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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wayners who wrote (613812)	8/30/2004 9:55:28 AM
From: PROLIFE	Respond to of 769670

WHO IS SLANDERING ALL VETS?: Critics of the Swift Boat Veterans have taken to charging that their critique of John Kerry's medals amounts to a slandering of the service and the medals of all Vietnam veterans. Aside from being untrue, the argument is a problematic one for the Kerry campaign. Thirty-three years ago when John Kerry threw his medals (or ribbons) over the fence in protest, he went out of his way to say that the "perversion" of the war had stripped the integrity from his - and by implication from all - Vietnam decorations and medals: "This [Nixon] administration forced us to return our medals because beyond the perversion of the war these leaders themselves denied us the integrity those symbols supposedly gave our lives." - John Kerry, April 1971 What really sticks in the craw of veterans, of course, is that after Kerry denounced the value of his Vietnam medals and used them in a piece of public theatre to vault himself to national stardom, Kerry changed his tune about their value and significance: "I'm proud of my medals. I always was proud of them." - John Kerry, December 2003 Perhaps even more telling is the quote he gave to National Journal in 1988: "I was proud of my personal service and remain so." (emphasis added). Given the way Kerry has exploited his medals and service over the years for personal gain, is it any wonder that a group of his fellow veterans have come forward to call him on it? Anyone who thinks the Swift Boat Veterans are a creature of Karl Rove and George Bush simply doesn't get it. They are a creature of John Kerry, and they attack him now because of the way he attacked their honor back in 1971. realclearpolitics.com