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HUMAN EVENTS Man of the Year: John O'Neill
Human Events on-line ^ | December 23rd, 2004 | Sean Hannity

Posted on 12/22/2004 8:40:54 PM PST by ajolympian2004

When it comes to choosing leaders, integrity comes first--and no man showed more integrity in 2004 than John O'Neill, the 2004 HUMAN EVENTS Man of the Year.

He helped to teach us the truth about John Kerry and counter the lies Kerry spread about the image of the Vietnam veteran, whom Kerry maligned three decades ago when, as an anti-war agitator, he presented slanderous testimony in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Kerry wanted voters to see him as a war hero who stood by his "band of brothers." But John O'Neill and the Swift Boat veterans had a different view--of a John Kerry who had a questionable record in Vietnam and betrayed his fellow vets when he came home to falsely accuse them of routinely committing war crimes.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004review; bush; election; events; hannity; human; humanevents; johnoneil; kerry; manoftheyear; oneill; sean; swift; vets
Matter of Honor

For O'Neill and the scores of Swift Boat veterans who signed up with Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, it was a matter of honor not to let Kerry escape scrutiny. The Swiftees went public with their story in May 2004. Armed with solid evidence, they revealed that Kerry had exaggerated his Vietnam War record and lied about alleged atrocities committed by the American military. The liberal media mostly ignored the charges and the Swiftees. Undeterred, O'Neill took his message directly to the American people. He and Jerome Corsi co-authored the meticulously documented book Unfit for Command. Human Events Online released chapters just before the book's publication. And O'Neill and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth raised funds to buy time on cable TV to run ads to make their case.

After the book and the ads were launched, even some Republicans balked at defending them. They feared that the Swiftees' efforts would backfire on the GOP and the President. But O'Neill was not cowed.

I had the privilege of giving John O'Neill and the Swift Boat vets their first interview about Unfit for Command on our FOX News show "Hannity and Colmes." Unfit for Command bolted to No.1 on Amazon and then No.1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Instead of addressing the substance of the book, the Kerry camp tried to discredit O'Neill. Kerry's campaign demanded that Regnery, the book's publisher (and a sister company of HUMAN EVENTS), pull the book off the shelves (something no one ever heard President Bush demand about the avalanche of liberal books attacking him). Television stations that aired the Swiftees' ads were threatened with lawsuits. O'Neill, who had voted for Al Gore in 2000, was accused of being a long-standing Republican stooge, part of the "vast right-wing conspiracy."

O'Neill was undaunted. The truth was on his side and he never stinted from speaking it. While O'Neill routinely placed himself in the line of media fire, Kerry refused to give interviews on the subject, preferring instead for the liberal press to attack O'Neill on his behalf.

And attack they did.

On CNN's Crossfire, host James Carville shouted at O'Neill and then refused to listen to O'Neill's calm and measured responses. O'Neill knew why: "You shouted me down because you don't want to hear the answer. You can't survive the answers."

On MSNBC's "Scarborough Country," political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell repeatedly interrupted O'Neill to call him a "liar." O'Neill remained calm and stuck to the facts.

The abuse kept coming. On PBS's NewsHour, Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant declared that O'Neill did not meet the standard of clear and convincing evidence. "Almost conclusive doesn't cut it in the world's parts of journalism where I live," sniffed Oliphant. In fact, John O'Neill had interviewed some 60 people, compiled more than a dozen affidavits, and assembled a body of facts that put the Kerry campaign on the defensive, no matter how much the media tried to shield Kerry and fight on his behalf.

In the end, no amount of liberal propaganda could negate the plain facts assembled by O'Neill. All the slights, tantrums and tirades of the liberal media couldn't besmirch O'Neill's integrity. His efforts helped turn the tide of the presidential election.

For O'Neill, just as important was defending the honor of his fellow veterans. "For more than 30 years, most Vietnam veterans kept silent as we were maligned as misfits, drug addicts, and baby killers. Now that a key creator of that poisonous image is seeking the presidency we have resolved to end our silence," wrote the Swift Boat Vets on their website. The veterans finally won.

John O'Neill's life, in its quiet dignity, is far more representative of Vietnam veterans than Kerry's riches-to-power story. It is O'Neill--not Kerry and the anti-Vietnam War protesters--who speaks for the lives of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who came home from Vietnam, having served their country honorably.

Honorable and Just

Lost in all the liberal media's vitriol is that O'Neill himself earned two bronze stars for his service in Vietnam. But unlike Kerry, he quietly put those medals away upon his return from Vietnam and enrolled in law school at the University of Texas. He graduated first in his class, clerked for then-Associate Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, and went into private practice in Houston, where he's been ever since.

John O'Neill raised a family and, earlier this year, donated a kidney to his wife. He made no money from the sale of Unfit for Command. He donated all his royalties to the Navy and Marine Relief Fund, which provides financial and material assistance to Navy and Marine families in need. O'Neill believes that the Vietnam War was honorable and just, and while America lost the battle in South Vietnam in which he took part, he's proud of America's triumph in the greater war against communism.

