John Kerry's not very proud of this, even though he "supposedly" wrote it.
Posted on 05/26/2005 10:29:15 PM PDT by smoothsailing
Kerry finally signs on
Published May 27, 2005
Better late than never was our reaction to Joan Vennochi's Boston Globe column on Tuesday. More than 100 days after he promised to do so, Sen. John Kerry has signed the form authorizing the Defense Department to release his military records. Somewhere, John O'Neill and his fellow Swift Boat veterans are doubtless smiling.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Jan. 30, Mr. Kerry told host Tim Russert that he would sign form SF 180. Conveniently, he didn't say when. After a few weeks went by, conservative Web pundits jokingly began tracking the days since the senator's promise. The "clock" had reached 114 days before the Boston Globe confirmed that Mr. Kerry had actually signed the form on May 20. So, make it 110 days.
What the records will show remains to be seen. According to a Kerry spokesman, the form is currently in the hands of the Navy, where it will be processed before being passed to the National Personnel Records Center. Presumably, then, in the next couple months the public will have a better understanding of whether the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were a bunch of liars, as Mr. Kerry claims, or not.
Despite the political points to be gained, it's a question that will serve historians well. Many on the left have derided the Swift vets as mere political operatives who shamelessly vilified a presidential candidate's war record. The vets argue that Mr. Kerry's real Vietnam service was so contrary to what he had for years used to advance his public career that it disqualified him for the presidency.
Reasonable people can disagree on this, but fundamental questions about presidential politics were raised. Is it appropriate to question a candidate's service? How far should a candidate trumpet his..
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
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So I am now assuming we can all file FOIA to get the records and look over them?
He must have been able to scrub some data.
Why wait this long?
I thought he said he released all his records before the election. I guess I just must be getting confused.
Its been a week. Where's the documents???
Does signing the 180 mean the docs are ALL public info? Or did he just specify Which items can be released? Or does he get them all and then decide which to release?
Call me a cynic. I know all of the records, complete and unaltered, will soon be made available. And they will disprove all of the Swift Boat Vets allegations. Of course, then he will be asked why he didn't just release them during the election.
Yeah, all the records, completely answering all questions. I'd bet on it. (Is my sarcasm coming through?)
I'll believe it when I see it.
Kerry joins Albore (inventor of internet) as having discovered time travel.
File this next to 'Red-faced Bubba Clinton goes nuclear in deposition'.
Nothing will come of this.
Why?
Kerry would NEVER have signed the 180 if ANYTHING it revealed were the slightest bit embarrassing to him.
If there WAS damaging info, it's gone now, or he NEVER would have signed the 180.
Bank it.
thanks for the ping!
Somethings not right. If those records contain political suicide, which I think they do, they have either been scrubbed or he hasn't really signed.
It means he gets them.
"According to a Kerry spokesman, the form is currently in the hands of the Navy, where it will be processed before being passed to the National Personnel Records Center."
The fact is you do not submit the 180 to the Navy, you submit it to the NPRC. His staff can't get anything military correct. What does that tell you?
Fire up the SwiftVets site.
Disbelieving Ping!
John Kerry's not very proud of this, even though he "supposedly" wrote it.
So- he signed it, and then turned it into the wrong people. Who will then give it back to him, and he will throw his hands up and claim he did everything he can...
We'll have to see if he actually had the guts to release them "complete and unaltered, including military medical records," which is what the Swiftees asked in their letter to him dated May 4th, 2004. Just a little OVER A YEAR AGO!!!!
From: http://horse.he.net/~swiftpow/article.php?story=20040629220813790
"Specifically, we the undersigned formally request that you authorize the Department of the Navy to independently release your military records (through your execution of Standard Form 180), complete and unaltered, including your military medical records."
The NPRC sends them to him. He decides what to make public,IIRC.
I guess it frees up the ability for an FOIA request.That could be wrangled over for a long time depending on the beancounters involved.
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