Posted on 08/26/2004 4:48:17 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
.......Many of those who condemn Kerry for opposing the Vietnam War are too young to have been politically aware during that period. The rest are fighting very old battles. But the fact is that the argument over Vietnam was settled long ago, and a majority of Americans decided that Kerry was right.
Members of the Swift boat group and like-minded Americans are free to try to re-litigate the basic Vietnam question. They say, from the comfortable perspective of 2004, that the antiwar movement emboldened the enemy and thus lengthened the war. That's their premise: We could have won the war by 1971 if not for Kerry and his ilk. Of course, after continuing the war for three more years, we still didn't win it. So even accepting the dubious premises of these Hindsight Hawks, blame for the lives lost after Kerry's testimony goes primarily to the leaders in Washington who kept the war going needlessly.
But most Americans came to accept Kerry's view that the war was ill advised and unwinnable at any reasonable cost. Only when that happened did the war end, and the antiwar movement made it happen sooner. If that historical judgment is correct, which we think it clearly is, then Kerry saved the lives of many more Americans in his antiwar role than he did as a Navy officer.
Kerry's testimony in April 1971 was eloquent, persuasive and damning. Consistent with his cautious instincts, Kerry never joined the extremist America-haters who hoped for a North Vietnamese victory, but instead he patiently explained to senators why the war was a disaster.
Undoubtedly, Kerry was overwrought when he declared that atrocities by American soldiers were ubiquitous. They weren't. But it is ignorant fantasy to suppose that the United States emerged from Vietnam unblemished by horrible misdeeds................
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Or "overwrought".
After watching the replays of Kerry's testimony, I am struck by how calm, cool and collected he is. He was not *overwrought*. By way of contrast, the past week he HAS been *overwrought*.
Isn't lying to Congress a felony? Perjury?
One more thing: Vietnam was never *settled*. No majority ever agreed about Vietnam. Vietnam was something we all tacitly agreed to not discuss. That is why it festered. History is written by the winners and the left won on that issue. Now the vets are demanding and getting a return match.
Hitler was long dead before I was politcaly aware. I suppose now my negative opinions of him are invalid.
"What you were really against was not war at all, but American "imperialism" and American capitalism. What you truly hated was America's democracy, which you knew to be a "sham" because it was controlled by money in the end. That's why you wanted to "Bring the Troops Home," as your slogan said. Because if America's troops came home, America would lose and the Communists would win. And the progressive future would be one step closer."
One more lie here; these people hate Democracy because it is the one thing that stands in the way of their own greed for their totally self-serving empowerment. They want to be KING; not president. They need serfs; not a free and empowered and 'happy' population.
Everything these people purport to be is a LIE. . .their idiology; their motives; their goals. . .who and what they are. . .is a lie.
The real sham; promise heaven and give em hell Marxism; as it was in the begining; and still is. . .
I can't even bring myself to click on the link to finish reading this piece of crap.
As a public service, why doesn't the LA Times and the rest of the media publish exactly what Kerry said in his testimony? All we ever hear is the last man to die quote. Let the people judge if what Kerry said is merely "overwrought."
...well...uh...if not exactly a majority of Americans, then...uh...a majority of everybody (the author of this screed) knows...and that's anybody that's anybody...I mean, nobody else counts! You know what I mean? I mean just everybody thinks Kerry was right! (The author of this screed) just doesn't know anybody that's not for Kerry! For goodness sake!
The writer fails to mention that communist sympathizers like John Kerry and the media of that era were birds of a feather. Job #1 for them was to mislead the American public while trashing our Armed Forces. Sound familiar? It's deja vu all over again.
What you said!
Bump!
This is why they're shrill like the wicked witch of the west, they're seeing all their beautiful communist designs shrinking.
There can be no debate on Kerry's estimate of casualities if ths U.S.pulled out of Vietnam. Near the end of the 1971 debate between Kerry and John O'Neill on the Dick Cavett Show,Kerry predicted no more than 4,000 to 5,000 casualities if we left Vietnam. John O'Neill predicted a bloodbath. Kerry estimated only 2,000 to 3,000 deaths in front of the Fulbright Committee. I have recently seen estimates of 2.5 million deaths during that period. Kerry's estimate has to be the WORST prediction in the history of mankind! Wrong on Vietnam,wrong on the Contras,wrong on the Cold War,wrong on Kuwait,and wrong for not supporting our troops in the War on Terror. And yet Kerry kees saying "I can do it better....".
The writer left out the part that Kerry's testimony was a complete fabrication.
Re: Post #10. You took the words right out of my mouth. Agree 100%.
Heaven help the American people if they're stupid enough to let these people determine their destiny.
25 posted on 08/26/2004 5:17:31 AM PDT by NYCVirago [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
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NEWSFLASH: CSPAN will air in its Entirety John F'nn Kerry's testimony in April of 71 before congress at 8:00 tonight. Get the Popcorn ready, and make sure you have your DVD Burner ready to go!
Your #14. Spot on!
Kerry wants to bring us in line with the rest of the world. He does not want a strong U.S. He wants a socialist world and to do that he has to weaken our military as a force in the world. The man is dangerous beyond words.
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