Some excerpts from WaPo reporter Dobbs "live" online interview monday.
Washington, D.C.: Fair article. I liked the way you gave the pros and cons. My question is why is the media not giving as much play to Kerry's evasions than they are to trying to prove the swiftboat vets with an agenda? While they do have an agenda, that doesn't mean that Kerry record should not be explored because he has made such a big deal about it. What about his repeated incursion into cambodia that have no records. Has anybody besides himself said they were in Cambodia? Any of his shipmates that support him?
Michael Dobbs: Thanks. I was focussing on the Bronze star incident, so I have not paid so much attention to the Cambodia claim. There are witnesses who both support his version, and say it is untrue.
The veteran liars are a band of rogue unemployed traitors, given millions by Republicans defending Bush. They try to destroy the reputation of a true hero and the media lets them do what they can. How can you and the media sleep at night knowing that this miscreants are abroad?
Michael Dobbs: In my article Sunday, I was attempting to reconstruct as best I could the events surrounding the day Kerry was awarded the Bronze star, and rescued Jim Rassman from the river. I believe that I laid out the facts as completely as i could. I wrote that both sides were holding back information but I did not think that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had proven their case that Kerry is lying about this incident.
Arlington, Va.: What is you analysis of the Kerry campaign's response? Did they wait too long to mount a strong response to these ads? Polls seem to indicate that the ads have had a negative affect.
Michael Dobbs: I am not a campaign tactician. But if Kerry has nothing to hide, it would seem to me obvious that his campaign should put everything out there. It is mystifying to me why they should fail to cooperate fully with my requests for information. (I should say that they did help me get in touch with a number of Kerry's former crew members, just as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth helped me contact some of his accusers.)
Falls Church, Va.: The Swift Boat issue has been around since May. Why did the major TV networks and newspapers finally decide to notice and cover it now? They were swarming all over the topic of Bush's National Guard record back in February, but seem to have attempted to bury any negative news related to Kerry's war record until now.
Michael Dobbs: Your question goes to the question of when something becomes news, or when information acquires "legs", in newspaper jargon, and everyone is talking about it. In this case, it is true that relatively little attention was paid to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth accusations until this month. That changed (1) because they went on the air with an advertisement, and that generated controversy, and (2) a book came out by one of the main accusers that shot to the top of best-seller lists.
Broad Run, Va.: Your article notes that Kerry is honoring an agreement with Professor Brinkley that Kerry's journals and other contemporary writings are at the exclusive disposition of Professor Brinkley. Are such agreements common? Since the appearance of your article, have there been any signals from Professor Brinkley that access or additional quotations will be forthcoming?
Michael Dobbs: Such agreements are fairly common. what is strange about this particular exclusivity agreement is that it is still in effect, some eight months after Brinkley published his book. That seems rather unusual to me. I have not heard back from Prof. Brinkley since I began raising questions about the inconsistencies/factual errors in his book. Earlier (about 10 days ago) we had a telephone conversation in which he said that he was still drawing on the Kerry "diaries" for articles in the Washington Monthly, the New Yorker, and a paperback edition of his book.
Ocean View, Hawaii:
Michael Dobbs!
Question:
Why didn't you accept -- on two occasions, I understand, the invitation from the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth to interview members of Swift Boat Veterans For Truth there, in your offices in Washington, D.C.. In particular, prior to your false story that you published about Swiftee Larry Thurlow?
washingtonpost.com: Records Counter a Critic of Kerry, (Post, Aug. 19)
Michael Dobbs: I am glad to have the opportunity to rebut this falsehood. Mr O'Neill went on television (Fox News and CNN, I believe) to say that I refused to talk with his members. This is untrue. I have always been willing to talk with people from both sides, particularly if they were actually participants in the events in question.
Michael Dobbs: Actually, we got 880 questions, which may be some kind of record. I am glad some of you got the opportunity to air your concerns. I have been receiving a similar deluge of e-mails. |
