Posted on 08/29/2004 3:21:17 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
The answers to all the questions raised by critics of John Kerry could probably be answered by the large archive of documents he keeps in his home.
Douglas Brinkley, the 43-year-old author who wrote "Tour of Duty," the biographical account of Kerry's time in Vietnam, described it this way: "I'm talking a massive archive. I had to sit in his house, with this woman watching me, and go through the collection 12-page letters, notebooks, journals. I made three different trips, and stayed there for days."
Brinkley is the only one who's been allowed to handle this extensive resource. Indeed, the Kerry campaign has refused to release his personal Vietnam archive, including his journals and letters, to other journalists, saying the candidate is contractually bound to give Brinkley exclusive access.
But Brinkley disputed this to the Washington Post yesterday, saying the papers belong to Kerry and are under his full control.
"I don't mind if John Kerry shows anybody anything," he said. "If he wants to let anybody in, that's his business. Go bug John Kerry, and leave me alone," Brinkley said.
His exclusivity agreement with Kerry, he explained, is limited only to the requirement that anyone quoting the material must also cite Brinkley's book.
The Kerry campaign also claims that it has released all of the candidate's military records, but the Washington Post has reported it was able to obtain only six of "at least a hundred pages" under its Freedom of Information Act Request.
Now, even those records that have been released are being challenged. Former Navy Secretary John Lehman says he has no idea where the citation in support of Kerry's Silver Star, appearing on the Democrat's campaign Web site and under his signature, came from.
"It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," said Lehman. He suggested his signature had been placed on the document by an autopen.
Ironically, in November 2000, on the eve of the presidential election, it was George Bush's turn to have his character questioned because of his military service during the Vietnam war. Then, as in 2004, Bush was accused of having avoided overseas duty by joining the Texas Air National Guard. And then, as now, the missing records that would have documented his service provided fodder for the political charges against him. "No documents have been found to show he reported for duty as ordered in Alabama in 1972," reported Associated Press.
Leading the charge was Senator John Kerry, "wounded in Vietnam." On the weekend before Election Day, Kerry told a crowd of Gore supporters, "Those of us who were in the military wonder how it is that someone who is supposedly serving on active duty, having taken that oath, can miss a whole year of service without even explaining where it went." Now, Kerry is the one with gaps being pointed to by critics.
Kerry, if he chose, could instruct the Pentagon to open his full military personnel file by signing Form 180. And, as Brinkley has stated, there is no constraint on sharing his personal papers with other journalists.
Thanks.
This is fun!
Sign the form 180, John-Boy.
Brinkley...the HACK HISTORIAN.
Their Cambodia allegation was proven correct - Kerry's campaign retracted his decades old story. Their 1st PH allegation was proven correct-Kerry's campaign now admits that is was self-inflicted. I just don't get it.
Who is the minder???
I heard that Kerry's taking another "rest" before his speech at the American Legion.
This guy takes more vacations.
Sometime back, didn't someone find an article which spoke of a time when kerry was on vacation someone sneaked into the house, where he kept these records and took from the file only documents relating to his Vietnam era, which may have caused him trouble in the future? It was mentioned that whoever took those documents know exactly what they pertained to and where to find them in the file. It seemed strange to me, and as time passes, seems stranger and stranger.
Howdy All. Late here today. I listened to the talking prima dona presstitutes talk about the convention. I also saw ole broadbeam on wolfie's show and tell. I think he gave her the questions before her appearance, cause she wasl slick as a whistle. I think she graciously appeared on georgie porgie's program too. Both times she was slick.
Gads I can't stand that woman...She reminds me of screeching banchees.
Nita I'm envying you today. I know, right now, you are having a great time with IG.
I've been reading and bookmarking a bunch of kerry articles. It's amazing to me, that so many same almost the same things about him. I'll have to print them out for Roomey, cause he won't come within 5 feet of my computer.
Kerry must have been afraid that Brinkley was another Sandy Bergler.
I can't give you those citations, but I can give you some background: Someone noticed that Brinkleys book had an excerpt from Kerry's diaries, where he noted that he hadn't yet been under fire, and that Americans who were in a war and hadn't gotten shot at yet are allowed to be cocky. The date on those comments was 9 days after the first Purple Heart. Kerry's spokesman had to concede that the first Purple Heart may not have been the result of eneny fire.
there were some additional comments made as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.