Me#1You#10
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 Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:27 am Post subject: Kesler: "Another Kerry Big Lie Punctured" |
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Bruce Kesler at "Democracy Project" reports on a communication from Charles "Chuck" Colson in which Mr. Colson specifically denies the oft-alleged media "fact" of Nixon White House complicity in the formation of "Veterans for a Just Peace".
It's an extensive article and I'll just present the introduction here...
| Quote: | Another Kerry Big Lie Punctured
One of the core charges that John Kerry’s media-aided campaign made in 2004 and since to delegitimize the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is that its leader John O’Neill, who had opposed Kerry in 1971, was a creation of Richard Nixon’s White House.
I was there, and know better. Until now, the central purported prop for the charge went unrebutted. Charles “Chuck” Colson has now spoken up. It’s time for reputable media, and even Kerry’s advocates if they have any integrity, to cease this charge. Like a dime-novel legend, based on little, this charge has been frequently repeated and embellished by Swiftee critics.
The charge of being a Nixon White House creation is based upon an article that Joe Klein published in the December 2, 2002 New Yorker magazine. Joe Klein passes from Kerry’s speech to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April, 1971:He was an immediate celebrity. He was also an immediate target of the Nixon Administration. Years later, Chuck Colson-who was Nixon's political enforcer-told me, "He was a thorn in our flesh. He was very articulate, a credible leader of the opposition. He forced us to create a counterfoil. We found a vet named John O'Neill and formed a group called Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace. We had O'Neill meet the President, and we did everything we could do to boost his group." Actually, in 1971 I formed Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace (VVJP), which John O’Neill joined, to oppose Kerry. Neither Colson nor the White House “formed” VVJP nor “found” John O’Neill.
In 2004, I contacted Joe Klein and Chuck Colson, to rebut this charge. Neither replied.
Klein has not revealed his interview notes or recording (if there was one) with Colson, so it’s unknown if the quote of Colson is accurate or if it is out of context.
Colson didn’t reply, trying to stay out of the 2004 Vietnam vets taking on Kerry, as he didn’t want to distract from his prison ministry.
Now, Colson has replied, rebutting Klein.
Vietnam veteran Bruce Obermeyer, physics undergrad, MBA, who has worked in aerospace safety at Boeing for decades, wrote to Charles Colson inquiring about the charge: “Can Mr. Colson please clear up the confusion about his involvement with VVJP and the alleged quote.” (Obermeyer has written me, “Unlike John Kerry, I stayed the full year of my tour, and unlike John Kerry, I actually was inside Cambodia, flying missions in the skies over it for a longer period of time than John Kerry's entire tour.”)
This is the reply Obermeyer received February 25, 2008 from Colson’s spokesman:[W]e forwarded your email to Mr.Colson for his review. He has since read your email and has asked me to reply with his comments:
"No, I have never taken credit for trying to organize something called the Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace. I discovered Mr. O'Neil, who had just come out of the Navy, and brought him into the White House and worked with him and gave him some encouragement. A lot of people charged that this was really a Nixon front-group that I had started. That's untrue. I hope this helps." - Chuck Colson
Democracy Project - cont'd |
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