Nadine -
That link provides a good example of how faulty logic can be applied to supposedly refute something. For instance, the fact that Kerry hasn't sued the Swifties is used as proof that their allegations are true. That's just ridiculous on the face of it.
There are a lot of reasons why Kerry might have decided not to sue, even if the allegations are all false. Maybe he thought a lawsuit would be a harmful distraction for the campaign. Maybe after the campaign it seemed pointless. And just maybe the Swifties were just a bit too swift.
For one thing, the smearvets were VERY careful in the wording of all their accusations. The phrase you quoted "Whether Kerr's dispatching of a fleeing, wounded, armed, or unarmed teenage enemy was in accordance with the customs of war....".
That's brilliant. The phrase "unarmed teenage enemy" appears, and can be taken out of context. And it was taken out of context countless times, by many different news outlets. Thus, the insinuation that the person Kerry killed was an unarmed teenager is given widespread coverage in the press, but it would be impossible to nail the Swifites in court about the claim, because they only implied the man was an unarmed teenager, without saying it outright. It's a classic propaganda technique.
I do note that the quote does identify the VC as a teenager, and does indicate that he was fleeing, which doesn't jive with the official records of the event and the citation that Kerry received. I also note that this can't be the only place in the book where this incident is mentioned, since there's nothing about a loincloth here. Or perhaps the loincloth line comes from somewhere else? A TV or newspaper interview perhaps? If our blogger is tryiing to prove that the smearvets never said this or that, he's going to have to account for everything any of them said ever, and not just refer to one page of the book.
I'm afraid your blogger is guilty of many of the same things he attacks the Times for. In addition, he depends too much upon unfounded leaps of logic. For example, he assumes that the Times has Kerry's medical records, but that doesn't mean they do.
It's just more smoke and mirrors. How nice to be an anonymous blogger and not have to account for oneself as the Times reporters have to.
- Allen
PS: Karl Rove is a genius in the applied art of propaganda. |
