 |
SwiftVets.com
Service to Country
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
BuffaloJack
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1637
Location: Buffalo, New York
|
 Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:27 am Post subject: Redefining 'Swiftboating' and Rewriting History |
 |
|
Redefining 'Swiftboating' and Rewriting History
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/redefining_swiftboating_and_re.html
One of the better articles on the new political meaning of Swiftboating.
It was a good read, and I approve of its content.
Jack
_________________
Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71) |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Henry P. Wickham, Jr. wrote: | Despite their short-term relevance to the 2008 presidential campaign, this current misuse and redefinition of swiftboating are far more than just semantic developments. Words and their meanings, like ideas, have consequences. Here, there is a very real and conscious strategy involved with the redefinition of this word. It entails the contempt for and the willful disregard of the convincing case made by the Swift Vets. It also entails the continuing support of the illusions of an entire movement.
To make the definition of swiftboating synonymous with "smears," "lies," and "innuendo" is to declare John Kerry's innocence. Once declared, one may conclude that it is the service of the Swift Vets that is tarnished, and that there may be some truth to Kerry's claims of heroism and charges of genocide in Vietnam. After all, both Kerry and the Swift Vets cannot be telling the truth. Whether explicitly, or implicitly with this newly created derogatory connotation of swiftboating, to declare Kerry's innocence is to do again to the Swift Vets in 2008 what Kerry and cohorts did to them in 1971.
Every time that a candidate today complains of being smeared by calling it swiftboating, he seeks the same exoneration or immunity that this redefined word gives to John Kerry, and, perversely, that candidate reinforces the false impression that the Swift Vets did something dishonorable in their campaign against John Kerry and in Vietnam years ago.
This clever manipulation of the meaning of words and its exoneration of John Kerry has much broader implications. In the 1970s John Kerry led a high profile movement that not only defamed American servicemen as crazed killers, but Kerry and his real "band of brothers" also successfully pushed policies that had truly genocidal consequences in Southeast Asia. To exonerate John Kerry is to exonerate his movement and all who participated in it for their role in the genocide. It is to whitewash all of them from the consequences of their actions. (It also, peremptorily, excuses them of their behavior in the current war.) For them, to raise issues or to expose these facts is now to be summarily dismissed as swiftboating in this newly pejorative sense. So, down the memory hole is flushed another sad chapter authored by John Kerry and his ilk. Oh well, they were only a few million Asians; and history is conveniently sanitized. |
Excellent commentary Jack...thanks for the link...and well-done to Mr. Whickam for taking the time to make note of an issue that the MSM would like to consider a fait accompli. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
I B Squidly
Vice Admiral
Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 879
Location: Cactus Patch
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I liked the conclusion:
| Quote: | | John Kerry and the movement that he led have demanded and, for the most part, received a free pass for over a generation. They even had the effrontery to demand a memorial celebrating the "bravery" of their movement back here in the United States where they so heroically endured the hardships of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. In 2004 the Swift Vets made them pay a little for that otherwise free pass by setting a small part of the record straight. This is the meaning of swiftboating, and we should demand more of it. All we have to lose are the dishonest autobiographies from our self-serving political class. |
_________________
"KILL ALL THE LAWYERS!"
-Wlm Shakespeare |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
BuffaloJack
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1637
Location: Buffalo, New York
|
| Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 4:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
_________________
Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
|
| Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 5:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| That's a great graphic Jack...thanks! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
fortdixlover
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 1476
|
| Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 6:07 am Post subject: Re: Redefining 'Swiftboating' and Rewriting History |
|
|
The attempts to "redefine down" the term "swiftboating" and the efforts of this group is actually a malicious, well-planned and orchestrated effort by the left (leftist politicians and activists) and their MSM friends. Make no mistake about it. It's quite deliberate.
It's the SwiftVets - and more generally the Vietnam vets - being told "F*** You" once again by the Jane Hanoi Fonda lovers.
For every time this slander appears in print, I recommend we unleash email and other 'reminders' to as many 'people in high places' on the misdeeds at the core of the SwiftVet movement - the misdeeds of John Kerry.
And since visuals have a big impact, frequent use and dissemination of the BuffaloJack logo above is highly recommended!
-- FDL
_________________
"Millions For Defense, Not One Cent For Tribute" - Thomas Jefferson on paying ransom to Muslim corsairs (pirates). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
I B Squidly
Vice Admiral
Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 879
Location: Cactus Patch
|
| Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 8:44 pm Post subject: Barack Obama has already been "Swift-Boated" |
|
|
Fun stuff:
| Quote: | POLITICS: Barack Obama has already been "Swift-Boated"
You know, one of the funny things about watching the Democrats is their alternation between fear and bravado about whether Republicans will "Swift Boat" their candidate this time around. Orwell once said that "The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies "something not desirable.'" This is roughly the way the Democrats use the term "Swiftboating" to suggest a political attack of thoroughgoing fraudulence and impropriety concocted out of whole cloth. Never mind that each and every one of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was a combat veteran, including a number of highly decorated veterans; it's casually accepted that they were all liars, knaves and pawns.
But the irony of conducting this discussion in the future tense ignores the fact that, by any reasonable definition, Barack Obama has already been Swift-Boated. A true Swift-Boating proceeds in five predictable stages:
1. The Democrat makes some claim that forms the center of his appeal and convinces his followers on the left that he can reach out to voters in the middle.
Kerry: I served with honor. Thus, you can trust me on national security. Bring it on. That dog won't hunt. Go read Doug Brinkley's book.
Obama: I am a post-racial candidate. I will lead us beyond the age of race-baiting preachers and grievance-mongers. I'm also a religious man who will end the Democrats' secular fixation. Go read The Audacity of Hope.
2. The Democrat's own words are accurately quoted against him, his own actions and associations are turned back on him.
Kerry: The video of his Senate testimony. The Winter Soldier hoaxes he peddled. The Christmas in Cambodia nonsense.
Obama: Rev. Wright, the main who coined "Audacity of Hope," turns out to be just another race-baiting preacher. Obama sneers at other people's faith and has to flee from his own church one step ahead of a bitter gun-toting mob.
3. The Democrat stops answering questions and hopes the media will drop the story.
Kerry: Six weeks where his only interview or press conference was with Jon Stewart.
Obama: Hey, I answered eight questions. Let me eat my waffle. No more debates.
4. The Democrat and his supporters whine and screech about the unfairness of the thing.
Kerry: They questioned my patriotism!
Obama: Racists! Distractions from the Real Issue, which is not my words or my judgment but my...uh....
5. Denial.
Kerry: I'm a strong closer.
Obama: Hey, that was the primaries. Did I mention that John McCain was old?
Posted by Baseball Crank at 11:29 PM | Politics 2008 | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Bravo! Well done. Swiftboating - v. To expose the truth about a politician who is a pathological liar.
Wait, calling a politician a pathological liar is redundant, isn't it?
Posted by: Jarhead68 at May 11, 2008 10:33 AM |
http://baseballcrank.com/archives2/2008/05/politics_barack_1.php
_________________
"KILL ALL THE LAWYERS!"
-Wlm Shakespeare |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
