McCullough:**SWIFT BOAT VETS EXPOSE SOMETHING NEW**

Crosswalk Editorial ^ | 8.25.2004

[KMC1]

Something struck me today that jolted my thinking on the whole Swift Boat Veterans issue. As I was reading the reports of John Kerry sending campaign staff to Crawford to ask President Bush to denounce (A G A I N ! ! !) the ads put out by 527 something just smacked me in the face.

Over most of the campaign year John Kerry has not faced much adversity. From the media pre-ordaining him as "the" candidate earlier in the year, to his sudden and swift winning of the nomination, to his further coronation experience at his nominating convention - things have pretty much gone his way.

The Swift Boat Vets have exposed something that I think is far more damaging about Kerry than they realized at the time.

Vietnam - blah blah blah - you hear the two sides go at it and so it goes...

But last Thursday John Kerry gave the Vets the legitimacy they were looking for by acknowledging them and beginning to call them names... And this is what I think the Vets did a superb - though probably oblivious - job on laying Kerry out naked.

[KMC1]

So you answer the question: "Based on what I have observed of Kerry's handling of the 'Swift Boat Vet' controversy - I have learned "_______________" about his leadership skills?"

[hoosiermama]

That he reacts instead of choosing his actions.

[Warren]

Kerry has acted heroically in this matter.


ha

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

I have learned that Kerry is a master of Goebbel's Big Lie and Book Burning tactics. We'd have much to fear under a Kerry presidency. If for some reason he were to win, I would hope that the Vets for Truth, Swift Boat and otherwise, would hound him throughout his administration. He should be prosecuted for fabricating naval records.

[So Cal Rocket]

That when the going gets tough, Kerry gets lawyers.

[nmh]

Like any other liberal he is totally emotionally driven. That is an attribute that makes him extremely dangerous.

[coloradan]

LOL! He not only gets lawyers, he asks the President of the United States to intervene on his behalf. Who would he ask if he were President?

[tioga]

so funny...

[netmilsmom]

I have learned that Kerry is the hand picked by the Clintons candidate. Kerry was picked because he was guaranteed to lose so Hillary can run in 04.

(but I'm reading Richard Poe's book so that might have something to do with it)

[netmilsmom]

ACK! Make that 08. It's hard to proofread when you are engrossed in a book and trying to type!

[Ohioan from Florida]

Who would he ask if he were President?

Osama, Saddam, Arafat, and the dreaded UN!!!

[Beth]

That Kerry is incapable of handling a real crisis, and that is dangerous for America.

[antivenom]

DR. PoopyPants! LOL!!!

[commish]

I think you had it right the first time.

[narby]

I see Kerry's personality as out of control. On a trip to Europe in College, he "ran the bulls" in Spain, an extremely dangerous and juvenile stunt.

In Vietnam, his superiors said that while maneuvering boats in the river, he would "just disappear".

He seems to have the attitude that everyone should bend to his will, whatever that is. No respect for others at all.

I'd really be scared of him as Commander In Chief. Who knows what he'd do?

[Made In The USA]

So you answer the question: "Based on what I have observed of Kerry's handling of the 'Swift Boat Vet' controversy - I have learned "_______________" about his leadership skills?"

Easy.

I have learned that when faced with a challenge, Mr. Kerry will cry like a sissy, threaten to sue, stamp his feet on the ground, cry that it's unfair, and have Max Cleland deliver a stern letter. All instead of facing the challenge head on like a Man, certainly like a leader of the free world should.

[jalisco555]

ACK! Make that 08. It's hard to proofread when you are engrossed in a book and trying to type!

You know, at the rate the Kerry campaign is imploding you may have been right the first time. It's not too late to Torch JFK.

[Use It Or Lose It]

I have learned that Kerry has demonstrated is a true coward. The fight is between Kerry and the Swift Vets/Vietnam Vets, not Cleland and President Bush. Kerry isn't man enough to face the Swiftees and those who were maligned by his testimony and participation in Vietnam Veterans Against the War. By sending out surrogates, Kerry shows that he cuts and runs when the going gets tough.

[rolling_stone]

I have learned that he will probably bug out early if elected when the first crisis hits.

He will try and appease our enemies and sacrifice anyone under him in a heartbeat.

[Gumdrop]

The real chink in Kerry's armor is that he is a whiner. All his life he's had riches and power, and if life does him a lemon, he finds another rich gal to marry. Running as a liberal Democrat in Massachusetts is certainly not a test for courage. Nor is pretending to be an Irishman in Boston! I think the answer to weakening this man is to label him as a whiner. Many already think he is a bit effeminate and snobby. Add the label "whiner" when the going gets tough (Bush certainly did not whine over the liar Michael Moore!), and Kerry's toast for sure.