Rumor mill buzzing on Kerry's discharge status
BELDAR BLOG
My email inbox is brimming.
Yes, I'm aware that there are rumors buzzing about a breaking big story on Sen. Kerry's Navy discharge, about which I last wrote in a post entitled "Was Kerry's original discharge less than honorable?" on October 13th. My conclusion then was that records analyzed by reporter Thomas Lipscomb in a New York Sun article could support the hypothesis that Sen. Kerry received something other than a full-fledged honorable discharge. But as you'll see if you read my comments thread, there were lots of contrary arguments as well. And as I recognized in my last update to that post, there was at least one other plausible contrary inference from the records — equally speculative — that could have explained what seemed to be an odd statutory reference in a page from Kerry's records displayed on his campaign website.
The immediate source of the rumors is a [since-pulled — see updates below] post by "NavyChief" on the SwiftVets site (but their server is likely to be overwhelmed shortly):
Okay, folks.
We got it finally. We have the Former Secretary of the Navy who stated, "Yes, Kerry did receive an Other Than Honorable Discharge".
Stay tuned for more...
Now to MAKE THE MEDIA AND CONGRESS LISTEN!
Go my brothers and sisters -- spread the news to everyone!!!!
- Chief_______________________________________________________
PoliPundit, Power Line, and Redstate all have threads up, plus check the Trackback link from Power Line and also the Trackbacks to my post here.
I have no inside info at this point, although I would not be surprised if, as PoliPundit's post suggests, this rumor may refer to something about to be published by Mr. Lipscomb. I know he's been continuing to work on the story, but I don't know any details.
I repeat that these are, at this stage, rumors, and I humbly request that anyone linking this post make clear that such is my present opinion.
Based on my past experience with him and reading of his work, though, like many others, I've found NavyChief — a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer and father of five named Troy Jenkins from San Antonio, who's included (at about the 3-minute, 55-second mark) in the fourth of the SwiftVets' "mini-documentaries" released yesterday, entitled "No Man Left Behind (Pt. 1)" — to be a diligent, bright, and knowledgeable fellow. Like all of us, he's human, and he's occasionally stumbled in his digging through Kerry's records, but when he's done so, he's acknowledged it quickly. His new post on the SwiftVets site certainly indicates, however, that this is more than an inference drawn from records — and instead a former Navy Secretary, speaking, one would presume, from personal knowledge. (See also this very provocative post, from a blogger I'm unacquainted with and hence cannot vouch for even by reputation.)
As they say ... "developing." If this falls through, I'll be among the first to concede that point. If it pans out, I admit that I'll be tickled pink.
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Update #1 (Fri Oct 29 @ 2:35pm): The original thread on the SwiftVets forum has been pulled. Make of that what you will; I don't know what to make of it, but it would seem to be equally consistent with either (1) a glitch in the story that casts doubt upon it or (2) a desire to release the story in a less haphazard fashion.
Update #2 (Fri Oct 29 @ 2:52pm): This thread suggests that NavyChief's post was pulled because it represented his personal statement rather than something that the SwiftVets organization is yet ready to be identified with:
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We have been advised that material was recently posted to this forum referencing the nature of John Kerry's discharge from the military service. That material has been deleted from this forum.
Please be advised that posts made to this forum express the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Swift Vets and POWs for Truth.
>>>
That strikes me as prudent at this point, regardless of whether the rumor turns out to be well-founded or not. This is still just a rumor.
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