SwiftVets.com

[cjg]

The Rocky Mountain News... by Dave Kopel, (the good Kopel)

American Thinker.com Thomas lifson with regard to the impact this will have on MSM.

Christopher Hitchens NYT..... a different look at the issue and he is not
Impressed with Kerry. Can also be found
on Lucianne.com

Mark Steyn, incredible as usual, can also be found on Lucianne.com

Kanas City News Scott Canon.. Good column
today on Kerry and the Swiftvets.

Blogs to follow: Roger L. Simon.com Polipundit.com Instapundit.com
Crushkerry.com Captains Quarters.com

These blogs with Hugh Hewitt have really put out
the news about the book. Hugh has had them on
his show as well. He is a trooper! HughHewitt.com

And for laughs, very funny...MoveonPlease.com .....and also fun to read
The Iconoclast.ca it is really wired, but a laugh is a
laugh!

To me it is incredbile to think how quickly American is following this
campaign for truth with no news from the MSM. Way to Go!!
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Swiftvets rock!

[GenrXr]

Can you Post the Hitchens article. I avoid the NYT like the plague many other communist rags I get my enemies info from.
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"An activist is the person who cleans up the water, not the one claiming its dirty."
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Founder of Conservative Philosophy

[Scott]

cjg,

Could you please post links to the articles you reference?
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Bye bye, Boston Straggler!

[cjg]

Taking the Measure of John Kerry
By CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

Published: August 15, 2004


o begin with a small question that I trust is not a trivial or a petty one: how often have you met a self-described Kerry supporter? During the truncated and front-loaded Democratic primaries, it was relatively easy to encounter Dean enthusiasts, Gephardt union activists, Clark fans, Edwards converts, Kucinich militants and even dedicated Sharptonians. (My circle wasn't wide enough to encompass any Braun campaigners.) But a person who got up every morning and counted the day wasted if he or she hadn't made a Kerry convert? I've asked this question on radio and on television, and on campus and in the other places where people sing, and I've heard only a slight shuffling of Democratic feet. Just as the junior senator from Massachusetts used to say, for arcane fund-raising purposes, that he was only the ''presumptive'' nominee, so he was earlier the ''presumptive'' or last-resort choice once all the passion and spontaneity had been threshed out by the party machine. The name Kerry is thus another tired synonym for ABB, or ''Anybody but Bush.'' Shall we ''take America back'' this November? In such a case, we would be taking it back to a fairly familiar version of Democratic consensualism.

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Yet these books make it plain that Kerry is not a taller version of Mondale or Dukakis. This year's Democratic aspirant has a fascinating family history, extending not just to the earliest years of the ancestors of the Republic but to the yearnings of those later Europeans who sought refuge on this continent. (He must be the only Catholic Jew with Mayflower-Winthrop roots to have sought the highest office.)

By being a brave warrior and a prominent antiwarrior, Kerry was profoundly involved in the two largest claims to participation in a ''noble cause'' that the last half-century has offered Americans. He has succeeded in getting two very striking and independent women to marry him, the second of whom, though she sometimes resembles a large-print version of Bianca Jagger, is nonetheless living proof that ketchup is not a vegetable. His service in the Senate, while not describable as stellar, has featured some important moments of gravity and responsibility. He might wince from the compliment, but he deserves to be called un homme serieux.

Why, then, the penumbra of doubt that surrounds him? (Doubt on his own part, I mean, not just doubt by others.) The answer is not complex. One of these books, ''John F. Kerry,'' by a Boston Globe team, makes reference to the song ''Give Peace a Chance,'' as sung by John Lennon in Kerry's presence in far-off days. The second, ''The Candidate,'' by the journalist Paul Alexander, has a verse from Bruce Springsteen's ''No Surrender'' as its epigraph, speaking of ''blood brothers in a stormy night'' and refusing the idea of any retreat. (This stirring song, indeed, was played at top volume by the party managers in Boston to herald Kerry's acceptance speech at the Democratic convention.) The third, ''A Call to Service,'' by Kerry himself, merits Mark Twain's comment on the Book of Mormon -- ''chloroform in print.'' It has no music at all. But if it were to draw its title from any popular song, it would have to bow toward Joni Mitchell and announce itself as ''Both Sides Now.''

