Posted on 12/07/2007 8:39:54 AM PST by Interesting Times
FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- Last week former President Bill Clinton, John Kerry and various members of the media once again used "Swift boating" as a shorthand reference for misrepresenting a candidate's record. In "To Set the Record Straight: How Swift Boat Veterans, POWs and the New Media Defeated John Kerry," authors Scott Swett and Tim Ziegler counter that assertion in a heavily researched 400 page work that provides the first historical assessment of the 2004 presidential campaign.
"To Set the Record Straight" is the definitive account of the ad hoc political movement that dominated the 2004 presidential campaign. Based on hundreds of in-depth interviews with key participants and two years of meticulous research, the book tells the inside story of how a group of Vietnam vets and their supporters delivered the explosive truth about John Kerry's military service and pro-Hanoi activism to the American public, despite relentless efforts by old media gatekeepers to silence and discredit them.
Swett said, "John Kerry lost all the key debates in 2004 to the anti-Kerry veterans. Since then, he has tried to paper over his failure with sloganeering and empty promises of new evidence." He added, "The 2004 campaign was a watershed in American political history, marking the first time that online forums and blogs were able to have a real impact on the national conversation. These new media outlets made it impossible for the liberal press to hide or dismiss what the veterans had to say."
The foreword for the book was written by John E. O'Neill, the lead spokesman for the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth in 2004. One chapter that underscores the impact of the new media on the campaign has been made available online at "ToSetTheRecordStraight.com". "Rather's Ruin and the Rise of the Pajamahadeen" tells how ordinary citizens with computers exposed the phony documents "60 Minutes" used to attack George Bush's National Guard service, effectively ending Dan Rather's career at CBS News.
"To Set the Record Straight" also contains:
o Conclusive evidence that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth acted independently, and were not a creation of the Bush campaign as their opponents repeatedly claimed.
o Detailed analysis of the efforts by the old media to blunt the impact of the anti-Kerry veterans by distorting and misrepresenting their charges
o Previously unpublished information on the "war crimes" propaganda effort that Kerry led during the Vietnam War, including material showing how the antiwar movement worked with the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong.
o New eyewitness perspectives on Kerry's "No Man Left Behind" engagement from a Forward Air Control pilot and the mission's Special Forces commander.
o The powerful story of a former member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War who testified that Kerry personally pressured him to tell lies about military atrocities and war crimes at the group's 1971 "Winter Soldier" conference.
Doesn't matter. As Democrats have repeatedly taught us: "It's the seriousness of the charge that matters."
If Joe McCarthy had as much support back in 1956, he might have changed the course of history much more than he did anyway.
McCarthy was the object of a considerable amount of disinformation and misinformation, directed with malice aforethought. But his objective, to show that BOTH the Defense Department and the State Department were riddled with double agents and Soviet operatives, was scoring a lot of points and snaring a lot of the cockroaches.
Had enough of these DOD and State Department moles been caught in that net, the infrastructure for the protection and propagation of similar pro-Communist and anti-American tactics would not have been carried out in 1971.
But they weren’t, and the “anti-war” riots of the 1970’s were made possible. Which built the facade that protected John F. Kerry for years, until knocked down by the “Swift Boaters”.
Sounds like a great Christmas present, especially for friends and relatives who are veterans.
Leni
Great going, guys!
Leni
“Still fighting the Vietnam War.”
No! Fighting the same people and politics that caused it to be lost. You know, the Democrats.
Not really- there is no statute of limitations on treason.
Right. Treason during wartime is such a trifling thing. What was I thinking?
These new media outlets made it impossible for the liberal press to hide or dismiss what the veterans had to say."
It was during this time that I found FR and the SBV. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to send them some cash to help defeat the traitor.
Mr. Tonkin would have loved this book. ;*(
I don’t think it matters how much it’s challenged, it will be forced on the culture by way of those who control the language - just as “McCarthyism” was and will remain no matter what the truth is.
Cashing in ?
It’s most likely to pay for the legal fees from law suits that Kerry started to shut them up.
Right now it's only available here.
If they had that much control, Kerry would be President.
Difficult to do...
- 
You said — “The Swift Boaters DID set the record straight...this is just cashing in...”
I’m not entirely sure of that particular assessment of yours (haven’t read the book yet). I think this book will be useful from the standpoint of “legitimizing” the necessity of getting the information out (about the truth of the matter) instead of having it portrayed as simply some kind of dirty political trick and not based in fact. I believe this kind of analysis, after the fact — instead of simply “cashing in” will be a work to “legitimize” something like this, which was necessary to get the truth out (and not a political dirty trick).
I’ll read the book and see what I think of it, then...
Regards,
Star Traveler
Exactly.
The Swift Vets set the record straight about Kerry. We're setting the record straight about the Swift Vets.
To Senate President Richard Cheney, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Attorney Alberto R. Gonzales
We, the People of these United States, rightfully petition our national government to prosecute John Kerry for "giving aid and comfort to the enemy" and to disqualify him for national office.
Kerry has a long and well-documented history of providing "aid and comfort" to the enemy in time of war -- particularly in the case of North Vietnam, Nicaragua and Cuba. Kerry, by his own account of his actions and protests, violated the UCMJ, the Geneva Conventions and the U.S. Code while serving as a Navy officer. Kerry met, on two occasions, with North Vietnamese negotiators in 1970 and 1971, willingly placing himself in violation of Article three, Section three of the U.S. Constitution, which defines treason as "giving aid and comfort" to the enemy in time of warfare.
Thus, in accordance with the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3, which states, "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President ... having previously taken an oath ... to support the Constitution of the United States, [who has] engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof," We, the People of these United States, believe John F. Kerry is unfit for public office.
It is for this reason -- for his record of giving aid and comfort to the enemy while a member of the U.S. Armed Forces in violation of this oath -- that Senator Kerry should be prosecuted and disqualified for national office.
We understand that no action is likely to be taken on this petition until after the 02 November election. Be it known, however, that on 03 November, we will seek full recourse in an effort to have John Kerry prosecuted for acts of treason and disqualified from any future campaign for any national office. We are thus committed to holding Mr. Kerry accountable for his actions, as there is no statute of limitations for acts of treason.
NOTICE: This petition for indictment was delivered to Senate President Richard Cheney, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday, 18 October 2004. We are currently awaiting a reply from the Department of Justice. Click here to read the full text of the letter.
Signed,
The petition is still open here- http://patriotpetitions.us/kerry/
True. They didn’t have enough immediate control to alter the result of the election, but I think that they do have the ability to insert this catchphrase into the vocabulary of upcoming generations. And fact will be of no avail.
Hang him.
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