More Swift Lies

So let me get this straight. John Kerry’s swift boat critics claim he has lied about his service in Vietnam. Yet these same individuals not only received awards for the same action but also praised Kerry at the time as a courageous and resourceful commander. Kerry’s crew and others who served in the same unit support his version of events. But the US media accords Kerry’s critics the same credibility as John Kerry. It just doesn’t make sense.

It makes even less sense when you compare Kerry’s record to Bush’s. Whether or not John Kerry’s wounds were or were not superficial, he was in a combat situation where his life was at risk. George Bush was living the life of a spoiled rich kid in Texas where his only risk was drinking himself into a stupor or driving while intoxicated. Kerry may have served a shortened tour in Vietnam but Bush wasn’t even able to complete the minimal service required of a National Guardsman.

The swift boat veterans who now accuse Kerry of lying and exaggeration are, at best, dupes of the Republican disinformation machine which so far has managed to distract the American public from the Bush’s foreign policy disaster in Iraq. The media and public are spending valuable time reviewing documents and listening to veterans recall long past events, trying to decide whether or not John Kerry really was a “hero”.

The term hero is one that is used quite liberally these days to describe any service man or woman who goes into harm’s way. While I think that the current usage devalues the term, I have no doubt that John Kerry qualifies under this standard. He went into harm’s way and conducted himself in a manner that earned the respect and support of the men whose lives he risked in combat. What in George Bush’s life comes even remotely close to John Kerry’s achievements as a wartime commander.

And for that matter, what in George Bush’s life compares to Kerry’s record of service as a public official. Kerry has spent most of the last three decades in public service as a prosecutor, lieutenant governor and US senator. George Bush spent most of that same time as a failed businessman and alcoholic before he “found Jesus” and stopped drinking. Since that time he has served as the frontman for a dubious collection of corporate interests whose policies favor the rich over the interests of most Americans.

I don’t mean to be objective here. I’m very angry at the way a group of wealthy Republicans can fund a deceptive advertisement against a man who has a credible record of service to his country as a naval officer, opponent of a misguided war and senator and totally hijack the political discourse.

I’m also damned angry at the swift boat vets making the charges against Kerry. I think most of their hostility comes from Kerry’s anti-war testimony where they claim he accused all Americans of committing war crimes. Their anger has led them to make the same kind of blanket statements that they believe Kerry made in his 1971 testimony before Congress. The swift boat vets say that Kerry slandered all veterans even as they disparage and denigrate the service of their own men.

A-f*****g-mazing!