Disc 3 Begins.
The MainStream Media never treated the Swift Boat attacks as a he said/she said issue. The MSM stayed true to the line that the SBVT charges were all 100% unsubstantiated, groundless lies. In fact, some of the charges (Christmas in Cambodia) turned out to be true, some false, some impossible to determine with certainty.
Franken watches too much Fox News Channel.
The German/Jewish bit was funny.
Longer note--the reason that the Swift Boat attacks attained such prominence was that Vietnam and Vietnam Veterans Against the War is Kerry's entire resume. In twenty years in the Senate, there was no Kerry-PAckwood Act, no Nunn-Kerry Bill, etc. In 2004, Kerry campaigned on the plank that he was a war hero, and his old Swift Boat crew backed him up. That opened him to the counterargument that the other Swift Boat commanders, the previous and next commander of his boat, etc. thought he was a glory-hound out to get as many medals as he could as quickly as possible so as to get back home and continue emulating his hero, initials JFK, who parlayed his medals into a political career which you might remember. Overall relevance of the SBVT charges (even the true ones) to 2004: 2. Relevance of the charges to KErry's campaign themes 7-8. As Franken said, the Democrats brilliantly made their convention theme "Reliving the Vietnam War." Kerry led with his chin here, and the Swifties handed him his head. (FWIW, the Bush-Rove '04 operation treated the Swifties as radioactive, which is probably one reason that the MSM didn't bother to investigate--their designated Republican contacts didn't push them at all. The campaign did not want time spent on discussions of Kerry's Vietnam record. Shooting a naked, wounded VC in the back still beats flying jets in Texas. The campaign wanted "I voted for it before I voted against it" windsurfing footage, and Kerry speaking 24/7.)
I didn't know Rove had reached any lower than using McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter. But I'm not surprised.
Kerry usually has 3 Iraq positions per sentence, never mind six since 9/11. "We should have gotten our allies on board"--the French were on Saddam's payroll. They haven't been on board since 1996 when they pulled out of enforcing the no-fly zones. "We should have given inspectors more time"--they wouldn't have proven anything, and the longer we maintained that mobilization, the more time we give Saddam to strike convenient concentrations of US troops in Kuwait with his chemical weapons. (Remember, nobody knew he was bluffing then). And, if you're position is that you got played by George W. Chimpy McHitler Halliburton Bush as your guys call him, you're disqualified from any national office where you have to play poker with the big boys--dictators have fifty to eighty years experience in hoodwinking democratic leaders.
You vote, and you take responsibility for the vote. There's no voting with fingers crossed. You're either on the Yes side or the No side. And the Defense of Marriage Act was a gay marriage vote. Vote however you want, for whatever reason you want, but you voted how you voted. Why? Because politicians can always come up with reasons afterwards why they didn't mean that vote back then. There's a phrase, "Stand up and be counted." That's a politician's job, especially a backbencher like Kerry.
Kerry has always wanted to have it both ways. He wanted political credit for his medals to show off during campaigns, and he wanted the attention he got by throwing medals in the Reflecting Pool. He made his political career with Vietnam Veterans Against the War, but he wanted to run for President as the Good Soldier, Reporting for Duty. He voted for the war because the war was popular, and then voted against the $87 billion because Dean was creaming him in the polls.
The MainStream Media never treated the Swift Boat attacks as a he said/she said issue. The MSM stayed true to the line that the SBVT charges were all 100% unsubstantiated, groundless lies. In fact, some of the charges (Christmas in Cambodia) turned out to be true, some false, some impossible to determine with certainty.
Franken watches too much Fox News Channel.
The German/Jewish bit was funny.
Longer note--the reason that the Swift Boat attacks attained such prominence was that Vietnam and Vietnam Veterans Against the War is Kerry's entire resume. In twenty years in the Senate, there was no Kerry-PAckwood Act, no Nunn-Kerry Bill, etc. In 2004, Kerry campaigned on the plank that he was a war hero, and his old Swift Boat crew backed him up. That opened him to the counterargument that the other Swift Boat commanders, the previous and next commander of his boat, etc. thought he was a glory-hound out to get as many medals as he could as quickly as possible so as to get back home and continue emulating his hero, initials JFK, who parlayed his medals into a political career which you might remember. Overall relevance of the SBVT charges (even the true ones) to 2004: 2. Relevance of the charges to KErry's campaign themes 7-8. As Franken said, the Democrats brilliantly made their convention theme "Reliving the Vietnam War." Kerry led with his chin here, and the Swifties handed him his head. (FWIW, the Bush-Rove '04 operation treated the Swifties as radioactive, which is probably one reason that the MSM didn't bother to investigate--their designated Republican contacts didn't push them at all. The campaign did not want time spent on discussions of Kerry's Vietnam record. Shooting a naked, wounded VC in the back still beats flying jets in Texas. The campaign wanted "I voted for it before I voted against it" windsurfing footage, and Kerry speaking 24/7.)
I didn't know Rove had reached any lower than using McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter. But I'm not surprised.
Kerry usually has 3 Iraq positions per sentence, never mind six since 9/11. "We should have gotten our allies on board"--the French were on Saddam's payroll. They haven't been on board since 1996 when they pulled out of enforcing the no-fly zones. "We should have given inspectors more time"--they wouldn't have proven anything, and the longer we maintained that mobilization, the more time we give Saddam to strike convenient concentrations of US troops in Kuwait with his chemical weapons. (Remember, nobody knew he was bluffing then). And, if you're position is that you got played by George W. Chimpy McHitler Halliburton Bush as your guys call him, you're disqualified from any national office where you have to play poker with the big boys--dictators have fifty to eighty years experience in hoodwinking democratic leaders.
You vote, and you take responsibility for the vote. There's no voting with fingers crossed. You're either on the Yes side or the No side. And the Defense of Marriage Act was a gay marriage vote. Vote however you want, for whatever reason you want, but you voted how you voted. Why? Because politicians can always come up with reasons afterwards why they didn't mean that vote back then. There's a phrase, "Stand up and be counted." That's a politician's job, especially a backbencher like Kerry.
Kerry has always wanted to have it both ways. He wanted political credit for his medals to show off during campaigns, and he wanted the attention he got by throwing medals in the Reflecting Pool. He made his political career with Vietnam Veterans Against the War, but he wanted to run for President as the Good Soldier, Reporting for Duty. He voted for the war because the war was popular, and then voted against the $87 billion because Dean was creaming him in the polls.
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