Posted on 09/05/2004 10:29:40 AM PDT by areafiftyone
Sen. John Kerry's campaign biographer Douglas Brinkley said Sunday that if an ongoing Navy investigation into Kerry's military decorations turns up evidence of "purposeful" deception, it could spell doom for the top Democrat's White House bid.
Praising reporter Thomas Lipscomb, who broke news of the Navy investigation on Friday, Brinkley told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg, "Journalists are going to have to see whether there's a discrepancy on [the citations posted to Kerry's] web site - whether there's something wrong that's said there or not."
"If so," said the "Tour of Duty" author, "Kerry would have to fix it immediately - and it does raise some questions as to why that would happen."
"Is it sloppiness, is it purposeful intent, is there an easy explanation for it?" Brinkley wondered.
He said that while questions raised by the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth about Kerry's war record have been very damaging, "so far they haven't been lethal." But Brinkley predicted that a discrepancy with Kerry's medals could seriously escalate his political problems.
Asked if inconsistencies uncovered by the Navy probe could be the "death knell" for Kerry's campaign, Brinkley told Malzberg, "It could."
In the next breath he hastened to add, however, "Right now it's unclear. So we have to just wait to see what all this adds up to."
The presidential historian called on Kerry to authorize the release of his full military file, saying, "Clearly some of these military records should be made available to the press."
I was listening to the interview on the radio this morning. Brinkley sure has changed his tune. He knows it's coming. The fact that the Navy is even investigating it speaks volumes.
I haven't seen a clear expression of this, other than: Kerry saying, on Meet the Press, that he personally burned down villages and killed livestock; hints by his peers that he was extremely "gung ho"; and at least one news report that his peers pushed him out.
I think about the gravity of the circumstance, and having a person who is self-serving to the degree that he puts others at risk, and either by laziness or deliberate action, inflicts damage on innocent civilians and their property. I would not be adverse to letting this sort of loose cannon obtain false awards, if the false awards got him out of the theater.
Lesser of two evils and all that.
bttt
Hmmm...very interesting...and you call my statements foolish. You aren't well trained in logic, are you?
No way are mainstream Americans going to trust Hillary with their national security.
Let's hope Lehman has been very smart in this. Before announcing publicly that he did not remember signing the Silver Star citation, he should have at least checked that it was not done by auto pen.
The Silver Star is a high enough decoration that one would think there are backup means of verifying the veracity of such awards.
If any of our fellow Freepers have knowledge of procedures for awarding high level medals such as the Silver Star, please post!
I suspect that sKerry is busy on the phone right now, trying to buy some friends in the Navy - he probably needs to fire up the shredders.
Hillary comes on her white horse...
Secret Service agents better keep Hitlery out of the room as he recovers. Can you imagine Hitlery wearing old crusty (looking like a black widow spider)"pulling the plug" - so she could be the "Widow Clinton" gaining massive public sympathy for her presidential run!
haha! Thanks. :^)
EXCELLENT!!!
The Lautenburg-Torcherelli maneuver.
Nice that Brinkley has sufficient integrity to say this much!
Verrrrrrrry interesting!
Lord, God, please cause the Navy investigation to go forward in all seriousness and integrity and to be widely publicized.
Even Brinkley is asking Kerry to release his records?
WITH BILL IN THE HOSPITAL, HILLARY WILL NOT JOIN THE TICKET.
Secret Service agents better keep Hitlery out of the room as he recovers. Can you imagine Hitlery wearing old crusty (looking like a black widow spider)"pulling the plug" - so she could be the "Widow Clinton" gaining massive public sympathy for her presidential run!
As Bush's chances increase, so too will donations from businesses whose managers may even loathe Bush. Cynical reality, but there it is.
YOU'RE A WHORE, BRINKLEY. A WHORE. ENJOY THE MONEY.
I doubt it. All the positive records are out already. Everything held back is neutral or negative to Kerry's case.
The sheer number of Swiftees, and the fact that their story is consistent (even consistent with so-called detractors, Rood and Lambert) while Kerry's has been inconsistent, is further evidence that opening the official records is good for truth, and bad for Kerry.
Already the defensive line is "the military doesn't eroneously hand out records, and if it hands out one in error, all of them are in error" has been played. I expect it will keep being played. But it is a smokescreen to the fact that SOME military awards are erroneously granted.
Well Oliphant just loves this guy. he wrote glowingly of Oliphant and skerry's trek to the 71 Senate Hearings where skerry defamed his fellow soldiers and POW's.
I pray you are right.
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