If Kerry is dogged and haunted by the accusation of wanting everything twice over, he has come by the charge honestly. In Vietnam, he was either a member of a ''band of brothers'' or of a gang of war criminals, and has testified with great emotion to both convictions. In the Senate, he has either voted for armament and vigilance or he has not, and either regrets his antiwar vote on the Kuwait war, or his initial pro-war stance on the Iraq war, or his negative vote on the financing of the latter, or has not. The Boston Globe writers capture a moment of sheer, abject incoherence, at a Democratic candidates' debate in Baltimore last September:

''If we hadn't voted the way we voted, we would not have been able to have a chance of going to the United Nations and stopping the president, in effect, who already had the votes and who was obviously asking serious questions about whether or not the Congress was going to be there to enforce the effort to create a threat.''

And all smart people know how to laugh at President Bush for having problems with articulation.

No problem, I do not know how to post links well, but will phone my
computer expert son and find out in the morning.

I agree with the NYT and not wanting to go there, but Lucianne.com
always puts up any good ones from there as with Safire when he is
in a good mood, and David Brooks who is supposed to be a republican,
but do not see any mention of the Swiftvets from them yet..
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Swiftvets rock!

[cjg]

Scott, I will know how to post links by noon tomorrow and will do so!
Time I learned as my son will tell me, as he usually does!
Carole
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Swiftvets rock!

[cjg]

A Tour of Duty or a Ton of Dooky?
Doug Giles (archive)


August 14, 2004 | Print | Send


It seems the Swift Boat Vets have delivered a swift kick to Kerry’s crotch. Ouch! That’s gotta hurt. What’s ironic -- and typical -- is the Left’s hysterically hypocritical spin machine screaming for the Swifties’ 411 to be immediately Dixie Chicked. The self- righteous, first amendment waving, Michael Moron embracers are not so free with freedom of speech when it happens to slow roast their presidential nominee a mere 80 or so days before the nation schleps to the polls.

What’s funny, [not funny, “ha-ha” … funny “weird”] is as long as the information comes from one uberliberal, overweight, college dropout with a communist bent, who routinely attempts to make “W” look like a greedy gnome who wrongfully plays golf while he unrepentantly sends our kids to the Gulf, well … that’s cool. Spreading such misinformation, created from the ether by one of the left’s darlings should not, according to most liberals, be examined. No! It should be believed and be considered inerrant and infallible, and the purveyor of such rank propaganda lifted high as a prophet.

But flip to today. More than 60 decorated, non-politically active, eyewitnesses of Kerry’s four month stint in Vietnam -- men who ate, slept, and served a few feet from the Dems’ presidential applicant – have written a heavily documented, devastating tell all, Unfit for Command, credibly contradicting Kerry’s account of his fleeting 120 days in ‘Nam. They represent more than 250 Swift Boat veterans, including Kerry’s commanding officer! So, what’s the response from all the usual political and media suspects? What the heck do they know? Why should they be trusted? Dismiss ‘em; censure ‘em … and if they keep trying to talk, just shout them down.

If Unfit for Command is true, then the half-inflated raft on which Kerry’s campaign is currently floating, i.e., his allegedly heroic four months in ‘Nam is sunk. [Four months? I took woodworking shop for four months 29 years ago, but that sure doesn’t mean I’m fit to take Bob Vila’s job.]

It’s Kerry who volleyed his Vietnam record into the court of public scrutiny. I guess he didn’t figure that 254 guys who served with and around him would return service back to his court with a violently contradictory top spin. And now it is up to Kerry, not Lanny Davis, not Jeh Johnson and certainly not James Carville to field the multitudinous charges.

