'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for August 23 - Douglas Brinkley, Dick Cavett

msnbc.com ^ | 23 August 2004 | Chris Matthews

[NavySEAL F-16]

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: In 1971, John Kerry appeared on “The Dick Cavett Show” to debate Vietnam with John O‘Neill. Tonight: Thirty years later, the debate rages on. We‘ll talk about the origins of the political firestorm with Dick Cavett and Pat Buchanan. Plus, President Bush denounces all attack ads by outside groups and calls for a halt to the practice. The latest on the swift boat ad wars and the big question: Can the political wounds over Vietnam ever heal? And could John Kerry‘s presidential campaign be that war‘s latest casualties?

Good evening. I‘m Chris Matthews. In recent weeks, the national political debate has been dominated by criticism of John Kerry‘s service in Vietnam by a group of veterans known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Tonight, we want to take you back to the genesis of the debate in the 1970s and talk to the principals involved back then at the beginning of this fight.

Joining me now are author/historians Douglas Brinkley and Stanley Karnow and Pat Buchanan, a White House insider at the time, who advised president Richard Nixon on the politics of Vietnam. And later in this show, we‘ll talk to Dick Cavett, the man who hosted the most interesting television debates, by the way, in those days, in the 1970s, about this very issue we‘re fighting over now.

[NavySEAL F-16]

They've all got their knee pads on for Kerry.

[ken5050]

You sawe it, right?..IMHO, here's how the transcript should read....

BRINKLEY: ( sweating)....yadayadayada..

BRINKLEY: ( really dripping sweat ):.yadayadayadayada..

MATTHEWS:..jeezus..Doug...you're drowning me..you look like Al Gore

[bushfamfan]

They can attempt to cover and continue to laud Kerry but the Swift Boat vets and Bob Dole have at least made more people interested in what Kerry's real record is. The media have attempted to push this ultimate war hero image yet when people learn about his 4 months and his activities in coming home from the war all the better. This will at least get people's attention.

[LetsRok]

The media have attempted to push this ultimate war hero image yet when people learn about his 4 months and his activities in coming home from the war all the better.

It has been reported that Kerry's FIRST month "in country" was at a resort for officers. His actual "combat tour" is now just 3 months.

[NavySEAL F-16]

I sometimes try to watch, but generally I just CAN'T bring myself to watch these shows.

Thankfully most shows have transcripts.

[wideawake]

In this exchange Chris Matthews admits that Kerry was awarded a medal for a self-inflicted wound.

He also suggests that Kerry's outright lie about Cambodia was "poetic license."

Matthews is filth.

[mohresearcher]

Pat Buchanan tried to bring up discussion of Kerry's "Christmas in Cambodia," but Matthews cut him off.

Laura Blumenfield wrote a fine piece entitled "John Kerry: Hunter, Dreamer, Realist," in the Washington Post on June 1, 2003 that touches on his delusions and fantasies of being on "secret missions" in Cambodia.

I strongly recommend that all Freepers write Letters to the Editor about Kerry's continuing lies about his fantasies based upon his review of "Apocalypse Now," which appeared in the Boston Herald on October 14, 1979. His fragile mental state makes him unable to separate himself from movie scenes and reality, make him unfit to become Commander in Chief.

[NavySEAL F-16]

Cambodia was "poetic license."

I don't think poetic license is an allowable term in time of war. LOL.

Can Matthews possibly get any more ridiculous?

[NavySEAL F-16]

Aboslutely correct.

We don't want this guy anywhere near the football.

[mrbillxx]

I agree. I have a hard time watching any news on TV anymore...it's painful. Even FOX.

Thank Goodness for Free Republic!

[Gabz]

When I first learned my cable did not have msnbc I was very disappointed as there was so much talk here on FR about this particular show...............now it is months later and I'm very happy to report that my cable still does NOT carry it!!!

[Joe 6-pack]

"He also suggests that Kerry's outright lie about Cambodia was "poetic license."

I think the Swifties are about to revoke Kerry's license.

[rod1]

Poetic Licence--really!! Is that what Chris' mentor Tip O'Neil would call lying before Congress during testimony. Because that is what "Chrismas in Cambodia" was. I though Congressmen tended to get upset when people lied to them during testimony.

[rintense]

He also suggests that Kerry's outright lie about Cambodia was "poetic license."

Oh, I see. Yet Bush LIED about WMDs. Perhaps Bush was using poetic license as well. /sarcasm

[isthisnickcool]

Ditto!

3 months! 3 months! Kerry must be the most decorated person in American military history for the time he was in "combat".

Kerry and his slugs are trashing men that were POW's and held in captivity and tortured for up to 7 years!

JOHN KERRY = 90 days. Had the leisure to re-enact his "battles". Which means the places Kerry had those "battles" at must not have been too dangerous since HE COULD GO BACK and MAKE HOME MOVIES!!

POW's KERRY IS TRASHING = 2500+ days of abuse and torture. Not "panties on the head" stuff. No "home movies" Real nasty torture. Some of it BECAUSE of John Kerry!

BTW, John McCain was held 5 years.

In 1967 USAF Lt. Col. James Hughes was paraded through Hanoi visibly injured the day after his capture.

Staged photo op!

[vanburen]

Story Here

[nfldgirl]

I'm not supporting John Kerry...quite the opposite. However, I think it needs to be said on this thread and all the others regarding Kerry's actions after returning from Vietnam and especially his testimony before Congress. Chris Matthews played the portion of the Veteran's ad where Kerry is listing the "atrocities" committed by American soldiers. But he then follows that up with the full context from which that list of atrocities was taken. During that particular testimony, Kerry states that he was informed/became aware of those atrocities as "confessed" by about 150 veterans who were all in attendance at a meeting in Detroit. He speaks about how ashamed and broken these veterans were over things they had done in Vietnam...then he goes on to list the atrocities.

My question is: who and where are these 150 or so veterans who were supposedly at this meeting, and why were they not brought up on charges? Or were they and/or some others? Or was all of this about the atrocities fabricated to push a political agenda?

[Chieftain]

This is the BEST "Bang for your political buck" - EVER!

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

[NavySEAL F-16]

Kerry said on his Meet the Press interview in 1971 that he also committed atrocities. He has stated that many times.

Chris Matthews is nothing but a sycophant for Kerry and will try to frame and take out of context to make anything favorable to Kerry.

Most of those veterans testimonies that Kerry used were never veterans, much less in Vietnam.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Was Cavett wearing a strait jacket?