Here we go again.....Uuggghhhh
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| Wed, 08-25-2004 - 12:10pm |
Kerry Campaign Questioned Bush Service Record
By Jeff Gannon
Talon News
August 25, 2004
(Talon News) -- The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth controversy continued to rage Tuesday, with new calls from Democrats for Republicans to denounce the ads being run by a group who say that Sen. John Kerry is "unfit for command." More veterans on both sides of the debate have come forward to provide their own recollections of events in question.
Kerry said in a speech yesterday the Republicans are running a "fear and smear" campaign. He said the Bush campaign and their allies are trying to avoid the real issues facing America. Both the SBVT and the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign have denied any relationship between the two groups. Such "coordination" with the independent 527 soft money group would be illegal.
Republicans have countered that the Democrats' links to MoveOn.org, the Media Fund, and Americans Coming Together constitute illegal coordination that has resulted in $62 million of attack ads against the President since the beginning of the year.
Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie said yesterday that he hoped Kerry would join Bush in calling for an end to the 527 groups and their activities. He said that the RNC had filed a complaint with the Federal Election Committee a long time ago. The panel chose not to act until after this year's election.
Gillespie said that as long as the Supreme Court recognizes that certain aspects of the political process can be regulated, "These organizations that clearly exist to help elect or defeat a candidate for federal office should play by the same rules as those of us who are subject to the campaign finance laws."
Gillespie recalled Kerry's 1992 statement when he said that it's not right for political purposes to divide the country by who served or who didn't or who served how.
Gillespie said, "I think it would be helpful for Senator Kerry to tell those veterans who speak on his behalf like Sen. Cleland or Wesley Clark who have called the president unpatriotic and made other charges and have denigrated the honor of National Guard service. That's unacceptable."
Democrats and the media made Bush's Vietnam-era service with the Air National Guard the subject of intense scrutiny and speculation for the past year. Despite the fact that Bush received an honorable discharge following his service, many prominent Democrats including Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe continue to accuse the president of having been AWOL.
The Kerry campaign raised many questions about Bush's service record in April 2004.
In a press release posted on the campaign web site, Kerry is quoted telling NBC News, "If George Bush wants to ask me questions about that through his surrogates, he owes America an explanation about whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard. Prove it. That's what we ought to have. I'm not going to stand around and let them play games."
Bush said Monday that he believed Kerry served "honorably" and isn't making an issue of his record in Vietnam. Bush said that he'd rather focus on Kerry's record in the Senate.
There have been several new twists in the Swift Boat saga that continue to dominate the political space. Kerry phoned Robert "Friar Tuck" Brant Cdr., USN (Ret) Sunday night to ask what was motivating the SBVT. Brant was skipper of the #96 and #36 boat and spent time with Kerry in An Thoi.
During the 10 minute call, Brant is reported to have told Kerry, "You should know what you said when you came back, the impact it had on the young sailors and how it was disrespectful of our guys that were killed over there."
Kerry is said to have responded, "When we dedicated swift boat one in '92, I said to all the swift guys that I wasn't talking about the swifties, I was talking about all the rest of the veterans."
The latest ad being run by the "Swifties" centers on Kerry's testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971 where he accused American soldiers of committing war crimes.

Kerry is said to have responded, "When we dedicated swift boat one in '92, I said to all the swift guys that I wasn't talking about the swifties, I was talking about all the rest of the veterans."
Well, isn't that dandy...if this is true, John Kerry is speaking of a number of people I personally served with during my time...not experiencing warm fuzzies here.
I personally feel as you, that Kerry opened this can of worms, and has to deal with his mess that he himself made. Being the intellectual that he is, he should have known that his own words would eventually come back to haunt him, and that they were being used as a weapon against POW's. If he didnt know that then he is very naive.
This is what I see the typical news like at night.
FoxNews
Headline story.....Swift Vets or something related
Following story.....Laci Peterson murder case
CNN
Same thing but possibly in reverse order
Then they talk about each topic until the guests run out of things to say.......
I knew that there were three items covered on the news each night....LOL