MAY GOD BLESS THESE TRUE HEROES
Posted on 08/22/2004 10:08:54 AM PDT by CWW
Well, the Swift Boat story is finally the focus of the main stream media -- from the Sunday shows, to Newsweek, to the Washington Post, etc. And who should we give the credit to (besides the hard work of the swift boat veterans)? None other than Senator Kerry.
He made a crucial, strategic error by directly responding to the charges. Not only did he create another news cycle, but also, he legitimized the controversy and forced the broadcast and news print media to report it.
Moreover, as illustrated by the upcoming story in Newsweek, by acknowleding the controversy, Kerry essentially gave the media permission to look into the actual charges of the Swift Boat Vets. To date, only talk radio and the cable channels were examining the actual charges and interviewing the eyewitnesses.
It's only a matter of time before the print and broadcast media begin to question why Kerry has not released all of his military records to clear up these matters and why there is no real response to the actual allegations made by veterans who were, in fact, eyewitnesses to the events. Currently, the Kerry strategy continues to be ad hominem attacks on decorated veterans.
President Bush is, and should be, content to sit back and watch the remaining mines blow up the Kerry campaign. And it's only going to get worse. There's blood in the water, and too may reporters, liberal or not, will want to get their share.
This forum and others clearly deserves a pat on the back for keeping the story alive until it could no longer be ignored.
That's my two-cents. Feel free to throw yours in.
CWW
ainstream media to
Wasn't his critical error using his four(4) months in Vietnam as the cornerstone of his campaign? His second error was to run on the "I'm not Bush" platform.
Question for all: How many aerial photographs exist of the "watery border" between VietNam and Cambodia? Seems like the military would have tens of thousands of these shots. How could we find them to observe the barriers that were in place to prevent runaway Swift Boat commanders from penetrating into Cambodia? Bring those to Lt. Kerry's attention. Bring it on.
PS: Didn't Kerry write the lyrics to Proud Mary to highlight his service on the Delta?
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Actually Kerry's critical error is basing his entire candicacy around a few quasi-heroic events. All the other errors are fruit of that poisoned tree. Of course, if Kerry did not have to run away from his real public record, starting with his Jane Fonda days and continuing through his anti-military, anti-intelligence flip-flopping, he wouldn't have to use his Viet Nam service as the centerpiece of his campaign.
Did he pop a lot of tang?
Yeah, I can't help but wonder why they responded directly. All conventional political thinking would advise ignoring on the candidate level.
Maybe it just got to him personally, which would be reason enough to keep him from the presidency, if he's so easily manipulated.
His critical error was thinking he could be President.
MAY GOD BLESS THESE TRUE HEROES
He is demonstrating his true talents or telling his opponents to shut up or he will have them shut them up. Not a pretty picture.
I was stunned when he answered, stepping in it big time. It seems he is writing his own material on the "shut up" and on the "or else" to the president. It's all emotion. No politically savvy person would write that for him.
As others have mentioned Kerry could late in the campaign bring out his records and potentialy make the Swifties look bad. I doubt that will be the case, but it is worth consideration. OTOH if Kerry does not bring out his records, then it will look very suspicious indeed.
"Just the fact that this is what is being discussed at this point in the election cycle"
Well it's certainly better than having the story buried... but the mainstream media is still not allowing the swiftboatvets to make thier case on Public airwaves, at least not that I've seen. Have CBS,NBC,ABC been giving these guys any airtime? By the way, seeing as these networks use public airwaves, arent they required to give some sort of equal time?
I would not take this for granted, but we have a powerful weapon on our side: Our position can be expressed in sound bites. For example,
"President Bush has signed SF-180. Why won't Kerry?"
"If these stories about Kerry are lies, why won't he release his military records and prove it?"
This is an angle that the poor schlub who suckles from the MSM's teat can understand, and this is the angle that we should be pushing.
As I read this thread, I'm trying to picture the thoughts in Bill and Hil's conspiring heads. I think THEY are winning.
First or=of
His hand was FORCED. Kerry would have liked to keep the lid on the Swifties but his internal polling numbers showed the tide was turning in swing states. If he did not react, it was simply a matter of time before his campaign would pancake under him. Bottom line: he had no choice. Either try to discredit the vets or watch his political Kevlar disintegrate around him.
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