Posted on 08/22/2004 1:04:33 PM PDT by kattracks
Swiftboat Veterans for the Truth spokesman John O'Neill dared Sen. John Kerry on Sunday to sue him for libel if, as Kerry's presidential campaign maintains, key claims in O'Neill's book "Unifit for Command" are not true.
"I invite him to sue me for libel," O'Neill, who co-authored the overnight bestseller with Jerome Corsi, told WABC Radio's Monica Crowley. "If he was actually in Cambodia on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day he should sue me. If, in fact, those other five [Swift]boats, on March the 13, [1969], if they all fled like he did, instead of staying like he knows they did, he should sue me."O'Neill continued:
"If he didn't wound himself with a grenade - causing sort of a rice-fanny wound - and then reported it to the Navy as a water mine - if he didn't do that on March 13th should sue me."
O'Neill issued the challenge after noting that Kerry's campaign has gone to extraordinary lengths to supress the information in "Unfit for Command."
"On our first [Swiftvet] ad, he had two huge lawfirms send letters to every [TV] station, threatening to sue the stations themselves" if they ran the ad, the former Swiftboat commander told Crowley.
"The next thing he did was challenge the book's publisher, Regnery, indicating he would sue them if they continued printing the book," he added.
The bestselling author said that while Regnery declined to stop printing "Unfit," it offered to republish Kerry's 1971 book "The New Soldier," which chronicles the top Democrat's anti-war protests with a group bankrolled by Jane Fonda.
Kerry has declined to have "New Solidier" republished over the years and reportedly bought up most of the available copies in 1972, after his opponent in a congressional race used it to paint him as anti-American.
Well .. I didn't see it anyway.
I had heard O'Neill was on with Steffie - but I have been de-newsing all weekend.
I haven't seen O'Dell before. But I'm glad to hear Hurley didn't get an edge with Chris. I would have expected Chris would have leaned toward Hurley like a lot of the FOX people have been doing .. and that's why I'm de-newsing this weekend.
That would suit O'Neill just fine. He'll just keep pounding away at Kerry. An injunction? I don't think so.
"Swift Vets have struck something much deeper in our culture"
Yep .. I totally agree. Time for America to grow up and accept responsibility for what the democrats did to our military in Vietnam.
And .. they are trying to do the same to Iraq.
I hope Kerry sues so the discovery process can begin.
Finally a lawyer that I can respect. Diogenes found his man.
I want this man to run for national office.
Hey...DON'T DO THAT, you want to act like the libs? That's what a lot of THEM are doing right now.
Do you think that's what "W" would do? Not a chance..he would fight on to victory.
Keep the faith!
Not according to the Kerry campaign's internals. You can tell by their reaction to all this. They are in full panic mode. If it were a turn-off to the undecided voters (the only ones Kerry needs to win at this point), Kerry would be indifferent to it all. Instead, his campaign is expending major resources to counteract it. It's clear as can be that O'Neill just lobbed one into Kerry's powder room. Ka-blam!
And another thing, I want some of the men standing by his side and speaking up to run from office as well.
It's time these girly men and the tide of bilge they rolled in on gets swept away. It's time for some honor in politics.
Wow! Those are both really good.
I know there is a whole different group of vets who are upset over the POW/MIA issue. A lot of the same group are upset at McCain over it too. I never knew Daschle was on that committee .. very intersting!
"The SBV's have to quit advertising after Sept. 2"
I thought it was 60 days prior to the election. Shouldn't that be late september? Where have I gone wrong.
"But as soon as the lawsuit is filed, O'Neil could start discovery and subpoena Kerry's military records."
Give that man a cigar and the $64,000. Kerry could have nipped all this in the bud before it even happened by a complete release of his military and his service related medical records.
He has only released edited exerpts. Something in the official record stinks like yesterdays diapers. He will do nothing to release his records.
My hubby, who remembers EVERYTHING, said that O'Neil debated Kerry on the air, years ago. This was after Kerry's infamous senate testimony. He thought it might have been on the Dick Cavet show or something like that.
This was when Buchanan was in the White House under Nixon, and they were seeking someone to conteract the VVAW. Buchanan alluded to this era and his past knowledge of O'Neil's anger with Kerry on MSNBC the other day. But he didn't mention any debates.
I'm not sure of all the facts. Does anyone know anything about this. It was pre-internet, so I doubt we'd find it on Google.
You make an excellent point, Cyberant. In the federal courts, the "safe harbor" provision of Rule 11 leaves too much room for withdrawal of a frivolous suit without sanction. In state jurisdictions, the rules for this vary. Often, to avoid court sanction after the defendant has responded, the parties to the suit have to agree on terms of withdrawal.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Now that's funny.
I would be rather prophetic to have joined in 2000 just to say that, LOL!
Kerry has mistakenly done something good. In his picking at and then scraping off the scab on the wound of Vietnam (a wound he made) Kerry has given a lot of good people the chance to clear their names. And, at the same time, show America what a piece of feces Kerry has always been.
O'Neill is brilliant. Not just smart. But brilliant. O'Neill is what they said David Boise was supposed to be but wasn't.
If John Kerry is the stud he has pretended to be lately with all his surfing, skiing, football, etc. maybe he can show that he really has stones by debating John O'Neill again. I DARE him! I DOUBLE-DARE him! But he won't because Kerry is a coward. 1 month of training in Vietnam and 3 months of "combat" trying to generate enough bogus medals so he could go home.
Oh, and by the way, when Kerry debated O'Neill on Cavett Kerry sounded just like Jim Backus did when he played Thurston Howell III on Gilligans Island. Why doesn't Kerry talk like that anymore? Hmm? Because even his voice is fake.
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