Top GOPers in 'Major Effort' to Uncover Kerry's Naval Discharge

News Max ^ | Monday, Oct. 18, 2004 8:58 a.m. EDT | Steve Malzberg

[hosepipe]

[ Sorry to sound naive, but since sKerry had all of his "medals", wouldn't that automatically ensure an honorable discharge? ]

Actually 3 purple hearts was the majic number to make it possible for the "brass" to get this "Barney Fife" unfit for command idiot on plane back to U.S. in 3 months.. instead of a full tour which is one year..

[potlatch]

I read that Kerry's medals were reissued to him almost the day after he became a Senator!!

[Arizona Carolyn]

Let me know what you find.

[fire_eye]

Seems to me like it's a little late for an October surprise; moreover, if Ketchup Boy really did have Something Wrong with his military records, it would be more to our advantage to have exposed him as early as possible and then hammered his deficiencies home with the American public, than to have waited this long.

However, he is clearly hiding something. Consider the following:

(1)With all of the flap over his medals, his Vietnam service, etc. etc. - with all the accusations the SBVs are making, **IF** he had nothing to hide and **IF** his records would disprove the allegations, why would he not sign the Form 180 in order to clear his name? The mere fact that he refuses to sign it, when, if his record was impeccable, signing the form would literally *destroy* the SBVs claims, is proof with virtually 100% certainty that he is hiding something.

(2) The issujng of an honorable discharge is a routine procedure AFAIK. In other words, when you receive your discharge, you will by default receive an honorable discharge as a matter of course, unless there is something in your records to PREVENT it. Therefore, if he did not receive his discharge as a matter of course, the only possible conclusion (other than "A Bureaucratic Snafu" - and let us hear the details of that, please, if that's what he's claiming?) is that he was not eligible for an honorable discharge.

(3) Correspondingly, the fact (if it is in fact true) that a review board was convened to consider his discharge is (again, IIUC) conclusive proof that there was something in his record which precluded the routine issuing of an honorable discharge.

(4) The fact (again, if it is in fact true) that Presidential intervention was necessary for the discharge to be issued, is again at least arguably proof that there was something in his records which precluded the issuing of an honorable discharge. Otherwise, even if the delay in issuing it was due to bureaucratic problems, it should have been easily possible for him to have obtained it just by asking for it and being persistent. If he had to appeal to the President to "solve" the problem, the only logical conclusion is that the military was unwilling to issue it without a direct order from the Commander in Chief.

(5) And then there's the delay... Why the delay? What is *his* explanation for the delay? He's bound to claim that it was for some completely innocuous reason, of course... so what *does* he claim is the reason?

Again, it's probably to late for any exposure to have an impact, and since if the Republicans or the SBVs could have exposed it earlier it would have been to their advantage to do so, so one can only conclude that they don't have the sort of evidence which could be used to make an unambiguous case with the American people, in a simple enough fashion that even the dumbest Oprah-or-NFL-numbed TV droid could understand it.

But something *does* smell *very* rotten in Ketchup Boy's file...

[RightWingConspirator]

There is no need to have medals "reissued" if you have merely lost them. The entitlement to the medals continues even if you no longer possess them--unless your branch of service has revoked them through a dishonorable discharge. Even if sKerry had thrown his own medals over the WH fence (which he claims now were someone else's, not his) he could still get replacements as long as he was still entitled to them.

Perhaps maybe the reason why he has made such a big deal over "John Kerry, the war hero"--there is really some doubt in his mind that he really deserved them.

[shield]

BMP

[investigateworld]

It would be great to know if he drew VA schooling benefits while he was at law school. While he has a fancy lineage, the cookie jar was rather slim in Kerry household. One thing about those New England families, they don't get to be OLD money, by sharing it with any poseur that comes along. Another area to check is did he register his DD124 at the county hall of records. Also, if he ever applied for a home loan, business loan or whatever, attempting to use the VA program(s)would be nice to know. We all leave a paper trail.