Posted on 08/12/2004 9:09:45 PM PDT by Jenya
The Swift Boat Blues
The partisans are running wild over this Swift Boat business, talk radio is crazy with it and the smell of blood is in the air. John Kerry has made a major deal of his Vietnam War record and now his opponents have opened fire on the Senator's experiences. It's all tawdry and distasteful of course, but let's examine things unemotionally.
First off, I believe Jim Rassmann when he says that Kerry saved his life by pulling him out of a Vietnam river while under fire. Rassmann is a former Green Beret, a former police officer and a long time registered Republican until earlier this year. If he says John Kerry is a hero, nobody should doubt it. Rassmann has earned the right to be trusted and insulting his testimony is way out of line.
But I also believe Steve Gardner, a former Navy gunner who was also present on one of Kerry's Swift Boats. He says the Senator wrote up a false report, neglecting to inform the Navy that he, Gardner, had accidentally shot a Vietnamese child during a firefight. This is a tough one. Gardner is implicating himself and has no reason to do so. But perhaps Kerry was looking out for him by not reporting the incident. Only Kerry knows.
It is very possible to perform heroically on some occasions and do less than admirable things on others. All human beings are flawed and we are capable of both valor and deceit. That's what I think happened here. John Kerry was brave, but was also calculating. His heroism impressed most of his Swift Boat mates, but his civilian anti-war activities and perceived grandstanding also alienated many other Vietnam Vets. And so the battle lines are drawn.
What should we, on the sidelines, make of all this? Well, it's a judgment call. It is absolutely wrong for Americans to condemn Kerry's war record because he demonstrated provable valor. However, those who distrust him do deserve to be heard although facts not emotion should be demanded.
I think the Swift Boat political advertisement calling Kerry a charlatan is in poor taste, and if this kind of thing continues it might well backfire on the Kerry haters. Most Americans are fair minded, and bitter personal attacks do not go down well with folks who are not driven by partisanship. Remember, General Wesley Clark was knocked out of the Presidential sweepstakes when he would not disown Michael Moore's insane remark that President Bush was a "deserter." Mr. Bush received an honorable discharge from the National Guard. Admiral Elmo Zumwalt pinned a medal on John Kerry's chest. The record is the record, unless rock solid proof refutes it.
The lesson here is that blind partisanship is not an attribute. No person or candidate is all good or all bad. In America today, with both sides peddling lies and defamation and spin, it is alarmingly difficult just to get simple facts on which to base a responsible vote.
Somewhere Jack Webb is weeping.
Which means he was drowning and would have died if Kerry didn't pull him out of the water?? Does not sound like a life was saved to me, if he could dive to the bottom.
John O'Neill has been going on TV and mostly the people don't "interview" him they scream over him. They don't let him speak. Except for Pat Buchanan who did a very good job interviewing O'Neill.
They can't dismiss the book because it's apparently very compelling. I can't wait to read the book. I ordered it from Amazon days ago. I've have read the Swifty's site and excerpts from the book. Which is apparently more than Chris Matthews has done.
John Kerry was the main reason that people spit on Vietnam Vets. The reason people thought that our soldiers in Vietnam did terrible things. Kerry lied. That just by itself is enough to say Kerry is not fit for ANY public office.
I'll never watch Chris Mathews or Bill O'Reilly again. Never. They are both punks. John O'Neill and the men that have some forward deserve our respect. But just like people did 30 years ago Matthews, O'Reilly and Kerry are spitting in the Vietnam Vets faces again. It's sickening!
Kerry has made a big mistake in opening up the same Vietnam wound he created 30 years ago. I was too young to pay attention back then but I now see that many many men suffered greatly so John Kerry could have a political career that he built on their suffering. And now, all these years later the SOB is doing it again! Sickening!
I agree. No way he's a conservative. My take on O'Reilly is that he's a jumpin' jim jeffords variety of republican.
He doesn't like being taxed, he's pro-gay, pro-prostitution/pornography, pro-patriotism, liberal Irish Catholic.
He's also incredibly ignorant of the military.
Latest o'blowhard folly
Because he believes Kerry is a war hero, proof or no proof, and the rest of the people in the country that disagree with him are labeled as kooks. We are incapable of looking out for ourselves, you see. Without master O'Rielly to tell us what we should think, the world is doomed!
I agree.
OReily is a Ratings-ist. He thinks he can curry favor with the democrats by spining this. yawn.
He is pro-homomarriage, despite his words. He copied kerry's talking point.
He is anti-bush.
He is anti-iraq.
Hanity is the star of fox. Oreily is an accidental hit because nobody is there to compete. One sincere conservative against oreily and he is finished.
Imagine if Rush was on PMSNBC opposing Oreily....
One thing I've noticed is those on the right who never served in the military are very very reluctant to say anything disparaging about those who did. Me thinks O'Reilly feels guilty that he never served and this is clouding his judgment about the Swifties.
But I see that does not apply here, O'Reilly, you cheap used car salesman:
This is a tough one. Gardner is implicating himself and has no reason to do so. But perhaps Kerry was looking out for him by not reporting the incident. Only Kerry knows.
I wonder if Bill O'Reilly heard of John F*ckin' lastest story "correction?" Or maybe he just doesn't care. As for partisanship, God knows we need more honest, combative partisanship. I'm sick of people burying lies and poor character behind a mask of pretend amity. The kind of non-partisanship O'Reilly touts got us Clinton and McGreevey. He thinks it should bring us Kerry too. <sarcasm
"O'Reilly is a conservative'.
Nah, the bloviator is a mugwump.
His mug on one side of the fence and his wump on the other.
Blessings, Bobo
Ha ha, good thing we have Uncle Bill figuring it out for us...
I never liked or trusted that O'Reilly jerk. It was all about him from the beginning. No different from Clinton.
"I think the Swift Boat political advertisement calling Kerry a charlatan is in poor taste."
Right geek, it's all about "taste."
Still sucking up, trying to get Kerry on the Factor, I see.
Oreilly is sinking faster than the Dow.
I cannot judge how Kerry performed in Vietnam.
I can, however, judge how he "performed" when he returned. That is what the whole country should judge him by.
Just watch his 1971 Congressional testimony.
Talk to some of the returning Vets. Ask them how they were made to feel on their return from Vietnam. Ask what it felt like to be spit on, called baby killers.
Talk to some of the POW's that had Kerry's words read to them by the North Vietnamese. That's what I judge Kerry on.
Kerry is why our POW's were not accorded the rights of the Geneva Convention.
The North Vietnamese used Kerry's words to show that they were war criminals, and not POWs.
He was 27 years old -- a man -- when he testifed about events in Vietnam. They were not the ramblings of a "misguided youth".
This is just flat out offensive. Ad hominem attacks and name-calling diminishes the perpetrator.
I'm a proud conservative, but will NOT be a party to this type of viciousness without raising my voice in opposition. I believe that we're better than this.
Bill O'Reilly = Jelly Fish
How is that name calling?
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