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integritycounts
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 667
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 Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:20 pm Post subject: Boston Globe reports Kerry Ducks out of Answering SwiftVets |
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Boston Globe reports Kerry Ducks out of Answering Swift-Vets, and attempted to divert the specific allegations of the Swift Vets by obfuscating the issue by Spinning responsibility to others. Kerry refused to go into any details about the allegations and refused to address Cambodia as well
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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/232/politics/Kerry_fights_back_on_Vietnam_a:.shtml
Kerry fights back on Vietnam, accuses Bush of relying on front groups to ''do his dirty work'' in criticism
By Ron Fournier, Associated Press, 8/19/2004 10:01
BOSTON (AP) Sen. John Kerry accused President Bush on Thursday of relying on front groups to challenge his record of valor in Vietnam, asserting, ''He wants them to do his dirty work.''
Defending his record, the Democratic presidential candidate said, ''Thirty years ago, official Navy reports documented my service in Vietnam and awarded me the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts.''
''Thirty years ago, this was the plain truth. It still is. And I still carry the shrapnel in my leg from a wound in Vietnam.''
Kerry received five medals for his service in Vietnam a generation ago, but his record has come under campaign challenge in television commercials aired by ''Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,'' funded by supporters of the president.
Bush and the White House have refused to condemn the ads, despite calls to do so from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a former Vietnam prisoner of war, as well as from Democrats.
Senior Democrats, including some inside the presidential campaign, have urged Kerry to respond forcefully to the criticism, fearing that if left unanswered, it could hamper his quest for the White House.
In addition to Kerry's speech before an audience of firefighters, his campaign released a new 30-second campaign commercial that features a former Green Beret saying the young Navy lieutenant saved his life under fire.
Recalling when his boat came under attack more than 30 years ago, Jim Rassmann says, ''It blew me off the boat. All those Viet Cong were shooting at me. I expected I'd be shot. When he pulled me out of the river, he risked his life to save mine.''
Aides said the commercial would air in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin, three battleground states. The decision to advertise even in a limited fashion marked a change in course for the campaign, which had hoped to remain off the air for August to conserve cash for the fall campaign.
In his speech, Kerry employed a wartime metaphor.
''More than 30 years ago I learned an important lesson. When you're under attack the best thing to do is turn your boat into the attack. That's what I intend to do today.''
Speaking of the organization airing the ads that challenge his war record, Kerry said, ''Of course, this group isn't interested in the truth and they're not telling the truth. ...
''But here's what you really need to know about them. They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the President won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know. He wants them to do his dirty work.''
Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt said, ''That charge leveled by Senator Kerry is absolutely and completely false.''
''The Bush campaign has never and will never question John Kerry's service in Vietnam. The president has referred to John Kerry's service as noble service,'' the Bush spokesman said. |
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lolajl
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 136
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Interesting. Is Boston Globe a liberal newspaper? Or one of those tabloid papers? |
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dcrhere
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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Hey, didn't Kerry just call all the SBVTs liars?
Sounds like libel to me.
John O'Neill should file the lawsuit today. See how the Kerry campaign responds to the prospect of having their boy going under oath...
If the bible doesn't explode when he's sworn in, of course...  |
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one more captins mast
LCDR
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 438
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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My God if the "shrapnel" in his leg shows up at AIR PORTS
he can't get on planes without the shake down, take it
from me they make me take my shirt off and then they
point at the big buldge in my lower back.
He makes me sick.
If there is any thing there it most likley is an old
"drug nite" neddle he left there for this day.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
to "claim it" for his story.
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justamom
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 135
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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BUT AGAIN! What freakin' difference does it make that SBVT is funded largely by republicans???? And small potatoes (in terms of dollars/each) at that????
WHAT ABOUT MOVEON?????? MICHAEL MOORE????? GEORGE SOROS????
