On the trail of Kerry's failed dream

The Boston Globe ^ | November 14, 2004 | Nina J. Easton, Michael Kranish, Patrick Healy, Glen Johnson, Anne E. Kornblut, and Brian Mooney

[Cincinatus' Wife]

On the afternoon of Aug. 9, John F. Kerry stood on the lip of the Grand Canyon, about to make one of the biggest mistakes of his three-year quest for the presidency. A stiff wind was blowing across the canyon, and Kerry, whose hearing was damaged by gun blasts in Vietnam, had trouble understanding some of the questions being thrown his way. But he pressed on, coughing from the pollen blowing on the breeze.

Would Kerry have voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, one reporter asked, even if he knew then that Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction? "Yes, I would have voted for the authority; I believe it's the right authority for a president to have," Kerry replied, as aides stood by, dumbfounded.

Kerry's answer ricocheted around the political world. Faced with the revelation that almost all the prewar arguments for invading Iraq were wrong -- the existence of weapons of mass destruction, close links to Al Qaeda -- President Bush had nonetheless insisted that he would do nothing differently. And he had been challenging Kerry to do the same, hoping to catch the Democrat changing his position on the unpopular war.

The senator explained to aides that part of the question had been lost in the wind; he thought he was answering a variation on the same basic query he'd been asked countless times: Was it right to give Bush the authority to go to war against Iraq? Kerry had simply given his standard "yes," with the proviso that he would have "done this very differently from the way President Bush has" -- yet the misunderstanding now muddied Kerry's message.

Worried advisers briefly considered issuing a clarification, but feared it might further feed Republican efforts to portray Kerry as a "flip-flopper."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Thanks for the LINK!

[GeronL]

Must be the 6 reporters who wrote a book about him or something... or are writing one..

[Cutterjohnmhb]

Aye, I know what you mean, they are just reinforcing (brainwashing) themselves that it wasn't Kerry that lost the election, surely THEIR candidate. Acts of God, freak of nature, the Internet,Iraq was a lie, dumb uninformed voters, those mean old church goers, and that "vision thing" what was it ?? Oh yeah, Morals.

[PGalt]

Journalistic fraud. Opinion stated as if it were fact. Journalist to be terminated, Editor sent back to retake Journalism 101.

Good catch.

The problem is...these word terrorists, these intellectual rapists will live to lie another day.

[huac]

"The first was John O'Neill, a Nixon White House ally who had famously debated Kerry over the Vietnam War on "The Dick Cavett Show" in 1971. The second was Roy Hoffmann, one of Kerry's former commanding officers..."

"Rear admiral Roy F. Hoffmann...The Admiral received the Purple Heart Medal for wounds he received during that enemy action...RADM Hoffmann was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for exceptionally meritorious service against the Viet Cong enemy, the Silver Star Medal and three Bronze Star Medals for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while Commander Task Force 115... RADM Hoffmann was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of the second Meritorious Service Medal... In addition to the personal decorations referred to about, RADM Hoffmann wears the Legion of Merit with gold star in lieu of second award, Navy Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation and Vietnamese Navy Distinguished Service Order Second Class Medal. His Campaign and Service medals are: American Campaign, China Service, Navy Occupation (Japan), World War II Victory, National Defense with one star, Korean Service with seven stars, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, United Nations, Vietnam Service with four stars, Vietnam Campaign, and Navy Expeditionary (Cuba)..."

"John O'Neill served as a Swift boat commander in Vietnam during 1969 and 1970...Mr. O'Neill was graduated from the United States Naval Academy with honors in 1967..."

http://www.swiftvets.com/staticpages/index.php?page=ONeill

[Cincinatus' Wife]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

***...."The campaign collectively underestimated the effect of the swift boats. It was a collective mistake," recalled Michael Whouley, a longtime Kerry operative. "I think the candidate was probably the most concerned about it. It pissed him off, people attacking his Vietnam service.".........An angry Kerry summoned longtime friend Thomas J. Vallely, a Bostonian and Silver Star recipient, and told him to "find me Billy Rood." William B. Rood had been present during the action that garnered Kerry the Silver Star the swift boat foes were now calling into question. Rood, an editor at the Chicago Tribune, had refused to speak publicly about the action. He took Kerry's call, though he didn't tell the senator what he planned to do.....***

[huac]

"the group (SVBT) ate barbecue and Tex-Mex"...sounds ominous... somehow sinister...

[Cincinatus' Wife]

LOL

Those uncouth Texans.

[konaice]

Quote from the Article: "The campaign collectively underestimated the effect of the swift boats. It was a collective mistake," recalled Michael Whouley, a longtime Kerry operative. "I think the candidate was probably the most concerned about it. It pissed him off, people attacking his Vietnam service."

---
I have never understood why he made such a big deal out of 4 months of service. Lots of guys put in 4 years, and even mud marines put in a whole year as the expected tour.

[huac]

"to the many veterans still enraged over his 1971 assertions that fellow soldiers participated in mutilations, gang rapes, and the burning of villages...confessed that his accusations had been "a little bit over the top.""

Descriptions of mutilations, gang rapes and burning villages (pretty much brigandige) is a little over the top. Okay. Yet, the frat hazings at Abu Gharib were "atrocities"? This Leftist mindset is confusing...

[TheSpottedOwl]

Mmmm, now that you mention it, ol' Teddy has been very quiet. The "journalists" responsible for this article are nothing more than Democratic Party hacks.

In a perfect world, the voters of MA would fire Kerry and Kennedy the next time they're up for reelection.

[paudio]

"The room was decorated with Parisian watercolors of ostriches and kittens..."

This is important... I don't know why, but it is...

Perhaps the authors wanted to show that even the Republicans love those Parisian arts...

[pt17]

Kerry's campaign could compared to his state's "Big Dig" in that it was essentially a con job, was very expensive, was mostly cosmetic with little real value, was built of poor materials, took on water at every opportunity and will continue to be a drain/stain on the state long after it's done.

[huac]

"He is also adept at keeping secrets..."

Refusal to sign the form 180 to clarify his record was many things: duplicitous, dishonest, craven, cowardly. "Adept" he was not...

[huac]

No, no, I fear that there is something far more sinister afoot. Perhaps it involves Rove and mind control...those Diebold voting machines...Parisian...Parisian is synonomous with French...Freemasons...chads...Ohio...Provisional...ballots....I'm...getting...dizzy

[swilhelm73]

Kerry's answer ricocheted around the political world. Faced with the revelation that almost all the prewar arguments for invading Iraq were wrong -- the existence of weapons of mass destruction, close links to Al Qaeda

WHAT WHAT WHAT???

There was a long list of reasons for invading Iraq, of which WMD and AQ ties were but but, as Bush argued from the get go.

Contrary to the Globe, we now know Iraq had closer ties with AQ then we believed when we invaded. No, Iraq almost certainly was not involved in 9/11, but that isn't the point...This whole distraction of there was no "collaborative relationship on 9/11" is bizaare.

And as for WMDs, we've foud a small number of them, but just as important as finding stockpiles, we've found that Hussein had maintained his WMD infrastructure and research programs. Why it matters, ultimately, if Hussein had stockpiles versus could have recreated his stockpiles in a few months is hard to fathom.

[Malleus Dei]

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen so many outright lies in one article in a long time.

[230FMJ]

"The campaign collectively underestimated the effect of the swift boats. It was a collective mistake,"

I sure am glad that the Kerry "Collective" won't be taking over the WH next January.