The right and proper action for John Kerry is to answer the heavily documented allegations. If it turns out that he can’t or won’t, then he needs to be held in contempt or suspicion, and the Democrats need to turn to some non-Pinocchio pundit without amnesia and high grade narcissism. That is, if liberals are intellectually honest and don’t want still another prevaricator in the Oval Office to embarrass them at every turn.

Come on, Senator Kerry: come clean. Answer the accusations. Provide whatever paperwork you need to nail the coffin shut on the allegedly fallacious claims of the Swifties who have been brave enough to stand and be counted. And if you did lie to us, then tell us. We’re big boys.

You just might stun us into forgiving you and voting for you, because the public hasn’t seen a truth dealing Democrat presidential hopeful in ages; one who, when caught red-handed lying about his past or humping an intern, actually admits it and repents. Just tell us your ego got in the way… you trumped your ‘Nam service because your Senate record and your days spent carrying Mike Dukakis’ briefcase are sorta … well, lackluster.

Look, even if you don’t get elected, if you lied and now confess it, at least you’ll sleep better at night and something really rewarding will happen. Allergan© will hire you to be one of their Botox spokes models. Or maybe you’ll get an offer to get into celebrity boxing. I’m thinkin’ a John Kerry vs. Janet Reno match could prove a lucrative contest. I know it would blow away, ratings wise, last Thursday’s Joey Buttafuoco vs. Joanie Laurer bout.

Here’s the flip side of the suspicious Kerry Tour of Duty coin: if these Swifties have lied and maliciously slandered and publicly defamed Senator Kerry, then their group picture needs to be put next to the definition of creepy in the updated 2005 version of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. And not only that: they should be punished somehow for their libelous claims, like having to be Teresa [Tah- ray- za] Heinz Kerry’s butler, or bath drawer, or pool boy or masseur.

George Bush was forced to come forward with the truth about his drinking history and National Guard records, and his pre 9/11 intelligence or lack thereof. What’s the problem with John Kerry having to come forward and answer this book’s detailed allegations and provide the necessary documents, like who witnessed his acts of heroism and who treated his wounds?

My ClashPoint is this, Senator: President Bush was flambéed for his honorable Texas National Guard record, and grilled by the 9/11 Commission. So, don’t think it’s too much for you to answer, now, the accusations leveled at you by your fellow Swifties. Unfit for Command calls you, John Forbes Kerry, a liar and phony and your Vietnam claims a scam. That’s tough language. Since you’ve built much of your political platform on what the Swifties are calling shifting sands, you’ve got to answer their charges.

This book didn’t come from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Ann Coulter but rather from eyewitnesses, respectable naval officers and enlisted men calling you, Senator, on the carpet for your combat claims. I know we can’t answer all our detractors’ critiques but this isn’t a simple “Kerry Sucks” 900 word op-ed written by some axe-flailing fame seeker. This is 256 pages of heavily footnoted analysis that has been well-written, meticulously researched and reeks of sincerity.

So, allay our concerns, Mr. Kerry. Weigh in and show us the Swift Boat Veterans are wrong. Prove to us that your Tour of Duty was not a ton of dooky.



©2004 Doug Giles

Contact Doug Giles | Read Giles's biography


Doug Giles's latest book!
Ruling in Babylon
Young people do want to change the world-but they're confused as to where to begin


This is from Townhall.com one of the most respected sites for
republicans on the net. This fellow is just a little angry, don't you think?
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Swiftvets rock!

[cjg]

War stories
Neal Boortz (archive)

Neal is someone who pulls no punches about anything and he has
been speaking about the Swiftvets on his website for a few days.

boortz.com Called Nealznews



The mask is off. Further denials are useless. After the events of the past seven days the ingrained leftist, pro-Democratic Party bias of the nation’s mainstream media has been fully exposed. All it took was for a certain Vietnam veteran to write a book daring to question the war hero status of Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry. Media lips are now drawn into a permanent snarl; the knives are out and the scent of blood is in the air. Circle the wagons and may the effort to protect the Democratic candidate proceed.

