Kerry Campaign takes the high road, refuses to question Bush's service

No, he attacked the DECISIONS MADE BY THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THE WAR!!!

Why can you not understand that?

 

Oh of course, just like he insulted 'the other veterans' but not the swiftees in the fraudulent, dishonest speech before Congress in 1971. Right. Very credible.


Why does Kerry insist on silencing Vietnam War veterans? Have they not earned a right to speak?

 

Have you guys seen the latest desperate attempt by the Kerry campaign? What on earth are these guys thinking? They are simply prolonging the issue and giving it more press. They send an enraged Rassman and Cleland to Crawford to give Bush a letter? This little stunt sure did backfire!



Cleland Tries to Deliver Letter to Bush
Max Cleland Tries to Deliver Letter Protesting Anti-John Kerry Ads to President Bush in Texas

The Associated Press



CRAWFORD, Texas Aug. 25, 2004 — Former Democratic Sen. Max Cleland tried to deliver a letter protesting ads challenging John Kerry's Vietnam service to President Bush at his Texas ranch Wednesday, but neither a Secret Service official nor a state trooper would take it.
The former Georgia senator, a triple amputee who fought in Vietnam, was carrying a letter from nine Senate Democrats who wrote Bush that "you owe a special duty" to condemn attacks on Kerry's military service.


"The question is where is George Bush's honor, the question is where is his shame to attack a fellow veteran who has distinguished himself in combat?" Cleland asked. "Regardless of the political combat involved, it's disgraceful."

Encountering a permanent roadblock to Bush's ranch, Cleland left without turning over the letter to anyone.

"I have a letter signed by nine members of the U.S. Senate, all of whom have served honorably and I'd like to hand it to a responsible officer here on the gate," Cleland said as he tried to deliver it to security personnel at the roadblock. He accused a member of the president's security detail of trying to evade him.

"I am just going to return the letter and make sure it gets in the mail," Cleland said as he returned to his car.

In their letter, the senators said, "This administration must not tacitly comply with unfounded accusations which have suddenly appeared 35 years after the fact, and serve to denigrate the service of a true American patriot."

A Texas state official and Vietnam veteran, Jerry Patterson, said someone from the Bush campaign contacted him Wednesday morning and asked him if he would travel to the ranch, welcome Cleland to Texas and accept the former senator's letter to Bush.

"I tried to accept that letter and he would not give it to me," said Patterson. "He would not face me. He kept rolling away from me. He's quite mobile."

Patterson, who spoke with the president on the phone, said the campaign asked him to give Cleland a letter for Kerry written by the Bush campaign and signed by Patterson and seven other veterans.

"You can't have it both ways," the letter said. "You can't build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up."

On Monday, the president said the group's anti-Kerry advertising should stop, but he refused to denounce it.

"The moment of truth came and went for President Bush to condemn these ads, and he still could not bring himself to do the right thing," Cleland said in a statement.

The senators signing the letter to Bush included Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Ernest "Fritz" Hollings of South Carolina, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Tom Carper of Delaware and Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg, both of New Jersey.



http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040825_1460.html

 

Are you disputing that these things took place in "free fire" zones? Are you disputing the claim that thousands of soldiers took place in these activities?

These are facts. John Kerry has said that he wishes he did not, in his idealistic youth, use the word "atrocities," but all of these things DID happen.

Exactly. Thank you for proving my point. He specifically said that the people guilty of war crimes were "the men who designed the free fire zone, the men who ordered us, the men who signed off the air raid strike areas." He was railing against the LEADERSHIP, not the soldiers.

 

They are not the "thousands" of soldiers that the GOP continues to claim that he was referring to. Kerry was questioning the leadership and the actions of that leadership, he was not impugning the honor of the everyday soldier.

I would further argue that Kerry's criticism of the war in general and the leadership specifically in those uncertain times was FAR more courageous than any of his other service. He (as documented in the Nixon tapes) was a strong, fresh face that the everyday American could relate to and stand behind. He "went to war a hawk and came back a dove" and was then strong enough to act on his convictions and help to end a war that should have been ended much earlier than it was.

John Kerry is as much a patriot for what he did AFTER the war as he is for volunteering to fight in it.

 

Andy don't you see what they are doing? They want people to focus on this. They don't want to talk about the last four years.

STOP TAKING THE BAIT!

basso Jerry Patterson? The guy that wanted to pass a law in Texas to let people take guns to church?

LOL!!!

 

Let's talk about 4 more years!!! Hillary in 08', all the way.

 

Wonderful sentiments that both I and John Kerry believe in.

What they leave out, of course, is that John Kerry voted against the funding because of the lack of specifics regarding how the money would be spent.

He has already apologized for the use of the word atrocities, and laid the blame for all of the "atrocities" and "war crimes" squarely on the shoulders of the people in charge for creating a situation where it was even possible, much less encouraged, for those soldiers to perform such acts.

Comments which ultimately helped to end the war and bring the rest of the boys back home, an action that in itself deserves a round of applause from the entire country.

Yep, they all earned it, but Kerry has EVERY right to call out liars like O'Neill when they slander and commit libel.

Um, no. Kerry has told the entire country that HE believes that Bush served honorably. Others have made plenty of comments, but the only time I heard Kerry speak out against Bush's service was during the run for the primary.

By cutting their benefits.

Except that they didn't provide enough troops, enough body armor, or enough worldwide support to make that combat accomplish its stated goal.

I don't know where they got this, Bush has cut benefits to veterans several times.

And Kerry has praised Bush's service in...Texas and Alabama.

The only thing Kerry has come out against regarding Vitnam vets has been the lies thrown around by groups like the SBVFT(L). If these groups were attacking his comments after Vietnam rather than his medals and Purple Hearts, he would knock that out of the ballpark since VIETNAM WAS AN UNJUST WAR THAT NEEDED TO END AND ALL AMERICANS KNOW THAT!

Kerry was the ultimate patriot for what he did when he came home.

 

This post sums up a lot of the problems, and corrects a lot of the misconceptions associated with this whole mess. This says a lot of what I've been thinking about the issues since they were first brought up. The swiftboat thing is played out. The GOP convention which has already planned to go negative will bring up fresh new things to debate about.

This will be fun.

 

That's not saying Bush didn't serve honorably.

 

It's pretty funny that Tom Harkin signed the Kerry letter since he has been caught "sexing" up his own service record. See: http://instapundit.com/archives/017246.php

 

My oh my!!!

From Drudge:

New LA TIMES Poll: Kerry hurt by Swift Boat attacks, Bush ahead 49% -46% for the first time this year, Bush takes 15% of all Democrats, 20% of 'conservative/moderate' Democrats while Kerry takes 3% of Republicans...

Are the swiftees to Kerry what The Scream was to Howard Dean?

Are we witnessing Kerry's WATERLOO?

Ho ho ho!