Geez, the american press is CROOKED, CROOKED, CROOKED! |
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nickb
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
Posts: 122
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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| dcrhere wrote: | Hey, didn't Kerry just call all the SBVTs liars?
Sounds like libel to me.
John O'Neill should file the lawsuit today. See how the Kerry campaign responds to the prospect of having their boy going under oath...
If the bible doesn't explode when he's sworn in, of course... |
look at what they have in the new republic today...
Thirty-five years ago when his swift boat on patrol in Vietnam was under heavy fire from the shore, John Kerry turned his craft right into the fire, beached the boat, chased down the enemy, and killed him.
Now, Kerry--and his record on that swift boat--is under a different kind of attack. In what may be the most hard-hitting ad to be run in a presidential race since the infamous Willie Horton ad in 1988, a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) has taken to the airwaves in three battleground states with an ad claiming that Kerry lied to get his first Purple Heart and his Bronze Star. In the words of these veterans, Kerry "dishonored this country" and "cannot be trusted."
These ads, along with next week's publication of Unfit to Command, an anti-Kerry book by the senator's longtime nemesis John O'Neil, mark the opening salvo in the right's assault on Kerry's character. In response, the Kerry campaign should do the political equivalent of steering a swift boat into enemy fire: sue SBVT for libel.
Now, any political consultant worth his retainer would say that for any candidate--much less a presidential candidate with a trial lawyer running-mate--to sue his opponents is political suicide. Doing so would magnify the impact of the charges made in the ads, which as of now are only playing in seven small media markets, and keep them in the news for the duration of the campaign. It would also derail the campaign from its message, underscore the litigious history of his vice presidential pick, and open the candidate up to a possibly invasive subpoena.
All of this might happen, and are serious risks to consider. But the Kerry campaign--and a potential Kerry presidency--may not be able to afford to keep silent and allow the right to practice this kind of character assassination with impunity.
To these eyes mercifully saved from law school, it appears that Kerry would have a fairly strong case. As the Supreme Court ruled in New York Times v. Sullivan and in subsequent cases, to prove libel a public figure must show that what was written or said about him was false and that those who said it had "actual malice;" that is that they knew it was false and had reckless disregard for that fact. At this point, we only can assume that the SBVT knew what it was saying was false: One member of the group has already called his participation in the ad a "terrible mistake;" that same veteran and another one in the ad actually defended Kerry from similar charges in his 1996 Senate race; another gave Kerry exemplary ratings as an officer; and none of them have ever initiated official proceedings to challenge the Navy's decision to award Kerry these medals.
More critical to going forward with a case, from what we know about the two central factual claims made in the ad, we can say more definitively that they are false.
First, Medical Officer Lewis Letson states that: "I know John Kerry is lying about his first Purple Heart because I treated him for that injury." Letson offers no proof for his assertion, just details about the dates and places surrounding the injury that are readily available. More damning is that according to official Navy records, Kerry was treated by another medical officer; Letson was not the medical professional who signed Kerry's "sick call sheet."
Second, Gunner's Mate Van O'Dell says that: "John Kerry lied to get his Bronze Star. I know, I was there, I saw what happened." O'Dell did not serve on Kerry's boat, but was on another boat in his division. O'Dell claims to have witnessed the entire incident in which Kerry won his Bronze Star. Yet, his account does not show up in any official Naval documents--from the spot reports filed immediately after the incident that detail damage to two boats, including Kerry's, and Kerry's injury report to the eyewitness accounts of Jim Rassman, the man who Kerry pulled out of the river. Either O'Dell is right, and Rassman, Kerry, and the US Navy are wrong--or O'Dell has a big legal problem on his hands.
But even if Kerry is right, why should he dignify their charges with a lawsuit, and give SBVT a platform from which to repeat its charges over and over again?
The answer is: If Kerry does not pull these right-wing weeds now, they may choke his candidacy--and overrun his presidency.
