John Kerry - Hypocrite!
By Doug Hagin (09/01/04)
Recently I wrote about the supposed Liberal love of freedom of speech. The political Left loves to espouse their love of freedom to speak one’s mind until they disagree with the speech or are criticized for their views. It would appear, if one has noticed recent events concerning the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth organization, that the Liberal elitists in America also think only certain veterans are deserving of the freedom to speak out.
Certainly John Kerry has been talking and talking about his service in Vietnam ever since he announced his intention to seek the office of President of these United States. He has made his tour of duty in Vietnam the focal point of his campaign. And certainly his liberal supporters have lined up to cheer him on and these same people who laughed off Bill Clinton’s draft dodging are now seemingly hopelessly enamored with a decorated war hero in John Kerry.
One of the cries we have heard from Kerry and his supporters has been that he served his country, he understands war and he has earned a right to speak on Vietnam. Well every American holds the right to speak out on any issue, military service or not. But yes John Kerry did serve America in war and no one would deny him a right to speak. So why is he and his supporters trying so hard to shut up the 250 plus members of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth?
Since the Swift Boat members began speaking out about their views on John Kerry’s war record and his post-war protesting, the Democrats have been intent on muzzling them. Is this consistent with their message of freedom of speech is great? How about their oft-expressed view that those who served in the military and saw war first-hand had earned the right to speak out?
It would seem the Liberals are having a really hard time with consistency wouldn’t it? Sure they can look admiringly towards John Kerry and talk glowingly about his status as a honest-to-goodness war hero. They can go on and on about his three Purple Hearts and his Silver Star and his Bronze Star.
Yet their adoration of John Kerry and his service does not carry over the members of the Swift Boats Veterans. Many of these men are decorated war heroes just like Kerry is. They served in the Vietnam War just like John Kerry did. They saw war first-hand, just like John Kerry did. Yet the same Liberal supporters of John Kerry who talk of Kerry earning his right to speak are now busy smearing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Why?
It would appear that their devotion to Vietnam War heroes stops at the edge of ideological lines. John Kerry himself has been very angered over the audacity of his fellow veterans to speak out on his record during and after Vietnam. He has gone whining to the Federal Election Commission to try to get the ads put out by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth pulled off the air. He has repeatedly bashed George W. Bush demanding he pull these ads off the air. Of course President Bush did not produce these ads nor is he responsible for them, yet Kerry is demanding the President stop running these ads.
Why is he so dead-set against his fellow veterans and their right to speak out? Certainly he has no problem with the 62 million dollars of ads put out by Moveon.org and other Liberal groups attacking Bush. These ads repeatedly compare President to Adolph Hitler, and seek to smear him in every way possible. Yet John Kerry and his supporters remain silent about these.
Oh but when some group of Vietnam veterans, who by the way served with John Kerry, begin putting out ads calling Kerry to task for his post-war protests and for his alleged lies about wounds during Vietnam the political left goes berserk.
The stations which chose to run these ads about Kerry have received threats of lawsuits from lawyers hired by the Democratic Party. Why? What happened to freedom of speech? What happened to those who served earning their right to speak out?
John Kerry has run his campaign on basically one issue, his service, an entire four months, in Vietnam. His running mate, John Edwards, told America to go ask those who served with John Kerry if they wanted to know about John Kerry. Yet when those men take up the challenge and begin to speak, they are attacked by the self-proclaimed champions of freedom of speech, the Democrats.
It would seem that John Kerry and his supporters are all for freedom of speech, as long as they approve of it. It would seem they prefer the Marxist definition of freedom of speech to that of the Founding Fathers wouldn’t it?
These folks have once more exposed their true nature haven’t they? They can spew political venom all day and well into the night. They can compare Bush to Hitler, call him a draft-dodger, call him a war criminal, accuse him of lying to America, of stealing the 2000 election and other despicable acts and then boast about freedom of speech. Oh but let anyone criticize John Kerry and they call their attack-dog lawyers, threaten stations which choose to run the Swift Boat ads And begin to smear the vets making the ads.
Yes indeed the true nature of Liberalism has raised it’s ugly head for all to see. The party of hypocrites, the party of censorship, the party of lies and personal attacks. |
