Posted on 08/03/2004 11:13:08 PM PDT by goldstategop
Seeing through Kerry
Joseph Farah
It is obvious from John Kerry's acceptance speech last week at the Democratic National Convention that he considers his "service" in Vietnam to be a major issue in his bid for the presidency.
I'm glad he made it so. Now he can't complain when critics attack his military record for what it is – fraudulent, disgraceful and dishonorable. Though, knowing Kerry, I'm sure he will squeal like a pig when we do.
Kerry deviated from the text of his prepared speech only once, when he began with what he no doubt considered a poignant line: "My name is John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty."
Let's talk about the last time Kerry reported for duty.
He enlisted in the Navy with one thought in mind – building a resume that would one day propel him to the presidency. He told college friends. He told his peers in Vietnam. He took a movie camera with him to record his acts of "heroism."
In a training mission, he misfired a rocket-propelled grenade, causing a small piece of shrapnel to ricochet and hit him in the arm. The injury was so minor, it required only a Band-Aid. He had the audacity to ask the doctor who treated him if he would be eligible for the Purple Heart. The doctor laughed and told him to go back to duty. He went to his commanding officer and requested a Purple Heart. His commander laughed and told him to report to duty.
But Kerry, whose family was close with the Kennedy family since he was a small child, wrote a letter to someone in Saigon and – voila – got his first Purple Heart.
Later, Kerry took his swiftboat down the river and spotted a sampan floating innocently in the water. For some reason Kerry thought he should blow it up. He fired on it and blew it up, all right. But it was carrying dangerous cargo – rice. Some of the rice flew up and hit Kerry. Second Purple Heart.
He got a third one for another minor injury not associated with enemy fire – another one that didn't cause him to miss even a day on active duty.
And Kerry knew he had his ticket home. Three Purple Hearts and you're out – if you choose to leave. Those were the rules. And Kerry left Vietnam after four rather uneventful months.
Eyewitnesses and his fellow swiftboat officers say the act of "heroism" portrayed in his official documentary at the convention is a lie. He didn't pull that man out of the river under fire. There was no battle raging. A man fell out of the boat and Kerry reached over and pulled him in – just like he pulled that hamster out of the water for his daughters.
But the real dishonor, the real fraud, the real disgrace of Kerry's service record came when he went home.
Kerry betrayed his comrades in arms – even while the fighting continued in Vietnam, even while U.S. prisoners were languishing in torture camps.
He went before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971 and lied. He spoke of U.S. war crimes that never happened. He spoke of U.S. soldiers as "monsters" who cut off ears and killed innocent women and children.
Meanwhile, men in the "Hanoi Hilton" and other camps were enduring unspeakable abuses – some were being murdered in cold blood – because they refused, even under duress, to say the things Kerry said so willingly in the comfort of the U.S. Senate.
Apparently, Kerry, with his moist finger in the wind, had decided by then that his best shot at political success and national recognition would come about by switching sides in the war and aiding the enemy.
Unfortunately he was right. He not only won a prominent spot of "honor" in Hanoi's war-crimes museum, he also eventually was able to persuade Massachusetts voters to send him to the U.S. Senate – again and again – just like they did with his disgraceful, fraudulent and dishonorable friend Teddy Kennedy.
I find it difficult to believe, however, that Kerry can fool enough Americans nationwide to make him the leader of the greatest country on earth – and the one he has done so much to hurt.
If his Vietnam record is the centerpiece of his career, his life, his achievements and his character, this is truly a man corrupt to the core.
well, Yes -of course it the centerpiece of his career...
..he's done nothing since! 18 years in the senate and 5, count them, 5, inconsequential pieces of legislation.
(one of them was to rename a federal building)
The tsunami is offshore slowly building up its overwhelming force. When it crashes onto the shore, it will be big and a candidate will be washed away.
Even if it wasn't - he's corrupt to the core on other issues as well. Even if you ignore the worst things he did, and focus on his most positive traits, you'll still see nothing but corruption.
Here's something to consider about Kerry, the war hero. He gave himself a silver star by beaching his boat (against orders) so he could chase down a VC soldier who had already been wounded with a .50 cal bullet from one of the boat's gunners. To prove what a brave, heroic man he was, Kerry fired the coup de grace that killed the soldier.
That's not the act of a hero. An American hero would have taken the wounded enemy combatant into custody, tended to his wounds until he got him to a medical facility where he could get complete medical care before being transferred to a POW camp.
That's the tradition of the American military that goes back more than two centuries. That's the compassion of the battlefield that Kerry apparently slept through.
I know heroes. Kerry is no hero.
Unfortunately, the Rats and their liberal/left media cronies have told so many falsehoods, lies, and outright distortions about President Bush, that when the Pubbies and others get around to telling the truth about Kerry, the public will ignore the message and just assume its politics as usual.
However, Kerry has so much documented baggage without the VietNam war story, its like icing on the cake. But third party groups had better fire their salvos quickly; free speech ends for them on September 1 (thanks to McCain-Feingold and a gutless Supreme Court).
The demrats seem to know it's coming; already screaming about how negative and scurrilous Repubs are becomming in their 'attacks'; and yes, this will 'confirm' their warnings to many sheeple.
Think Repubs were afraid to go after 'war record' despite the obvious; or maybe thouoght it was safer to be just 'surprised' when the info finally did come out, more mainstream.
In any event; I am amazed just asking people if they know 'how long johnkerry spent in VietNam; that the question almost always gets a 'no, I don't know'. . .response.
Not much time left to educate; and yes, I wonder if McCain knows now; how wrong he was.
I hate to burst your bubble but there's no such thing as Klingons. They're make-believe.
The essential component of eligibility for a purple heart is a wound recieved as a result of enemy fire. The severity is irrelevant. Max Cleland is an example; he recieved a serious injury from the accidental detonation of a hand grenade, (resulting in the loss of three limbs), yet he recieved no purple heart as it was not the result of enemy action.
I know a number of people with the purple heart with minor wounds, but three purple hearts, all of which were self inflicted? I don't know. I know Kerry is a weasel but this whole story is difficult for me to believe. How does a guy lie his way to three purple hearts, and a bronze and silver star? I could see getting away with it once, but five times?
It seems impossible.
Self-inflicted, yeah. The bar for "heroism" in our military's awfully low. The Purple Heart's not such a great advertisement of manly powress if all you need to do to get one is to get yourself (and it doesn't even to have to be enemy fire, go figure) injured by fire to qualify.
Joseph Farah NAILS it!
Well, yeh, not yet. We won't meet them till the 22nd or 23rd century. But they'll be there. I saw it on TV.
If anyone has givven blood, the needle for giving blood caused more "injury" than J f'n Kerry recieved in vietnam one of his purple hearts. (based on a doctor's report)
IT'S THE PRESIDENCY, STUPID!!!
I think it's a pretty good slogan for this race.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
