'hands behind his head'!!
This one's better than the forst one! :-)
Excellent anti-Kerry video laying out the VietNam case against him...
Great to forward and spread to the public.
http://www.stopjohn.com/movies/hanoi-john.htm
Kerry Fitness Reports in Vietnam Show Him Unfit for Command
(Explodes Central Kerry Campaign Lie)
Kerry’s FITREPs are awash in dings, and some of the reports border on the adverse, particularly his combat FITREPs. The FITREPs convey significant performance problems and suggest problems in conduct, so much so that it is surprising that the campaign chose to release them. This may suggest that the FITREPs held from public view are even more adverse.
In what would customarily be an opportunity for a glowing “swan song” FITREP, the Commanding Officer of USS Gridley (DLG-21) tacitly blasts Kerry on his departure for Swift Boat duty by ranking him significantly below the norm in desirability for virtually every Navy assignment possible -– command, staff, whatever. He is a ship handler who is dinged in ship handling. He is in line for command, but his CO doesn’t want him near the bridge. He is slammed in all performance areas –- most notably and significantly in initiative and reliability. The “nice” narrative emphasizes performance in collateral duties, but in the grades and marks, the CO is telling the selection board and detailer loud and clear that this officer is lazy, unreliable and not suited for command. 3 SEP 68 (W.E. HARPER).
Thanks for the ping!
"'What does it mean when 25 percent of the children in Harlem have asthma because of air pollution?'
Is the air there that much different from tony uptown Manhattan? Are the asthma rates the same. I am so sick of bombastic statemates using ZERO logic."
Am I the only one who noticed how it sounded like he said "hair pollution"? I know it's just a mistake, but I thought it was pretty funny.
What is that picture of Kerry in the blue suit? Is it photoshopped or a real picture, and what's it supposed to be? I laugh out loud every time I see it!
What is that picture of Kerry in the blue suit? Is it photoshopped or a real
picture, and what's it supposed to be? I laugh out loud every time I see it!The part regarding Kerry HIMSELF in those pics are NOT photoshopped.
(The RABBIT ears on the second pic are, of course).Those are ACTUAL pics taken of him at NASA/Cape Canaveral just recently.
That is cleanroom clothing required by NASA to keep the rooms as clean as
possible. The Kerry campaign was unhappy those pics got out, too, LOL!HERE is an FR search for Keyword "NASA", if you'd like to check out some
of the Kerry NASA threads.
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