T Nation

Interesting

Politics and World Issues
#1

“To really understand John Kerry, you have to listen to those who served with him in Vietnam.”
-John Edwards
Vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Party

“I do not believe John Kerry is fit to be commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States. This is not a political issue. It is a matter of judgement, truthfullness, reliability, loyalty, and trust-all absolute tenets of command.”
-Rear Admiral Roy F. Hoffmann, USN(Retired) Commander of the Swift Boats in Vietnam, 1968-1969

#2

This person is a officer member of the Republican party right here in Richmond, VA and is also a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. And we should all know by now that this was a shill group for the Republican party. With those things going for him, he is not going to support anyone other than his party. He took out a full page ad in the Richmond Times-Dispatch to point out his views.

#3

To call them a shrill for the republican party is ridiclious…more than half their members were registered democrats. The author of the book was a Texas Democrat.

but seriously, havent we beaten this issue enough yet

#4

[quote]biltritewave wrote:
To call them a shrill for the republican party is ridiclious…[/quote]

You’re right. The Swift Boat Liars for Bush are a shill group for the “Reappoint George Bush No Matter What” party.

#5

[quote]bigflamer wrote:
“To really understand John Kerry, you have to listen to those who served with him in Vietnam.”
-John Edwards
Vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Party[/quote]

In order for this to be an anti-Kerry comment, you have to accept the premise of John Edwards as being factual. Are you willing to do that?

Anyhow, does anyone really care about character references in an election? I could easily find 10 people that would be more than willing to desecrate my character and 10 that would do almost anything for me. Now, let’s say I’m in a public spotlight–oh I don’t know… maybe a career politician? You could probably multiply both of those numbers by a few hundred. So, would there be a sect of people that could form a group against me similar to SBVFT? Absolutely.

The point? Uhhhh… Don’t vote for Terumo! But seriously, I just don’t see how individual character references can be applicable for either side other than the extra kindling they throw on the fire for the extreme left/right (whose votes are already locks, anyway).

~Terumo

#6

I heard some interesting facts about Kerry’s anti-Vietnam War activities, that I wished I had known sooner.

First, the Swift Boat Vets claim that Kerry gave “false testimony” in front of Congress, that many of the vets at the Winter Soldier summit were “lying” and some had “never been to VietNam”.

But according to George Butler (the director of the Kerry documentary “Going Upriver” and Pumping Iron) there is NO EVIDENCE that any of the soldiers at the Winter Soldier summit were lying, and no evidence that anyone at the Winter Soldier summit hadn’t actually served in Vietnam.

Kerry did not lie in front of Congress. It’s well-documented that war crimes did occur in Viet Nam and that some were committed with the knowledge or even under the direction of commanding officers… for example the designated “free fire zones” where soldiers were instructed to shoot anything that moves inside the zone, including civilians. Shooting civilians is obviously illegal.

Also, Kerry’s testimony did NOT blame the grunts, it placed blame starting at the top, with the generals and the Pentagon and the White House.

Also, Kerry spent one paragraph discussing war crimes and atrocities, (in testimony that lasted 40 minutes if I recall correctly).

More: According to an editorial in Soldier of Fortune magazine, the Viet Cong stopped using torture against American POWs in 1969. John Kerry gave his testimony before Congress in 1971. I wouldn’t claim to know that torture was non-existant after 1971 but in my opinion anyone who claims that he was tortured “because of John Kerry” is deluded at best, and possibly lying at worst.

Also, I see people claiming that Kerry had a “secret meeting” with Viet Cong representatives in Paris. The meeting was not “secret”, it was public knowledge at the time and Kerry even mentions it in his testimony. Some anti-war vets wanted the anti-war movement to hold ongoing talks with the Viet Cong, and Kerry was against that (and to my knowledge no further meetings ever occurred).