Unfit for Office

Wall Street Journal Editorial Page ^ | May 4, 2004 | John O'Neill

[nicmarlo]

I was on Mr. Kerry's boat in Vietnam. He doesn't deserve to be commander in chief.

[sockmonkey]

I got the book from Hastings locally.

Thanks for the heads up. That's cheaper than Amazon, and there's a Hastings just five minutes from my house. I'm off to Hastings right now.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Bob Kerrey

[CedarDave]

Thank you. I appreciate that. I know that the Swift Boat vets would have let Kerry's actions pass given the number of years that have gone by. However, when Kerry made those four months the centerpiece of his campaign, they could not ignore and had to respond to his mis-characterizations and outright fabrications, and his actions when he returned. These aren't vindictive people, but with his own actions falsly recreating that time 35 years ago, Kerry has brought the grief he is receiving on himself and he has only himself to blame.

[Nam Vet]

Besides being a lying POS.........

I double despise Kerry for reopening decades old wounds of so many of us.

The polls that only show 50-some percent of Vietnam Vets against him I KNOW ARE LIES! I don't know even one real VN Vet who supports him.

Nam Vet

[A.A. Cunningham]

How to Search

[Libertina]

Unfit for office... There are so many of democrat candidates who are unfit for office that I'm not certain which one you mean ...

[Nam Vet]

Hey Dave! Cat Lo/Vung Tau and An Thoi Oct '67- Oct 68. Swift Boat and USCG support/repair and back-up boat engineer Coastal Division 11. How are ya Bro? Good to see ya!

Nam Vet

[bitt]

http://www.nationalreview.com/rose/rose200404211228.asp

April 21, 2004, 12:28 p.m.
The Un-Kerry
Meet John O’Neill, the Vietnam vet who once debated John Kerry on The Dick Cavett Show.
By Alexander Rose
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article appears in the May 3, 2004, issue of National Review.


This is an EXCELLENT write-up on John O'Neill.

[Chieftain]

Hey Nam Vet, welcome home! Thank you for your HONORABLE service to our nation.

Some on this forum and most in todays society do not understand how personal this is with vets of my generation. Republican, democrat or independent, we all share a loathing for John Kerry. We will continue to do so, even after he is long gone, and we will carry this to our graves.

You hit the nail on the head. I was at a FReep of John Edwards arrival in Jacksonville, Fl, this past Monday and I was holding my anti-Kerry Vietnam signs and wearing my "Stop Hanoi John Kerry 2004" . One of the Bush supporters (there were about 65 of us), a lady in her 30's, stated "I don't have a problem with what Kerry did to protest the war. This is America and it's free speech. I don't want him raising my insurance costs and making my business go bankrupt because of trial lawyers and regulation." I about lost it! I emotionally explained to her what Kerry's words and actions did to a whole generation of GI's. About how many lived in shame for many years and some are still living that way. I explained to her how Kerry's using Vietnam as his main qualification is like re-opening those wounds and pouring salt right in there. She could see the look in my eyes. Although she didn't say much after that, I am quite sure she got it.

There was also an young (late 20's) active duty sailor there at the FReep. He said he knows all about Kerry and his betrayal of Vietnam Veterans. He learned it from his dad, whom he said hates Kerry with a passion. I suspect his dad is a lot like me, and I am glad to know that he has taught his children about him. I think Kerry did us all a favor by portraying himself a war hero. It is motivating our whole generation to make our voices heard, when it really counts!

I was on Bill Bennett's radio show, "Morning in America" about a week ago. I called when they were talking about the Swift boat Veterans for Truth as I was listening while driving to work. I told Bennett in no uncertain terms that our fight with Kerry is NOT a political issue as much as it is a disrespect of all Vietnam and Vietnam era veterans, and that if they think the media and lawyers and talking heads think they are gonna muzzle us, they got another thing comin'! I told him that there is an entire generation of American veterans, that have had this wound festering in us for the past 33 years, and sKerry had the audacity to re-open those wounds and pour poison in them with his attempt to portray himself as a genuine war hero after he dishonored all of us with his treasonous lies 33 years ago! I told him we would NOT be muzzled and we will use this forum of Kerry's campaign to repudiate this traitor and expunge the Hanoi Kerry poison from our lives once and for all! I said when Kerry did that to us we were kids then and didn't have a forum and had to live under the curse of his words,
BUT WE AIN'T KIDS NO MORE, AND WE AIN'T GONNA BE MUZZLED!

I was white hot and Bill Bennett knew it!

Bennett did say that it was a political issue because John Kerry chose to make it one, by making it the center piece of his presidential campaign. I told him that we aren't gonna back off regardless of what the Bush campaign, or anyone else may say.

I had a couple guys call me right after and they were ALL SMILES! They said 'Hey man, you lit the radio on FIRE! Any vet who heard that is ready to go stomp a hole in Kerry right now!

[SandRat]

A swift boat ping - Kerry not fit to carry the mantle of leadership!

[nicmarlo]

you got to read it...it is a very good article, isn't it?

[Chieftain]

This is best Swift Boat Ping!

Click the logo to donate to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

[Leatherneck_MT]

Oorah boys keep it up.

Praise the Lord and pass the ammo.

[Cboldt]

... when Kerry made those four months the centerpiece of his campaign, they could not ignore and had to respond to his mis-characterizations and outright fabrications ...

The Swiftees have said that they are speaking out now, because Kerry is running for the Office of President. They were "okay" with him as a Senator, but are not okay with him as President. Even if Kerry had downplayed his Vietnam experience, I think the Swiftees would have come forward. That Kerry made his Vietnam experience a centerpiece for his campaign adds illumination to his lying character.

[nicmarlo]

Any vet who heard that is ready to go stomp a hole in Kerry right now!

Thank you for your service; I have always felt bad about how the Viet Nam vets were treated upon their return to the states.....

[spycatcher]

If Baghdad Michael Moore had served in the Army and been a colossal f@$#-up during the first Gulf War, I wonder, would the media and John McCain be demanding respect for him like they're demanding it for Hanoi John Kerry?

[nicmarlo]

would the media and John McCain be demanding respect for him like they're demanding it for Hanoi John Kerry?

Only in your dreams....or, perhaps more appropriately, only in YOUR VERSION OF REALITY. : )

[Missouri]

What gets me is that I've never heard Senator Kerry condemn what the North Vietnamese or Viet Cong where doing to civilians and prisoners during that war. He saves his venom for his fellow soldiers and a President Nixon who had inherited the war from LBJ.

I was kind of young when the Vietnam War was going and I have a question for some of the older freepers. If the war was so unpopular and immoral as John Kerry and the Left say it was, how come Nixon buried McGovern in the 1972 election?

[CedarDave]

Good for you! He has angered a whole bunch of folks who have moved on a long time ago: They came home, went to college, got married, had a family and a career, but they never forgot what happened during that time. And then Kerry came along and reopened all the old wounds. As you said, its different now. The men are no longer powerless, they have the resources and the will to right this longstanding wrong and are doing so by speaking out. God bless them all!!

[RebelBanker]

Welcome home and God bless each and every Vietnam veteran!

I was not there (too young) so I can not possibly feel the same hurt you all do over John Kerry's betrayal of all service members at that time. What I can do is relate his actions to the 11 years I did spend in the service and wonder how he can look himself in the mirror to shave every morning.

I can sympathize with the young lady you spoke with - she simply did not understand because she did not live through it. To many young people today, Vietnam is as much ancient history as the War Between the States. The only difference is that there are still a lot of living Vietnam veterans who can teach younger generations the truth, just as the older soldiers I knew were kind enough to do for me.