Posted on 08/30/2004 2:35:57 AM PDT by kattracks
Democratic strategists must be having night sweats. Coming out of the primaries they figured they'd picked a sure winner in Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. In a time of war, who better than a decorated war hero to unseat President George W. Bush?And so began one of the more bizarre chapters in modern U.S. political history, whereby a liberal, patrician, pacifist multimillionaire cast himself as the next best thing to screen hero John Rambo. Following his return from Vietnam, Mr. Kerry was a forceful and at times strident critic of the war. The new John Kerry made scant reference to that part of his résumé, preferring instead to pose next to aircraft carriers, surrounded by a phalanx of tough-talking war buddies who could attest to his icy competence and valour under fire.
So what happened? Though the presidential campaign is still in its infancy, one thing is certain: Mr. Kerry's warrior sheen has lost a good part of its lustre. A series of TV attack ads by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, funded by some of the same people who are backing Mr. Bush's re-election, has ignited a stormy debate about whether Mr. Kerry's medals were deserved. Thursday, yet another Naval veteran -- retired admiral William Schachte Jr. -- joined the Greek chorus of Kerry doubters. The first of Mr. Kerry's three Purple Hearts, Mr. Schachte was quoted as saying, resulted from a self-inflicted "knick," sustained while the young lieutenant was handling an M-79 grenade launcher.
Never mind that other veterans who served with Mr. Kerry and were on his boat on the day in question, Dec. 2, 1968, insist that Mr. Schachte wasn't even aboard. This account, and the vitriolic debate itself, appear to have done the impossible: raise politically damaging doubts about a man whose valour -- according to the Navy record and veterans who served alongside him -- is unimpeachable. Meanwhile, Mr. Bush, whose spotty Vietnam service is old news, skates above the fray, allowing that he disapproves of the attack ads without explicitly repudiating them.
The damage to the Kerry campaign appears significant. Last month, before the Swift Boat ads aired, a Los Angeles Times poll found that the two candidates were in a dead heat, at 42 per cent, in terms of who had "the honesty and integrity to serve as president." A new poll on the same question, taken between Aug. 21 and 24, found Mr. Bush's support at 46 per cent, Mr. Kerry's at 39 per cent.
Make no mistake: The campaign to smear Mr. Kerry's military credentials is reprehensible. That said, when casting about for someone to blame, he should look hard in the mirror. Mr. Kerry has played to his war record shamelessly for months, while tacitly embracing Bush-haters who've engaged in precisely the same kind of personal smear. Can there be any surprise that the Republican machine responded with a broadside? Mr. Kerry should have focused on the issues all along -- as he is now, belatedly, trying to do -- and let his war record speak for itself.
WRONG!
Its not a smear job when someone can't tell the truth about his past. And we're still waiting for John F*ckin' to release ALL his records.
I am sure this Canadian newspaper has helped raise millions for Kerry. too bad. hehehe
Where was this chorus when they questioned W's record? I hate the press!
What credentials? Every time Kerry is questioned, another detail in his story changes. The Swifties account has remained consistent. There's nothing reprehensible about asking a man who wants to become our next President to tell the truth.
Not reprehensible, just a waste of breath with D'craps.
I'll take the word of Rear Admiral Schachte (USN retired) over a couple of sailors who have been on the Kerry bandwagon, all expenses paid, for months. But hey, that's just me ...
Oh, for Pete's sake you liberal ninnies. John Kerry was one of the most photographed and filmed swifties in history - shouldn't at least some of that film contain footage of him getting sewed back up? Show him limping? Bandages? Stitches? Bruises? Embedded rice kernels? Anything?
brillient observation.
I emailed the editors and told them to have the author look up the word unimpeachable for it doesn't mean what they think it means.
Release your records mr kerry
Since when is the truth a smear??????????????
1. The campaign is hardly "in its infancy" as this journalist claims.
2. There is no evidence the "Republican machine" is behind the swift boat ads.
3. Kerry's own thin-skinned, quasi-hysterical reaction to the swift boat criticism belies his purported coolness under fire.
If Schachte was not on board, who was the qualified commander of the boat? sKerry had just arrived on assignment and was still learning his job, from what I understand...
.
I did a little background checking on Admiral Schachte. He is a former Judge Advocate General, (JAG) of the Navy. I doubt that he would be risking his reputation by making a claim, he was in charge of the boat when Kerry was nicked, that he couldn't support. I suspect we will be hearing more from him in the future. I think the Swift Vets could make a great ad with this story if they can convince the Admiral to take part.
Not everybody. Has anyone ever asked Kerry if Schachte was on the boat that night. There are plenty of folks who state that Kerry would never have been allowed to be OIC on his first mission. Schachte is the one who originated this tactic and went on everyone of the nine total mssions. Scharchte says there were only three people on a mission--two officers and one elisted. How could there be two enlisted folks that night?
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