He risked his life for the cause of freedom in Vietnam, and back home he risked all he had built in a 30-year career to advance the cause of truth. For this, he truly deserves to be HUMAN EVENTS 2004 Man of the Year.

Mr. Hannity, host of a nationally syndicated radio show and co-host of Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes," is the author of Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism.

1 posted on 12/22/2004 8:40:54 PM PST by ajolympian2004
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To: ajolympian2004

Thanks for the post. John O'Neill is a hero.


2 posted on 12/22/2004 8:42:57 PM PST by My2Cents (To those inclined to receive it, "Merry Christmas!" To those NOT so inclined, "Bah Humbug!")
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To: ajolympian2004

Well done.


3 posted on 12/22/2004 8:43:53 PM PST by 506trooper (There is no such thing as too much ammo or fuel on board.........unless you're on fire)
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To: ajolympian2004

Excellent.


4 posted on 12/22/2004 8:43:59 PM PST by DoughtyOne (US socialist liberalism would be dead without the help of politicians who claim to be conservat)
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To: ajolympian2004

BTW, kudos to Human Events!


5 posted on 12/22/2004 8:44:24 PM PST by DoughtyOne (US socialist liberalism would be dead without the help of politicians who claim to be conservat)
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To: ajolympian2004
I will forever be grateful to the Swiftvets and thankful they will be there again if we ever need them. I plan on keeping some hot money stashed away just in case the need it.
6 posted on 12/22/2004 8:44:55 PM PST by TheForceOfOne
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To: ajolympian2004

7 posted on 12/22/2004 8:45:41 PM PST by agitator (...And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark)
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To: ajolympian2004

8 posted on 12/22/2004 8:45:45 PM PST by ORECON (Condi Rice/Ann Coulter - 2008)
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To: ajolympian2004

Here here.

John O'Neill.

What he didn't accomplish in 1971, he did 33 years later.

Never give up. Never.


9 posted on 12/22/2004 8:50:52 PM PST by angkor
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To: ajolympian2004
Did anyone read this in their local newspaper? Or the New York Times? Or hear it on CBS?

If not, why?

Lost in all the liberal media's vitriol is that O'Neill himself earned two bronze stars for his service in Vietnam. But unlike Kerry, he quietly put those medals away upon his return from Vietnam and enrolled in law school at the University of Texas. He graduated first in his class, clerked for then-Associate Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, and went into private practice in Houston, where he's been ever since. John O'Neill raised a family and, earlier this year, donated a kidney to his wife. He made no money from the sale of Unfit for Command. He donated all his royalties to the Navy and Marine Relief Fund, which provides financial and material assistance to Navy and Marine families in need.

10 posted on 12/22/2004 8:53:40 PM PST by GOPJ (M.Dowd...hits..like a bucket of vomit with Body Shop potpourri sprinked across the surface--Goldberg)
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To: ORECON; everyone

Most excellent picture!

Hooray for Mr. O'Neill, a very brave and determined man!


11 posted on 12/22/2004 8:59:15 PM PST by Theresawithanh (Snappy, witty, humerous tagline needed! Will pay in Marlboro Miles...)
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To: ajolympian2004
STANDING OVATION!!!!!!!!
12 posted on 12/22/2004 10:07:28 PM PST by MarineBrat (The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools!)
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To: agitator
ROFL!!!


13 posted on 12/22/2004 10:08:32 PM PST by MarineBrat (The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools!)
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To: ajolympian2004

Woohoo for John The Man O'Neill ... and those who served with him before, and stood with him "now" to deny John Scary Kerry the presidency.

Well done.


14 posted on 12/22/2004 11:30:33 PM PST by GretchenM (Was Santa Claus' inventor an entitlement-driven liberal?)
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To: GretchenM

Definfitely 'Man of the Year,' if not 'Man of 4 Decades.' as O'Neill has been fighting Kerry since 1971. It was a long fight, but O'Neill won the war! What a true veteran hero. I was proud to buy his book. It was the least I could do.


15 posted on 12/22/2004 11:35:44 PM PST by bummerdude
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To: ajolympian2004

RIGHT ON !!!!


16 posted on 12/23/2004 12:22:45 AM PST by Deetes
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To: agitator

lol


17 posted on 12/23/2004 12:35:17 AM PST by miltonim (Fight those who do not believe in Allah. - Koran, Surah IX: 29)
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To: ajolympian2004

BTT


18 posted on 12/23/2004 8:36:55 AM PST by ORECON (Condi Rice/Ann Coulter - 2008)
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bttt


19 posted on 12/23/2004 7:05:26 PM PST by Coleus (Keep Christ in Christmas, Christmas is part of our Western Civilization and is a US Holiday for ALL)
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To: agitator; ORECON; MarineBrat; GretchenM
ROFL....... I'll never forget that encounter! That and Zell Miller with Spittin' Matthews (The duel) were the TV highlights of the year.

NOW, if only the darling Michelle Malkin would shove a pie into Spitball Chris Matthews' face on MSNBC, that would be PERFECT!

20 posted on 12/30/2004 9:19:36 PM PST by beyond the sea (A man who says he can see through women is missing a lot.)
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