'Nuff Said.
Al Hunt is up and running in today's WSJ (I don't subscribe to the paid website, so I don't have a link -- it's not on the free OpinionJournal.com). Just a few excerpts:
[After comparing the swiftvets' charges to a hypothetical charge against Bush 41 by Clinton of marital infidelity] That would be almost as crazy as the current effort by some Bush backers to focus attention on John Kerry's Vietnam War record and subsequent protests. This is being significantly funded and directed by Texas fat cats and political operatives who have more than a passing relationship with Bush political guru Karl Rove. . . .The charges are that Sen. Kerry has exaggerated his war record, maligned all American soliders when he later protested agains the war, and learned the wrong lessons from Vietnam.
The allegations against Mr. Kerry in Vietnam are that he only served four months, hyped his heroism and idn't earn hhis medials, particularly his first Purple heart, presumably because if you got three you could leave early.
Hunt argues that Kerry volunteered [his emphasis] three times: for the Navy, for Vietnam and for the swift boat. He notes that Zumwalt pinned the Silver Star on him and that "men in his boat say he saved their lives."
He says that Kerry is charged with accusing all American forces in Vietnam of atrocities. "Still, what he actually said was tha atrocities were widespread, but he never suggested they were committed by most Americans." He cites Hackworth on "hundreds of My Lais" and notes that Tommy Franks acknowledged that atrocities occurred. He claims that "[a]ll accounts clearly indicate that Mr. Kerry was a moderating influence in the antiwar veterans group, calming the palpable anger and sense of betrayal of so many and countering the radicals."
He closes with the assertion that it is Karl Rove's "pals" who may raise Vietnam questions from about 16th or 17th in importance in the elections to a much higher spot.
'Nuff Said.