The SBVT and their allies on the right won't relent in attacking Kerry's character. "You're damn right we're going to keep advertising," Admiral Roy Hoffman, who appeared in the ad, told the Dallas Morning News. And they will keep advertising these attacks because impugning the qualifications of the challenger to be commander-in-chief is the only available strategy for an embattled incumbent. Jimmy Carter did it in 1980, and George H.W. Bush did it in 1992.
Since then, the political atmosphere has gotten only more toxic, and the attacks more ferocious (it still amazes me that President Bush mocks and derides his opponent by name and from a podium with the presidential seal on it). In an environment where the president and his allies believe that he is on a divine mission, the right will stop at nothing to win this race.
That is why if Bush should lose this November, there won't be any honeymoon for Kerry His first few months in office will look like the last years of the Clinton presidency: congressional inquiries, constant talk radio trash-talking, and book deals for anyone with a charge to make. Simply, Kerry can't afford to let the SBVT charges go unanswered if he wants to govern effectively.
I understand that if Kerry does sue SBVT, the case will not be heard, much less completed, before Election Day (William Westmoreland's libel suit against CBS, for example, lasted three years before being settled). But, the lawsuit will send a message that there will be serious repercussions for anyone who wants to fund or appear in an ad that is patently false. Discovery procedures could lift the curtain of anonymity on those funding these ads, potentially compelling them to disclose their financial and political interests and connections. In addition, a lawsuit will have an equally chilling effect on the political consultants who make these ads. Even the largest political ad-makers can't afford costly litigation; from a financial perspective, getting involved with groups like SBVT would be too big a risk no matter a consultant's politics.
Of course, the last thing we need in our political discourse is a chilling of free speech, and I believe deeply that the SBVT or any other organization can call Kerry a big tree-hugging peacenik or claim that he is dishonorable or unfit to be president. Those are opinions--and no matter how inflammatory they may sound or how off-base they may be--they deserve to be heard and debated.
But lies are different, and those that tell them with the intent to distort our politics should be held accountable. In a perfect world, the media would do the job, and the political establishment of both parties would draw some lines. Since President Bush refuses to condemn the SBVT ad and call off these attacks, Kerry may have to take the battle directly to his foes. The risks are huge, but as Kerry discovered more than three decades ago, sometimes the only way to survive an attack is to steer straight into enemy fire.
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=express&s=baer081104 |
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tvaughan
Seaman
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 182
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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I think the New Republic dropped the idea of suing SBVFT for libel pretty quick.
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dcrhere
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, but the writer doesn't take into account what would happen if the SBVTs sue first? He makes the assumption that KERRY is telling the truth, not the opposite. A lawsuit would be kryptonite to his campaign.
So do it.
I think the SBVT would LOVE to have their day in court. And I think this has been John O'Neill's plan all along. Let the anti-SBVT rhetoric build until someone crosses the line, then pounce.
A lawsuit filed by SBVT is guaranteed front page coverage, and would force investigation of the charges.
Some of the comments being made by Kerry's vets sound downright actionable. I say, go for it. |
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gilliam
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 97
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Did Kerry serve two tours of duty in Vietnam? |
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Polaris
Rear Admiral
Joined: 16 Aug 2004
Posts: 626
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:10 pm Post subject: |
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No. He served on the USS Gridely, a fleet tender. That ship only spend 4-5 weeks of the coast of Vietnam. Most of the tour was off the dangerous, combat zone called the coast of California.
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Truth is Beauty |
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nickb
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
Posts: 122
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:12 pm Post subject: |
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| tvaughan wrote: | | I think the New Republic dropped the idea of suing SBVFT for libel pretty quick. |
| Quote: | | Now, any political consultant worth his retainer would say that for any candidate--much less a presidential candidate with a trial lawyer running-mate--to sue his opponents is political suicide |
they were saying that kerry could sue, not the new republic.
(edited to show that was a quote from the article, not my words..) |
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