Posted on 08/11/2004 12:02:30 PM PDT by Brian Mosely
KERRY/CAMBODIA UPDATE: I promised a while back to see if I could get a look at the Boston Herald story -- where Kerry says he remembers spending Christmas, 1968 in Cambodia and hearing President Nixon deny that troops were there -- in original form. The quote's genuine, and here's an image. Sorry it's a bit hard to read: it's a scan of a fax of a photocopy of a microfilm, sent to me by a helpful reader who works at the Herald.
But what's really interesting is the context -- see the full scan here -- which is all about Kerry's Vietnam experiences as they relate to Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Unlike Al Gore and Love Story, Kerry doesn't claim that the movie is about him -- but he sure draws parallels. In fact, the passage that everyone has been quoting actually reads like this, when you include the prior sentence that people haven't been including:
On more than one occasion, I, like Martin Sheen in "Apocalypse Now," took my patrol boat into Cambodia
In fact, I remember spending Christmas Day of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese Allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real. But nowhere in "Apocalypse Now" did I sense that kind of absurdity.
So Kerry's Vietnam experience was like Apocalypse Now, only it was more so.
How much this adds to the debate isn't clear to me -- but in case anyone was doubting the provenance of this particular quotation, well, I'm satisfied now that its authenticity, if not its veracity, is pretty clear.
Presumably, some big-time journalists are even now interviewing people and combing the records to see if this version of Kerry's 1968 Christmas was correct. (For other, inconsistent, versions, click here.) And for those -- apparently unclear on my age and suspecting me of draft-dodging -- who want to know where I was spending my Christmas in 1968, it was in Heidelberg, Germany. I got a train, and an SST model kit.
I read an interesting book about the creation of false memories.
The Myth of Repressed Memory : False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse
by Elizabeth Loftus, Katherine Ketcham
She is mainly talking about suddenly discovered memories of childhood abuse. But the same principals apply to any memory. It is not all that hard to create false memories in some people. Kerry might actually believe his own myths, even when they are not true. Which makes him to wacky to be president.
Is there way to read the entire article typed out? The scan is hard to read. I would love to read the whole article and start emailing it to my friends...
If Martin Sheen remembers Kerry being on the boat on the mission to terminate Marlon Brando, I guess he'll be off the hook on this for most Democrats.
"APACKALIES NOW" I love it.
"Rambo Eruptions" & "Scambodia" are a couple more FReeperisms that I like.
Here's the real movie plan about Kerry which he would receive Royalties for?
George Butler is a New Hampshire Film Maker and a long time friend with Kerry. He made such films as "Pumping Iron". Butler is currently making a film about Kerry's experiences in Vietnam, called "Going up River", expected to hit theatres this September. This is one reason Kerry's campaign is against this book because it will blow his cover and bring questions to this films accuracy. This is a quote from Butler on WHDH TV Boston, Aired 7/21/2004.
"Everything John Kerry said about Vietnam applies to Iraq as well. So there's a message in the film that's very interesting film indeed."
Link to George Butler interview.
http://www1.whdh.com/features/articles/specialreport/DBM564/
He should have played Bill Paxton's part in True Lies.
I gained a ton of weight after the surgery, but I lost 15 of that, I am under 335 today.
That's 20 pounds more than the day of surgery, and 40 pounds more than the day of the originally injury.
At least I am going down again, not up anymore.
PJ-Comix, makes the FIRST ANALOGY between Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia and Apocalypse Now. I will now humbly accept the Sherlock Holmes Deductive Reasoning Award.
Alexis?
I think one can fairly describe Kerry as just an errand boy sent by grocery clerks.
It's not Apocalypse Now... it's Apackofliesnow.
Thanks for the ping!
HA,LOL
It got excellent treatment tonight on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.
Thanks. Can some gifted Freeper make a parody of the movie poster with Kerry's Munster face on it ? It would make a great t-shirt!
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