Why is he afraid?
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| Thu, 08-19-2004 - 10:16pm |
By Kevin D. Korenthal
Aug 20, 2004
The Democratic Nominee, Senator John F. Kerry was among those that bullied the president into signing a release to have all of his Air National Guard service records released to the public. You remember the assault: The media went non-stop quoting this Democrat and that Democrat calling on Bush to prove that he did not go Absent Without Leave (AWOL) from the Guard where he served, stateside as a pilot. Democrats that had never served in any branch of the military like DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe were among those screeching the loudest for Bush to release the records but John Kerry; the decorated Vietnam Veteran was over on the side agreeing Bush is not being forthcoming. Not that this issue even matters against the issues. Nonetheless, Bush complied.
Fast forward to today. Senator Kerry’s medals from Vietnam are being challenged by a group of veterans that served with Mr. Kerry in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Among the allegations Mr. Kerry has not fully answered are those that challenge the severity of and the circumstances surrounding 2 of Kerry’s 3 purple hearts, the commendation to those who are significantly wounded in battle. John E. O'Neill who leads the Swift Boat Vets For Truth and is the co-author of Unfit For Duty insists he's only trying to spread the truth about a man who has used his combat record as the centerpiece of his presidential bid. Based on Mr. O’Neill’s words and actions and on his critical comments of Kerry dating all the way back to 1972, we have reason to believe the allegations against Mr. Kerry do have merit.
The need for answers does not stop there. This week the Bush Campaign came out with a television add that blasts the Democrat nominee for missing almost all of the Senate Intelligence Committee meetings while just 2 weeks ago claiming he would “rebuild our intelligence community†after the failures of 9/11 and Iraq. Specifically the Bush ad claims John Kerry missed 70 meetings in a row following the 1st WTC attack in 1993. Today the Kerry campaign in it’s usual spin says that Kerry did indeed miss the PUBLIC meetings but went to the entire closed-door Intelligence Committee meetings throughout his time on that committee. The records from the open committee meetings are a matter of public record and cannot be disputed. But the records of attendance to the closed-door meetings cannot be released on a specific member w/out that member’s authorization. The Head of The Senate Intelligence Committee has said that upon receiving such authorization from Mr. Kerry he would produce the records.
You have heard the Democrats convict the Bush Administration of being “the most secretive administration in historyâ€. The Democrats as we have discussed have had no compunction about demanding The President be 100% forthcoming. But where are the calls from the top Democrats for Kerry to release his Vietnam Medical records that would describe the nature and severity of the wounds he used to obtain 3 purple hearts and thus an early ticket home from Vietnam? Why aren’t the talking heads from CNN, ABC, MSNBC, CBS as well as the editorial writers of The New York & Los Angeles Times calling for John Kerry to give permission for the Chairman of the Select Intelligence Committee to release his attendance records?

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Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board
As to the release of records - All of Bush's records are safely locked up in Daddy's Presidential Library and Bush made sure to pass a law that makes these records that of his family and under their control, passing such control to his kids and grandkids, etc. So nobody will ever be able to research anything he's done. A lot of their (Bush Admin) meetings are behind closed doors, untaped and unrecorded in any way. I don't believe we have seen all of his military records. Some documents, such as the subpeoned list of Rangers/Pioneers from the 2000 election, were supposed lost, deleted on a computer with no back-up stashed away somewhere (yeah right. Like we believe the biggest fundraising list in campaign history was lost.) Records routinely come up as lost or shredded. Campaign stops are only for those willing to pledge allegiance and sign forms in blood? Who is it you think has something to hide?
BTW - I'd love to see real medical records on Bush.
Renee ~~~
Renee ~~~
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing...." it used to be a punchline on a TV show called Sledgehammer. It was a very poor idea to listen to him....
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Untrue.
Renee ~~~
Yet the liberals have treated Bush in the same manner. What makes Kerry's records exempt from scrutiny? He's the challenger. It behooves him to prove that he's the better candidate for the job of president.
Liberals complain that Kerry's past shouldn't be scrutinized yet they keep harping on about the president's past. Yet, if you will remember, Kerry made his Viet Nam war experience the centerpiece of the DNC in Boston. Since he has done so, it's fair game.
He never claimed to be a hero either. Having spoken to veterans (of which my hubby is one) many have admitted that they would never brag about their experience the way Kerry did. It would not even occur to them to do so. It is a matter of honor--of doing their job. They consider his claims (whether true or not) to be disgusting, narcissistic behavior.
We do not need someone in the oval office who has fabricated a portion of their personal history to make them more appealing to a voter, that is a severe character flaw, and I hope you can see through the "fog of war" on this.
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