How's This For An Answer!

If you mosey on down a handful of entries, you'll see a column by Mark Steyn that I uploaded. One way, WAY out there Leftie decided to throw shit at him about it, and I think Mr Steyn does an admirable job of throwing the truth right back at 'em!

SWIFT BOAT LIARS
Didn't anyone ever tell you that when a group says it wants the truth to come out, the opposite is often the case?

You write about these guys in your columns in various outlets (including the Irish Times) but obviously couldn't be bothered to find out if these guys are actually telling the truth as they have an opinion that agrees with your own.

Not one of these men actually served with John Kerry. Many actually praised Kerry at the time. A number of them have strong ties to George W. Bush and the Rep party. Others have been smearing John Kerry for years.

Here is a detailed rebuttal of their lies.
Mark Webb
Dublin


MARK REPLIES:

Ah, I see. The left’s argument is that, because John Kerry was on a Swift boat, he’s beyond criticism. But everybody else on a Swift boat is a fraud and a liar. It’s sad to see Kerry’s Cambodia Syndrome is now infecting so many other once rational people, too. I hope it’s worth it to you. I notice, for example, that your chums damning the Swift boat veterans as liars continue to stick to the Kerry-was-in-Cambodia-at-Christmas-68, even as the Kerry campaign itself is furiously modifying its story: instead of spending Christmas Eve in Cambodia, the memory of which was “seared – seared” into Kerry, the campaign is now saying he was “near” Cambodia. So you guys don’t seem to be up to speed on the new version.

But let’s look at your central claim – that these men did not serve “with” John Kerry. That’s false. What you mean is that they did not serve “under” John Kerry. They were his peers, not his subordinates – and, although Kerry seems to prefer those around him to be in a subordinate relationship, the term “served with” has never been defined that narrowly. A Swift boat is not an aircraft carrier, a world unto itself. On any engagement four or five Swift boats would go out together, about 50-75 yards apart. So is the guy on Swift boat A unqualified to pass comment on Swift boat B?

Or to put it another way: Do you see that film a few years back where Albert Finney played the conductor on a Dublin bus? Suppose a Dublin bus driver decided to run for the Dail. Is his loyal clippy the only one qualified to pass comment on his bus driving days, or do the other bus drivers of other buses on his route get a say too?

John Kerry’s own website knows the answer to that one. If you go to johnkerry.com you’ll find a photo of himself and 19 other Swift boat officers of Coastal Division 11. These men all “served with” Kerry as the term has been understood throughout military history up until last week. Of those 19 fellow officers, one – Skip Barker – supports Kerry. Two are deceased. Four don’t want to get involved. Of the remaining 12, 11 have signed a letter asking him to cease using the picture as they don’t support his campaign. The 12th would have signed it but didn’t have the opportunity.

None of this is what Campaign 2004 should have been about. But it was John Kerry who chose to run for President as a Swift boat commander and the fact that the overwhelming majority of his fellow Swiftees think he’s a fraud and a liar and unfit to be President is relevant mainly to the extent that he made it so. Nothing they’ve said about him is as bad as the stuff he said about them 30 years ago. As I said in the Telegraph, let’s take it as read that the anti-Kerry Swiftees and the pro-Kerry Swiftees are all political partisans. The fact is Kerry’s four-man “band of brothers” is tiny compared to the anti-Kerry band of brothers. If you’re loathed by Vietnam veterans, maybe it’s not a smart idea to run as one.