SwiftVets.com

Doc Farmer

The Caveat Emperor
By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist | May 24, 2005

AT THIS POINT it comes as no surprise. John Kerry is releasing all his military records -- but then again, he isn't.

During an interview yesterday with Globe editorial writers and columnists, the former Democratic presidential nominee was asked if had signed Form SF 180, authorizing the Department of Defense to grant access to all his military records.

''I have signed it," Kerry said. Then, he added that his staff was ''still going through it" and ''very, very shortly, you will have a chance to see it."

The devil is usually in the details. With Kerry, it's also in the dodges and digressions. After the interview, Kerry's communications director, David Wade, was asked to clarify when Kerry signed SF 180 and when public access would be granted. Kerry drifted over to join the conversation, immediately raising the confusion level. He did not answer the question of when he signed the form or when the entire record will be made public.

Several e-mails later, Wade conveyed the following information: On Friday, May 20, Kerry obtained a copy of Form 180 and signed it. ''The next step is to send it to the Navy, which will happen in the next few days. The Navy will then send out the records," e-mailed Wade. Kerry first said he would sign Form 180 when pressed by Tim Russert during a Jan. 30 appearance on ''Meet the Press."

Six months after Kerry's loss to George W. Bush, it feels somewhat gratuitous to point out how hard it can be to get a clear, straight answer from Kerry on this and other matters. But as long as the Massachusetts senator is thinking about another presidential run, the candor gap remains on the table, because he puts it there.

On one hand, he seems to have concluded that Democrats have a ''branding" problem, much like a company selling razor blades. The Democratic Party, said Kerry, needs ''a new brand. That's the challenge." For 25 years, he said, Democrats did not fight negative branding by their opponents. As a result, he said, Democrats are now labelled as ''tax, spend, weak, things like that."

Later, Kerry said, ''Let me be crystal clear. We do not have to reformulate or redefine the Democratic Party. I'm tired of hearing that the Democratic Party doesn't stand for anything." The party, he said, stands for healthcare for every single American; public education that works and gets the necessary resources, with strict accountability; foreign policy that demonstrates both strength and respect for multinationalism; a tax structure that is fair; protecting the environment, and energy independence.

However, Republicans successfully directed the 2004 contest to other issues, including the war on terror, gay marriage, and abortion. Kerry now stands as close to Bush as he can on those issues.

On Iraq, Kerry basically endorsed the outcome of the Bush Doctrine, saying: ''I do think we're making a kind of progress, slowly but surely."

Asked about gay marriage, he explained that he and George Bush hold the same position -- for civil unions. And he noted that he is supporting Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey Jr. -- ''what they call a prolife candidate" -- against incumbent Republican Senator Rick Santorum.

Kerry said that people don't want to ''go back to coat hangers and back alleys," or put ''moms in jail and doctors." Then he pointed out the alternatives that Democrats, following in the footsteps of New York Senator Hillary Clinton, now take pains to embrace -- adoption, prevention, and abstinence.

The twists and turns of the past campaign still elicit bursts of passionate analysis. He continues to attribute Bush's success to a combination of voter indifference to the truth and the Republicans' ability to leverage the ''fear factor."

Asked about the impact of religion, he said that he reread the New Testament since the election to make sure ''I didn't miss anything" and recalled that on the campaign trail ''I gave a very strong speech about values and how you measure these things." He believes he lost the ''soccer moms" and ''security moms" to the Osama bin Laden videotape, released the Friday before Election Day.

The campaign waged against him by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth arouses Kerry's greatest passion. ''What they said was untrue," he said. He considered, but decided against, filing suit against the group, which alleged that he did not deserve his Vietnam military honors.

Kerry insists ''The truth in its entirety will come out . . . the truth will come out."

Signing Form 180 is the first step. Releasing his entire military record to the public is the second.

It doesn't get any plainer than that.

Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.

Source
_________________

Fat, Bald and Ugly - And PROUD Of It!

Guest · Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 1:59 pm Post subject:

Me#1You#10 · Site Admin Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 6503

This is, IMHO, almost watershed it's so loaded with political ramifications. It seems that the Globe (aka NY Times) has now decided to cast John Kerry adrift (and I think you can spell that Hilary Clinton).

Kerry's (Wade's) attempt to dodge the obvious implications of the disparity in time between Kerry's 180 pledges and actually DOING IT is "head in the sand" laughable...and Ms. Vennochi KNOWS IT. She's just a foot short of labeling him for the fraud that he is.

This story is timely for this forum given the recent discussion of keeping this story alive. You can add this reporter's name to the list of MSM entities that John Kerry continues to try to play like a violin...and they're catching on. In all liklihood, they caught on long ago but didn't have the political license or integrity enough to call a spade a spade...and the Swiftees bore the brunt of their invective that should have rained down on the liar Kerry.

