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 want to know more about the rumor that Kerry was court-martialed and then finally re-applied for his discharge after Jimmy Carter's amnesty. That would go a long way toward explaining the gap from his end of active service until his seperation. And it would explain why Kerry continues to stonewall on releasing his records.
Brinkley wrote Kerry's book. Kerry's in deep...
Like that guy (Admiral B....?) that killed himself after being found with a V on His medals. Some guy on the radio was saying that EVERY instance of a silver star with a "V" on it is a fraud or mistake, etc. The "V" indicates valor - valor under fire. The silver star can only be won under fire, so the V is not necessary - and is not issued with the silver star. (That's what the guy said anyway - I'm not sure if he was the author of Stolen Valor or someother researcher.)
Admiral Jeremy Boorda. The ONLY man ever to go from enlisted sailor to Chief of Naval Operations. Quite a guy, from my understanding. I think he was overly-sensitive to the issue because of his background and the fact that he was NOT a CanoeU kinda guy. He had been told by Zumwalt that his "V" was legit, but if someone had contradicted that, his answer SHOULD have been to get a ruling by the board for the correction of Naval records. Then made his apology or whatever else he felt was necessary. Taking his life was far from the right choice in this matter, IF that was the primary reason for it.
Agreed. Keep pressing him on the matter. I would LOVE to see ALL his records.
Agreed. Keep pressing him on the matter. I would LOVE to see ALL his records.
WRT the "V" for the Silver Star, you heard correctly. The ONLY device which would be authorized for it would be a star in lieu of a second or subsequent award of the same medal. In other words, the government is so cheap that if you are put in for a second or more award of the Silver Star (or ANY award, including the Good Conduct medal or the Firewatch medal (National Defense Service Medal), you are only given the citation and a star to add to the ONE medal. In the case of the Air Medal, there were criteria established for its award and many Marines wer awarded twenty or thirty or more for missions flown against the enemy. In the case of my Marine helicopters, our crews would have jangled like some third world dictator if they had a medal awarded each time. In that case, numerals were used... 29 is one that comes to mind for someone I knew.
______________________________
Case in point and a product of the CINC Clinton Era: General Wesley Clark, Democratic Candidate for US President - 2004.
(The lights should all be on about now . .)
All my lights don't go on; I have a intermittent short. Clark '04? Soon? Is Wesley related to Ramsey?
Clinton was deep into the Pentagon - his operatives were (and still are) everywhere. He had carte blanch and "updating" Kerry's discharge papers (for that matter any or all of Kerry's records) were just a matter of a phone call.
Or it could be Hugh :o)
Occam's Razor dictates here that sKerry's moral character is the problem; too many documents for anything else to be afoot.
Would you believe Hebrew toast?
Warm up your Matzo crackers, sKerry's father was a Hungarian Jew, not a Frenchman. (see Barry Chamish's article in Jerusalem Post)
Is that a '52 Pontiac?
Here's a person whose credibility as a reliable presidential historian may be on the line, and it sounds like he's covering his reputation.
Can anyone blame him? Surely, he doesn't want to have been duped by a very clever lifetime politician.
Nope, 1951 Pontiac Eight Sedan Deluxe to be precise. I think the Swiftee sticker makes it the best thing rolling down down the road! I really do enjoy driving it, although the Hurricanes have seen it left in the garage a lot lately. Weekends are for cruisin'!
Ok, '51 and'52 differ little at the rear; it was the grille that set them apart some.
Nice rig though!
Stay safe !
Scott! How could you say such a thing about the greatest "woman" on earth! LOL
Hey, don't miss the newer stuff today/tonight posted about fake/forged docs. You were the one who showed how easy it is for a person who knows how to do it.
I loved your memo that mentioned Kerry in red lettering. I don't know how in the world to do what you did in recreating a phony doc, but kudos to you!
PS - you have probably already seen this; but if not: Kerry's middle initial stands for 'Forged.' LOL!
Thanks again for a good document shown how easily faked/forged it could be!
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