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August 8, 2004
Prediction ...
The Truth Laid Bear does not speak very often. But he speaks now.
The biggest problem for Kerry is that the Swifties' attacks confirm what we really want to believe about him anyway. He's been so damned annoying about his Vietnam record that we secretly want to think the worst of him, and now the Swifties have provided a rational basis for that gut-level irritation that Kerry inspires when he blathers on about his war record. This isn't just bad for Kerry, it's disasterous: the amorphous negative that normal people have when exposed to Kerry's "leadership, courage, and sacrifice" / "three purple hearts" mantra now has a core of fact -- or at least, alleged fact --- around which to crystalize.Unless Kerry's campaign manages to completely discredit the Swifties --- which seems increasingly unlikely --- the campaign is over; Kerry is done
I truly hope The Bear is right.
I have noticed that there are a lot of comments from apparent Kerry supporters on everyone's blog - and they all seem to say the same thing: (this is a comment from one of my posts):
What kind of person attacks the military record of a man who volunteered to serve his country in Vietnam and was wounded in battle? You people really take the cake. Kerry served. Bush pulled strings to avoid it. All you accomplish with scurrilous attacks on Kerry's military service is to keep reminding people about this fundamental difference in their personal character.
And the commenter *never* has a valid email address or a web URL.
The thing is, oh ye anonymous commenters, it looks more and more like Kerry was not wounded in battle so much as he wounded himself, at least once.
The thing is, Democrat speakers, Kerry did not lead or behave as the majority of Military Officers behave when he got out of Vietnam on his 3rd Purple Heart in 3 months - the one which now appears to be accidentally self-inflicted.
I have not heard of other officers getting out on the 3rd Purple Heart loophole - most officers have more honor than to do that.
Kerry is apparently without honor. He should not lead our country. He should not even lead a Boy Scout Troop, with his inability to avoid so many injuries - he would be a bad example.
Posted by Beth at August 8, 2004 1:19 PM
Comments
And that's the thing Beth. I'll give him his due for serving. But it's his actions both during and after that show the character. That's the point that so many of us are making and that HOPEFULLY more and more people are getting.
You can not judge a man by a quick glance into his past. All of us have things we are not proud of - but when you really look at Kerry the man, I see more of the selfishness than leadership.
Posted by: Tammi at August 8, 2004 1:42 PM
I got a similar comment on my site last week, accusing the Swift Vets of waging a GOP-backed smear campaign and whatnot. Only thing is, it came from a close friend of mine, not an anonymous astroturfer.
I'm not sure what this means, if anything, but it might imply that whoever launched the meme did a good job of selling it.
Posted by: Jeff Harrell at August 8, 2004 2:30 PM
Drudge had a comment up over the weekend that perhaps it wasn't Kerry that used the 3-purple-hearts-and-get-out rule. There is some evidence it was his fellow veterans that wanted him to leave.
Posted by: Michael at August 9, 2004 5:06 PM
Tammi's absolutely right. It's his conduct during ("I wanna go home! Please send me home!") and after ("Those men are war criminals. They're murderers.") that make Kerry such a target each and every time he opens his mouth or puffs up his chest at the mention of Vietnam. He can't have it both ways. He can't condemn the Vietnam War and his fellow men AND still claim to have honorably served.
Posted by: Da Goddess at August 11, 2004 10:54 PM