Someone needs to send Ms. Vennochi a link to that blog spoof about Kerry's lack of alacrity in signing the 180. Anyone have that link?

Kudos to Doc for the post. I saw it on CW and was preparing to post it here as well Wink

Guest · Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 3:55 pm Post subject:

Tanya · Senior Chief Petty Officer Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Posts: 570

Ok, so he signed it Rolling Eyes

Now they're looking for a stamp to mail it Shocked

So now do we need a day counter to see how long it takes him to send it in Mad

And why hasn't he posted the so called signed form on his website Smile

He said he signed it but maybe his dog will eat it but he'll say he signed it Rolling Eyes

SBD · Admiral Joined: 19 Aug 2004 Posts: 1022

This is going to be fun!! I can't wait to compare the docs released by form 180 to the docs he released to the public. He can remove all his docs from the internet that he want o, but he can't remove the ones I got from the Archives which are on a CD.

One other note, he can sign Form 180 and not release all of his records.

1. REPORT OF SEPARATION(DD Form 214 or equivalent). This contains information normally needed to verify military service. A copy may be sent to the veteran, the deceased veteran's next of kin, or other persons or organizations if authorized in Section III, below. NOTE: If more than one period of service was performed, even in the same branch, there may be more than one Report of Separation. Be sure to show EACH year that a Report of Separation was issued, for which you need a copy.

An UNDELETED Report of Separation is requested for the year(s) This normally will be a copy of the full separation document including such sensitive items as the character of separation, authority for separation, reason for separation, reenlistment eligibility code, separation (SPD/SPN) code, and dates of time lost. An undeleted version is ordinarily required to determine eligibility for benefits.

A DELETED Report of Separation is requested for the year(s)
The following information will be deleted from the copy sent: authority for separation, reason for separation, reenlistment eligibility code, separation(SPD/SPN) code, and for separations after June 30, 1979, character of separation and dates of time lost.

From Form 180

SBD

MarineBrat · Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 8:21 pm Post subject:

So here I am after signing the 180. Now I just need to get my people working on how much postage to use, what type of envelope, etc. Oh and perhaps we should use some of those breast cancer stamps too! That'll garner me some sympathy. And then I can start assigning people to my "Pick a mailbox Commission".

And then .... uh oh..... Oh darn!

OK, so I'll have to reconvene the "Ballpoint -vs- Felt Tip" commission and start over. But I'll get there!!!

Tanya · Senior Chief Petty Officer Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Posts: 570

MarineBrat I love it! Laughing

The bandit · Commander Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 349

This is just smoke and mirrors by Kerry. He already has signed a 180 years ago, how else you think he got everything to post on www.johnkerry.com?

This dosen't amount to anything unless he allows a third party to independently obtain them, which I bet he will never allow.

Guest · Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 9:13 pm Post subject:

shawa · CNO Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Posts: 2004

I fully expected this announcement. I predicted it last Friday, on
Essayons post about "Kerry's Records no longer on his site".

I knew what he was up to when I watched the MTP interview last January,
when he let it slip that they were 'reviewing' his documents. I posted my
suspicions back then on the MTP Transcript Thread, and repeated it again
on Essayons post:

Me#1You#10 · Site Admin Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 6503

Yup...gotta agree with Bandit et al on this one. I think everyone's clued in to the Kerry stratagem. However I'm unsure that the MSM is still in the same "stonewall" frame of mind when it comes to validating Kerry's obfuscations. Russert is more than aware of the "filtering" issue as is, I assume, Ms. Vennochi. I suppose all we can do is keep the issue alive until real, independent access is granted to his records...if ever.

Now, is that pollyanish? Perhaps. But the political winds have shifted...and not in Kerry's favor...

Harvuskong · Seaman Joined: 17 Oct 2004 Posts: 174

Yes, the political winds seem to have shifted against Kerry.

But I hope that when the moment arrives when someone, somehow, gets Kerry's files out into the public eye for all to see, that the Swiftvets and others make the most of it and take the VVAW down as well.

Once the truth about Kerry and VVAW is out and they are totally exposed, then Jane Fonda and her crew will be exposed as well.

To the best of my memory, wasn't Hillary also involved heavily in the anti-war movement during that time frame also???

Is is possible that both Kerry and Hillary could be both heavily burned and damaged beyond salvage in the backlash/backfire??? Question

Doc Farmer · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 11:37 am Post subject:

Me#1You#10 · Site Admin Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 6503

WND weighs-in on the Vennochi story. Nothing really revelatory but a nice summation except for a failure to note, as many here have pointed out, that there's a devil to be had in the details...