SwiftVets.com

[Steve Z]

I'm not sure whether others have posted on this before, but I found a book in a grocery store about John Kerry called "The Candidate". I didn't buy it (I don't want to make pro-Kerry people rich), but I skimmed a few chapters, especially one called "The Next President of the United States".

The book describes Kerry as a "brave soldier" in Vietnam, and winner of three Purple Hearts, but no mention of the injuries used to justify them.

The book did mention the incident where the PCF 3 hit a mine. The book then says that Kerry guided his boat down the river through enemy fire to seek help for the crew of the boat that hit the mine, and took off so fast that he didn't realize that a Green Beret on his own boat fell overboard, so Kerry had to return to rescue him. There was no mention of the men on the other three Swift boats who were helping the crew of PCF 3.

This version is interesting because:

1) it places "the Green Beret who fell overboard" (Rassmann?) on Kerry's boat, so Kerry's "rescue" is not that heroic because he is only undoing his earlier error by taking off too fast, throwing Rassmann overboard. Other versions of this story have Rassmann on a different boat.

2) Kerry is portrayed as braving enemy fire to seek "help" for the crewmen of the boat that hit the mine (PCF 3), while ignoring the fact that they already had the help of about 18 men on the other three boats!

Has anyone else read this book, and might there be contradictions with testimony from eyewitnesses (the Swift Boat veterans), or Brinkley's "Tour of Duty" that could be played up?
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The traitor will crater!

[noMOass]

we cant respond to every knuckleheaded pansy a$$ who writes a ficticious tale about a ficticious tale.

MOVE ON

[Montana]

I saw the book at Borders, along with anti-President Bush
books. All up front as you walk in.

Avoided the book like the plaque knowing what I know about
John Forbes Kerry.

I asked where Unfit for Command was (didn´t see it anywhere).

Was told by a frowning clerk that they didn´t have it.
(I have two copies via internet)

The same thing happened when I was in Alaska at a small
book store there.

However, none of this is new. Bookstore owners are free
to do what they want. So are consumers.

Thanks for the report.

Montana

[srmorton]

I can appreciate noMOmass's sentiment, but anything written
about a pathological liar such as Kerry can be instructive. When
you lie so often, you can not possibly remember every lie you
have told, so different versions will point to inconsistencies in
the various stories that have been reported. You can also find
parts of the story that are actually true because they did not
seem important enough before to lie about.

That's the best thing about always telling the truth - it's the
same every time its told.
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Susan R. Morton

[Wing Wiper]

To see if the book is worth anything you'll need to see if Kerry had any input to the author. It's very possible somebody just whipped it together from public sources and threw it on the shelf to make a fast buck from the interest in Kerry during the election. It wouldn't surprise me any if there is someone using the information on this site to write a Kerry book (one that's actually factual for a change). I believe Kerry only authorized one "biography" (Tour of Duty).

[Nomorelies]

I have come to the conclusion that when the Bush-haters have finished purchasing all of the Bush-bashing books they will be bank-rupted.
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[kate]

http://www.amazon.com

About the author:

[Wing Wiper]

"FYI--- purportedly insider info"

That may make it worth looking at, then. I wonder if he's on the DNC payroll, since it's "insider info". I hate to give somebody money for a Kerry book, but if I see it I'll browse it and see if it's something beside the "party line. It would be sweet if Kerry repeated any of his "heroic actions" to the guy.

[Steve Z]

This is how Amazon.com reviewed "The Candidate". A "shallow campaign hagiography" by a liberal writer (based on what papers he has written for).
"Substantive issues...are fleetingly mentioned and then dropped without comment."

Still, might there be some "substantive issues" raised in this book which conflict with Kerry's other statements, which might be used against him?

"Lincolnesque", indeed. Kerry might be tall and ugly, but the similarity ends there. Lincoln was honest and principled, unlike Kerry!

Link.

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Tall, lean, heroic and "decidedly Lincolnesque" is the portrait of John Kerry that emerges from this shallow campaign hagiography. Journalist Alexander (Man of the People: The Life of John McCain) gained insider access to the campaign after he wrote a prescient Rolling Stone article touting Kerry as the Democratic front-runner, and this symbiotic relationship continues here. He acknowledges Kerry’s early problems finding the right tone, but after a campaign shakeup and a makeover in which Kerry loosens up (e.g., he starts diving into audiences for Phil Donahue-style Q&As and learns to "connect on a human level") the candidate becomes a juggernaut. From then on the book is a montage of endorsements, primary triumphs and sound bites from Kerry victory speeches. Vignettes include a breathless recap of Kerry’s Vietnam exploits, tearful communions with fellow veterans, manly photo ops of the candidate piloting a chopper or blasting pheasants from the sky, and a snuggly interview in which Kerry and wife Teresa Heinz talk about their relationship. Substantive issues, like Kerry’s ties to corporate lobbyists and support of NAFTA and the war in Iraq, or Heinz’s refusal to release her tax returns, are fleetingly mentioned and then dropped without comment. Instead, Alexander channels his critical impulses entirely into a gloating attack on the Howard Dean campaign (and, in particular, on Dean’s "bizarre" and "unsettling" howl during the Iowa primary), accusations of anti-Kerry bias among the media, and pointed rehashes of Bush’s questionable military record. Readers will find lots of anodyne boilerplate that almost seems (and sometimes is) scripted by the Kerry organization, but little objective insight into the candidate or the nitty-gritty elements of campaigning.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Paul Alexander is a former reporter for Time magazine and has written for Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, The Nation, New York, The Village Voice, and the Guardian. Alexander is the author of Man of the People: The Life of John McCain (2002) as well as biographies of Sylvia Plath, J. D. Salinger, and James Dean. Until recently, he was the co-host of "Batchelor & Alexander," a nationally syndicated talk radio show on the ABC Radio Network. Alexander has also directed a documentary on...

Admin Note - Edited to replace long link with hypertext
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The traitor will crater!