To make this scenario as clear as possible, I ask you to remember one basic difference between George Bush and John Kerry. George Bush is not running on his record of military service during the Vietnam War. John Kerry is. John Kerry is not running on the basis of his recent service as an elected official. George Bush is.

Now … turn back the calendar to earlier this year. George Bush was asking the voters of this country to reelect him on the basis of his previous four years as president and commander in chief. Suddenly Democratic detractors come forward with questions about Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard over 30 years ago. Democratic sycophants were using words like “AWOL” and demanding investigations. Blood had been thrown in the water with the media sharks and the White House press briefings immediately turned ugly. Reporters wanted details – all of the details – of Bush’s National Guard service. They wanted pay records, dental records, medical records, flight records and statements from fellow guardsmen confirming Bush’s participation. The AWOL word had been used and it was George Bush’s job to provide all of the information necessary to prove that it wasn’t so.

If you think back I’ll wager you can’t remember one single story from any of the alphabets (ABC, NBC, etc.) questioning the motives or the honesty of the people who brought the AWOL charges. Their motives were assumed to be worthy and pure. It was the president on the spot, not the detractors.

Now … let’s turn the calendar pages to early August, 2004. A group of Vietnam veterans step forward with some questions and charges about John Kerry’s record of service in Vietnam, the very record that John has presented to the American people as the sole and exclusive reason (save for their hatred of George Bush) that he should be the 44th President of the United States. If the media’s treatment of the George Bush AWOL charges were a guide, we would expect to see an immediate feeding frenzy from the mainstream media. Demands would be made of the Kerry campaign that records, documents and any and all other available evidence be presented to prove Kerry’s claims of heroism.

The Kerry campaign would be handling multiple demands from The New York Times, the Boston Globe, ABC, NBC and the rest of the locusts for all of the medical records pertaining to Kerry’s second and third Purple Hearts. Apologies would be demanded of the Democratic and Kerry lawyers who referred to Dr. Louis Letson, the physician who applied the band aid to Kerry’s first Purple Heart wound as a “phony” physician. Maureen Dowd would be opining about obscene Republican operatives daring to question the medical credentials of a man who undoubtedly had saved far more lives in Vietnam than John Kerry. Obviously, it hasn’t happened exactly that way. We haven’t heard one objective reporter asking Kerry to defend his lawyer’s name-calling. Change the fact situation just a tad. Have Dr. Letson make a statement supporting Kerry’s claims, and have a Bush lawyer refer to him as a “phony” physician. I don’t have to tell you how outraged the media would be, do I? I didn’t think so.

And what of the people supporting Kerry’s detractors? One columnist referred to a Houston homebuilder who had made a donation to the Swift Boat veterans as a “mysterious Republican moneyman.” Mysterious? A Texas homebuilder is mysterious? I think a Hungarian financier who finances Moveon.org and The Media Fund, both Kerry surrogates, might qualify as mysterious, but has anyone seen dark hints about the money behind these organizations?

If anyone else out there has a plan to write a book exposing liberal media bias in America, they should consider applying their efforts to another cause. The media is doing all too good a job of exposing itself.


Neal Boortz is a lawyer and nationally syndicated radio talk show host.

©2004 Neal Boortz


Townhall again, they are really speaking out now! I have been watching
them and this is the first two after Robert Novak who have written with
such anger. This one has much to say about the media, but the fact
is, in my opinion, this issue is showing the country about the lack of
fair reporting, (or none at all) by the MSM. I do wonder how this will
affect them as they are slipping in viewers and readers already.


Last one tonight, have to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a better day.
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Swiftvets rock!

