PRO, AND CON, ON FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF KERRY'S WAR MONTHS
jim geraghty reporting
TKS
I figured my call for the world to “move on” from John Kerry would cause a bit of a stir. There are some e-mails of agreement, some e-mails of angry disagreement, and some compelling arguments against my position.
TKS reader Jay:
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It is with deep regret that I read your KerrySpot of 6/8..."To borrow a phrase, it is time to Move On."
There are 250+ Swift Vets and POWs who would like to do nothing better. Unfortunately for them, their collective names are now being used by Kerry and the MSM as a euphemism for "smear".
Move on from THAT? I think not Jim, and it is unconscionable to me that those who so readily partook in the great rhetorical war that was Campaign '04 might so easily leave the heroes of that battle to fend for themselves in the war of words.
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TKS reader Paul:
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Democrats almost universally believe the Swift Boat charges were nothing but a pack of lies. In fact, I would almost call it the main permanent legacy of the last election for that side.
I maintain that belief is very damaging to politics, because it feeds Left certainty that Republicans control everything and will stoop to ever new lows in their lust for power.
So if Kerry is allowed to get away with doing something half-assed that he can claim disproves the Swift charges, and the press plays along, that's cementing in place a cynicism-inducing reality in our politics.
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Well, let’s be aware of what we can and cannot do. Even if the Navy or the National Personnel Record Center were to release an encyclopedia of documents verifying every word and punctuation mark of “Unfit for Command,” John Kerry will still use the term “Swift Boat Vets” as a euphemism for smear.
John Kerry’s war record has been the centerpiece of his campaigns in 1982, 1984, and 2004, and came up in the final days of his 1996 race. It is a key part of the identify of the man who became one of the biggest names in the Democratic Party, and won the party’s nomination in 2004. If his much-touted record is not what he claimed it to be, it would reveal that many, many individuals over the years were duped by Kerry’s claims. Again, if leading Democrats were to acknowledge that the Swifties had a point, it would be like conceding that Clinton was impeached for suborning perjury, not “lying about sex.” We’re talking about arguments and perceptions that are central to the identity of the modern Democratic Party.
And were the mainstream media to be confronted with such stark evidence that Kerry’s war record wasn’t as sterling as he made it sound, credit to the Swifties would only be marginal. A lot of people are deeply invested in the idea of Kerry as a war hero, and in a form of cognitive dissonance, cannot acknowledge that all 200+ Swift Boat Vets might not be lying.
If your aim is to get the mainstream media to admit that the Swifties were right about some points and raised a valid counter-narrative to Kerry’s war years – er, months – then you’re going to be waiting a long time. I mean, Dan Rather is still saying the CBS memos “could be” real. These guys don’t concede points when we’ve got all the evidence on our side; why would they concede when the issue is differing memories?
TKS reader Jim raises a good point, however, that for all of the hubbub and rancor over this topic, there are certain disputed points it would be nice to resolve.
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I still want answers to the outstanding questions. You know, the ones about the discharge in the early ‘70’s vs. the late ‘70’s. The ones about the actual orders regarding Cambodia. The ones about who wrote the after action reports for the Purple Hearts. Those haven’t been answered and I suspect, never will, or at least won’t until we (or our descendants who by that time *really* won’t care) can get our hands on the pertinent documents.
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The lucky hat. The “running guns” to the Khmer Rouge. Yeah, I’d like to know the whole story on those points. But life is short, and there are more pressing priorities.
Numerous readers point to postings on PowerLine discussing whether we have seen all of Kerry’s records in their entirety. From TKS reader Jack:
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If we move on, Kerry will have succeeded in his cover-up.
According to the Boston Globe, Kerry sent his SF180 to the Navy, and that is who released the records. The problem is, his complete record is not maintained by the Navy, but by the National Personnel Record Center. In order to obtain a complete record, the request should have gone to the NPRC.
He could have settled this matter once and for all by authorizing the release of his unexpurgerated record by the NPRC. Instead, he again weaseled around an honest response to requests for the whole truth about his military service.
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It will be interesting to see where this goes.
For those who wish to devote more time, energy and effort into getting to the bottom of what Kerry did and didn’t do in 1971, be my guest. Perhaps someday someone at the National Personnel Record Center will uncover a dusty pile of files, recognize the name, and turn them over to the National Archives.
But John Kerry is spent as a political force, and his capacity to influence national policy is the same as 99 other senators. A majority of Americans said, “no thanks” to his presidency; his party sees him as the scapegoat for their poor performance in 2004.
Besides, the MSM can insist that the Swifties are “discredited.” The authors of “Unfit for Command” claim they sold 3 million copies. Swift Boat Vets for Truth ended up with tens of thousands of donors. Discredited in their circles, perhaps.
Pursue it further if you wish, but I believe that the vast majority of Americans have heard all they want to hear on this topic.
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