Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alastair McIntosh who wrote (62058)	8/20/2004 2:31:20 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793822

>>Unfit for bookstores - The Kerry campaign calls on a conservative publisher to withdraw book after the Washington Post torpedoes the veracity of a Swift boat veteran. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Eric Boehlert Aug. 19, 2004 \| The Kerry campaign has told Salon that the publisher of "Unfit for Command," the book that is at the center of the attack on Kerry's military record by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, is retailing a hoax and should consider withdrawing it from bookstores. "No publisher should want to be selling books with proven falsehoods in them, especially falsehoods that are meant to smear the military service of an American veteran," said Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton. "If I were them, I'd be ducking under my desk wondering what to do. This is a serious problem." Even some uncomfortable Republicans might breathe a sigh a relief if "Unfit for Command" were to vanish from bookstores: "I don't think the Swift Boat Veterans are helping the Republican cause," Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., remarked on CNN Thursday. Yanking the title may seem unlikely given the fact that Regnery Publishing, the conservative shop that is home to fire-breathing right-wing partisans like Ann Coulter and David Limbaugh, is behind the book. Thanks to the big-spending campaign of the Republican veterans group, which is bankrolled by major Bush contributors, the book has already hit bestseller lists and is sure to turn a big profit. But there is a long-standing tradition by reputable publishers of withdrawing titles that prove to be hoaxes or frauds. Just last month Random House's Australian unit was forced to pull an international bestseller after it was determined to be a fabrication. The book, "Forbidden Love," allegedly detailed the death of a Jordanian woman, murdered by her Muslim father after he discovered she was seeing a Christian man. After questions were raised, an internal investigation by Random House concluded the book was a fraud. "Unfit for Command" and the veterans group behind it are facing similar questions Thursday after the Washington Post torpedoed the veracity of one of its key members. Larry Thurlow, who commanded a Navy Swift boat alongside Kerry in Vietnam, has insisted Kerry lied about the circumstances surrounding his Bronze Star award, claiming Kerry's boat never came under enemy fire on March 13, 1969, the day an injured Kerry leaned overboard to scoop wounded Green Beret Larry Rassmann out of the river. But contrary to Thurlow's claim, the Washington Post has reported today that according to his own military files, which recorded the events of March 13, 1969, "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" were directed at "all units" of the five-boat flotilla, including Kerry's. Earlier, Retired Adm. Roy Hoffmann, chairman and co-founder of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, flip-flopped on a key element of his Kerry story. In May, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, "Hoffmann acknowledged he had no first-hand knowledge to discredit Kerry's claims to valor and said that although Kerry was under his command, he really didn't know Kerry much personally." But with the pending publication of "Unfit for Command," Hoffmann changed his story, insisting he "knew [Kerry] well." Hoffmann wasn't alone in reversing his story on the Kerry attack. In 1968, Grant Hibbard, a lieutenant commander in Vietnam during Kerry's tour, described Kerry favorably: "One of the top few in his willingness to seek and accept responsibility." But now he claims Kerry lied about his service. Another vocal Kerry critic, Capt. George Elliot, who served in Vietnam at the same time Kerry did, praised Kerry both in a 1968 evaluation ("In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action, Lieutenant Junior Grade Kerry was unsurpassed") and as recently as 1996 when Elliot publicly praised Kerry for charging after the enemy. A Regnery Publishing spokesperson did not return a call seeking comment about the factual cloud over "Unfit for Command." But if Regnery doesn't withdraw the book, perhaps bookstore retailers will at least consider moving the title over to the fiction section. salon.com

To: Alastair McIntosh who wrote (62058)	8/20/2004 2:36:59 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793822

>>>> Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton tells the online mag... Developing... <<<< It will be out late today, or tomorrow....early news.

To: Alastair McIntosh who wrote (62058)	8/20/2004 2:46:45 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793822

>>Booksellers asked to reconsider "Unfit" Calling Unfit for Command, "the Hitler Diaries of the current political season -- a complete fraud," a media advocacy group is urging major book retailers to rethink their policy surrounding the anti-John Kerry title, which stands at the center of a controversial smear campaign. Noting that key allegations in the book have already been proven to be false, Media Matters for America CEO David Brock today wrote to Wal-Mart, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble "to express my concern that by continuing to sell "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" as a work of nonfiction, prominent book retailers are complicit in a literary hoax." On Thursday, a Kerry campaign spokesman told Salon that Unfit for Command's publisher should recall the book since it's based on "falsehoods." "We'd be surprised if they'd keep publishing a book that's been proven to have outright lies in it," said Chad Clanton. In the past, reputable publishers have withdrawn titles from the marketplace after being revealed to be hoaxes, such as The Hitler Diaries. But Regnery Publishing, the firm behind Unfit for Command is known for its openly conservative agenda and it's doubtful the company would take actions to correct the book's assertions, let alone pull the title. "I therefore ask you to consider what is the responsibility of a bookseller when a prominent work of nonfiction is found to be based on false information," wrote Brock. "It's important to keep in mind that official military records (as well as the statements of all but one of Kerry's crewmates) flatly contradict the lies in Unfit for Command." He urged the retailers to pull off their shelves, or at least alert readers to the book's factual shortcoming. One way, suggested Brock, would be to include links on Unfit for Command's product page, alerting online shoppers to recent articles that refute the book's claim. salon.com