[Fabius Cunctator]

Neal Boortz and the other articles cited below are excellent, and shows their intellectual honesty.

But, let's face it, brothers and sisters-in-arms, if we wait for the so-called mainstream media to be sympathetic, or even consistent, as Neal calls for, well, hell would sooner freeze over.

What passes for "mainstream" media is now an adjunct of the Jackass Party.

One ray of hope, however. The more we press the more our story will be told. I have heard Rush Limbaugh say on more than one occasion that sooner or later, even the most jaded lefty journalists may soon desert Kerry, because these media types DO want to maintain SOME credibility. So, even some of them are starting to feel uneasy with Kerry. Soon we may be seeing the rats deserting the sinking Kerry ship.....


-------------------------------------------------------------------

Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator
USMCR – 1974 to the present.

"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum; qui victoriam cupit, milites inbuat diligenter; qui secundos optat eventus, dimicet arte, non casu. Nemo provocare, nemo audet offendere quem intellegit superiorem esse, si pugnet." - F. Vegetii Renati Epitoma Rei Militaris, AD 390

[low26]

I live in Chicago, Both the Tribune and the Sun Times have both printed some slamming of Kerry but only the Times mention the Swift vets. I listen to Rush every day and belong to his web site. Rush in the past has had good instincts and he indeed says regarding the Swift vets and Kerry that there are cracks starting,that even liberal journalists will only go so far to protect him. I think Rush is right(no pun) these articles show it ,and are just the start.Kerry's protectors are not answering the charges they are attacking and it is obvious,some journalist are questioning it because they have to. Swift vet are doing great and need to keep the pressure up! People are showing up at Kerry rallies now with signs questioning him on this, IT IS WORKING KEEP THE SHIP MOVING AND DON'T STOP, MORE POWER SCOTTIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hopeful]

The Newark Star Ledger (NJ's largest newspaper) has re-printed an article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Harry Levins titled "A firefight over Kerry's service". It appears on page 6 of the Sunday edition. It takes up about 3/4 of the page and includes the phot with Alston, Sandusky, Thorsen abd Bellodeau.

It appears pretty balanced to me. The eye catcher is in the middle of the article is a large quote extract. "There was no bowling alley. That's insignificant, but it tells you the pattern of the man."
Retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffman,
COMMANDER OF ALL SWIFT-BOAT OPERATIONS IN VIETNAM

I checked out the paper's web site but couldn't find the article on the on line edition.[/b]
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son/nephew/freind/seabee/subs/swiftvet

[cjg]

http://www.hughhewitt.com/

This is the link to Hugh Hewitt, Swiftvet supporter, who is really on top
of the news about them.
Good Article about the story from Kerry about his excursions into
Cambodia
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Swiftvets rock!

[cjg]

This is the link to Mark Steyn's comments on the Swiftvets and Kerry.
This man is outspoken and always interesting.

http://www.marksteyn.com/ This is his website The story is
"John Kerry's Unique Truth"
"

This is a link to a South African paper. It has gone international!

http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/2004/08/15/news/world/world04.asp

This is a link to some funny satire on Kerry, if you need a laugh go there.

http://www.moveonplease.org/
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Swiftvets rock!

[baldeagl]

I'm disappointed that you didn't mention my blog. I've been blogging the Kerry-Swiftvets story for a while now, and everything I write is heavily documented.
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antimedia
USN OST-6 68-74
http://antimedia.blogspot.com/

[You GottaBeKidding]

The South African piece is a news piece rather than an op-ed. That's a surprise. It summarizes the allegations and that's it -- no comments pro or con, just what the Swift Vets say.

[cjg]

Baldeagl, you certainly have done a great amount of work on your site,
I did not know about it but will certainly be back to read it some more!
Your saving of all the information you have acquired is a very good idea.
Especially the time line, that is really a lot of work.

So, sorry I missed you, you deserve to be acknowledged!


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Swiftvets rock!