O'Neill kept repeating that Maher should read New Soldier and see all the atrocities that Kerry claimed to have seen -- and not just the hearsay from the Detroit meeting. O'Neill pionted out Kerry would not allow it to be reprinted because it was so damning. Despite all this, O'Neill's comments could not penetrate Maher's thick skull. Maher was not going to hear anything that might change his opinion. For example, O'Neill several times tried to tell the Christmas in Cambodia story and Maher cut him off.
Maher tried to get O'Neill to condemn the vets supporting Kerry for "lying for Kerry" but O'Neill would not. He said that many of the Kerry vets statements were supportive of Kerry but lacked key details that would be neede for a full corroboration. O'Neill also said Rassman may have thought shots were being fired from the banks because the sailors were firing at both banks from the several boats.
Maher also tried to get O'Neill to condemn President Bush for saying Kerry deserved his medals. O'Neill said that the President "was not there." Maher said "you got the right" or some such and the audience roared with luaghter. O'Neill was not affected. He went on. He said the President's views were based on what Kerry was saying and perhaps on official documents.
Maher tired to make a case for Kerry based on official documents for the medals. O'Neill pointed out that the Navy documents supporting Kerry were written by Kerry and, thus, reflect only his views. He noted that all the reports focused on Kerry's boat and not the boat that was blown upwards from the river by a land mine. He got in quite a few licks on this point and I think the audience was affected by his comments here.
Maher was visibly shaken when a few in the audience applauded for O'Neill at one point. "What, is this like golf now" he asked lamely? I should note that in the beginning the audience was cheering wildly Maher's put downs of Bush, the Swift Boat vets, et cetera, but toward the end Maher's snide statements were not getting applause.
Maher tried to get O'Neill to condemn Bush for traveling overseas and being in Vietnam as a young man, and for his failure to get to know "furriners." He asked O'Neill if he had learned anything about foreign cultures and how different they are from his years in Vietnam. This was the only softball question, but it was aimed at discrediting Bush.
O'Neill said that his experience in Vietnam lead him to appreciate Asians, especially Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese. He also said that Asians were pretty much like everyone else, contradicting Maher's theme. O'Neill also said he identified with the suffering of the Vietnamese under a Communist regime.
O'Neill said that 1.5 million Vietnamese died fleeing the oppressive regime. Maher was visibily uncomfortable with that. This segment completely destroyed Maher's efforts to make Bush look bad and gave O'Neill a chance to trump Maher.
Maher was trying to say that America should put Vietnam behind it, implying the U.S. was hung up over Vietnam more than the Vietnamese. O'Neill said the South Vietnamese were still suffering the effects of the war while America had largely put it all behind it.
Early on, O'Neill asked why O'Neill and the Swift Boat vets were doing this? Did they just have a grudge against Kerry. O'Neill said that he had to do because Kerry was unfit to command. Zing!
Quietly and persistently O'Neill gradually shut Maher completely down. Maher was really blustering at the end, lamely trying to shore of up his end of the discussion.
Thanks for the report!
Thank you very, very much for the detailed report! That's what one expects on these kinds of threads!
Thank you WashingtonSource. Great reporting!
That was a revealing moment, I thought.
Did you by chance see the rest of the show? Some very interesting stuff. Did you see the Chris Matthews seqment? He came completely out of the closet (as if the world didn't already know) and parotted the D party line word for word.
But the end was absolutely amazing, when he went into his, "I wanna see riots like there were during the D convention in the 60s" speach. His, "you can't be for peace unless you're willing to disturb it" drivel.
These folks are coming completely unhinged as it starts to do dawn on them that Kerry might not be a winner . . .
Thank you for that comprehensive description of the show and your impressions.
Ella, thought you'd be interested in post #82.
I should note that in the beginning the audience was cheering wildly Maher's put downs of Bush, the Swift Boat vets, et cetera, but toward the end Maher's snide statements were not getting applause.
This about says it all. The crowd became embarrassed by Maher.
Game - set - match.
Thanks so much for the detailed account!
Maher said "you got the right" or some such and the audience roared with laughter.
Keep it up, Lefties, keep it up. This argument that Bush was a coward for choosing the Guard will get you NOWHERE. Your guy tried to get a deferment to study in Paris! Then he too joined the GUARD, but instead of flying dangerous fighters, he chose the boats that were never supposed to go incountry. How was he supposed to know that they would be reassigned to the rivers of Nam? He never finished his service, either! He whipped out of Vietnam with three purple band-aids on his butt. Just keep it up that Bush's service shows cowardice. You can't win that one.
Thank you for posting such an outstanding recap of O'Neill's appearance on Maher's program.
Thanks for the detailed report for those of us who missed.
O'Neill's credibility power-trumps the sad TV wannabee who has been kicked from pillar to post as his lame shows go from failure to failure.
Maher needs to put O'Neill's latest conquest in his leftist pipe for a good smoke.
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Top 5 at a Glance 1. UNFIT FOR COMMAND, by John E. O'Neill and Jerome R. Corsi 2. AMERICAN SOLDIER, by Tommy Franks with Malcolm McConnell |
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Thanks for your excellent summary of the interview!
People especially need to be reminded of this aspect of Vietnam's history...
O'Neill said that 1.5 million Vietnamese died fleeing the oppressive regime. Maher was visibily uncomfortable with that.
As O'Neill predicted in 1971, and Kerry said "not likely to happen."
Thank you for your summary report. Good to see Maher uncomfortable with "his" reality. Maybe he'll pull a Dennis Miller one of these days.
God bless O'Neill and the Swift Boat veterans, and all of our veterans and military personnel, for that matter. But Hoffman, O'Neill, and the Swiftees sure are providing a valuable and effective, extraordinary service.
Thank-You for that summary.
