Because of the Kerry/Swiftie conflagration, to a surprising extent the blogs may end up driving this election. Instapundit is not the only blog with his stats at new highs. This one too. And I imagine there are a number of others.
We are on Internet Time and the mainstream media and cable television, although they may pretend otherwise, will be watching us like the proverbial hawks. Heady as this is, it is incumbent on us to be responsible and to fact check others and ourselves. Partisanship will reign as it always does, here and elsewhere, but we must set an example by being up front about our biases. Bloggers are human and therefore not impartial. MSM may act as if they are, but everyone knows better. We must set an example too in correcting our mistakes. Don’t bury them the way the major newspapers often do. Put them on top for all to see. And remember this above all – we are all going to have to live with each other on November 3.
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55 Comments
1. ambisinistral:The SBVT is the first time the internet has driven a national news story. It will be interesting to see how traditional journalism rationalizes the internet as it looks back and analyzes this election.
Print media has always looked down on television news as being unable to provide the depth a newspaper or news magazine can. Although political blogs are closer to debate than journalism, the better blogs have clearly provided much more detail than newspapers or magazines possibly can. In short, their high ground of detail and depth has been hijacked by nonjournalists.
Roger, I wouldn’t be too concerned about bias and innacuracies because a blog is debate rather than reporting. Anybody who has ever followed an internet debate, or its more livid cousin the flamewar, knows that the readers are the filters. They are the ones decide the relative veracity of both sides engaged in a debate. Something judged as an oft repeated lie eventually will bring out the lurkers and infrequent posters to give a thumbs down. When one side is beating a dead horse longer than is seemly they’ll be told to give it up.
To keep blogs working right we don’t have to adhere to journalism rules, we have to adhere to the rules of good debate.
Aug 24, 2004 - 9:56 am 2. Roger:I take your point. But a good debater, especially in this context, is sharp and true. He/she sticks as close as possible to the facts. That’s the way to win.
Aug 24, 2004 - 9:59 am 3. R C Dean:The SBVT is the first time the internet has driven a national news story.
Not so sure. I seem to recall that the MSM had buried the Lewinski story until Drudge smoked it out. That, I think, was the critical breakthrough in near-monolithic control of information by the old-line media outlets.
Aug 24, 2004 - 10:06 am 4. M. Simon:When I said Alston was not on the 13 March run I was wrong.
What I should have said is that there is no proof he was on the 13 March run and Short may have been the “top gun”. In fact there is some slight evidence that Alston’s wound recieved before Kerry got the PCF-94 may have been his ticket home.
When I said Kerry had no shrapnel in his leg I was wrong.
What I should have said is that there is no proof he had any shrapnel still left in his leg. No x-rays. No medical reports etc.
–==–
What is the War Hero Afraid of?
Form 180. Release ALL the records.
Video link
Aug 24, 2004 - 10:13 am 5. Jamie Irons:It’s interesting that of the best blogs several belong to lawyers or law professors, and then we have Roger, a writer of mystery novels…
Seems there is something about having an eye for the telling detail, and and an ear for inconsistencies in the telling of a story, that is the key…
Jamie Irons
Aug 24, 2004 - 10:27 am 6. John Lynch:Roger
There’s nothing in your comments that we shouldn’t live by in any case: blogging, in-person, casual, or under-fire.
Still, reminder noted.
Aug 24, 2004 - 11:25 am 7. Barry Dauphin:I also think the internet and blogs had a big hand in driving the Trent Lott story.
Aug 24, 2004 - 11:27 am 8. Rick Ballard:Jamie,
I think I’d extend that “best of bloggers” a bit further. Certainly, Roger is a professional story teller, his books are worth reading (I’d recommend The Lost Coast) and good trial lawyers are by nature and practice able to weave facts into a believable narrative but how do you account for SDB and Belmont Club? The ability to write believable narrative is linked more to practice than to profession in my opinion. Shoot, the savage CPA from Ohio writes good pieces when he puts his mind to it.
Now, if we could only figure out a way to make money off of all this good writing…
Aug 24, 2004 - 11:31 am 9. John Lynch:The Ballard isn’t too bad either, when his PRIVWE is working.
Aug 24, 2004 - 11:43 am 10. Sandy P:Oh, boy, via Crooowblog, in the WP:
When John Kerry decided it was time to do his first national TV interview since the Swift boaters for Bush launched their attack on the senator’s Vietnam War record, he did not choose CBS’s “60 Minutes,” ABC’s “Nightline” or “NBC Nightly News.”
Kerry picked Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” where he will appear tonight in an extended interview.
Aug 24, 2004 - 11:57 am 11. Knucklehead:Rick Ballard,
I am also a fan of SDB and the Belmont Club. In the case of SDB I believe his extreme analytical nature and years of engineering are a key to the quality (if not the length) of his analysis. I have no idea what Wretchard’s background is but some stuff he put up today leads me to believe he’s got some background in SW engineering.
In the case of these professions, they each require an ability to research and analyze, develope a plan, and defend that plan to other intelligent people who specifically look for holes in it. They are, essentially, folks who have inclination, aptitude, and long practice at reviewing and explaining their ideas. Additionally they must keep current with changes in their environment.
For our host, who is a bit outside the mold, I suspect that developing fictional stories is similar – the story, despite being fiction, must hold together and maintain, or at least ultimately achieve, a level of believability. Even fiction readers, after all, won’t suspend disbelief absolutely or indefinitely.
Aug 24, 2004 - 12:10 pm 12. jedrury:RC Dean
“the critical breakthrough in near-monolithic control of information by the old-line media outlets.”
I agree.
When DrudgeReport broke Monica in 1998 forcing WaPo/Newsweek to back off its refusal to run the story, a new age was born of talk back and dissent.
Blogging, the newest iteration of talk back and dissent, allows for almost instantaneous comments and analysis and breaking news which trumps the papers and in some cases TV. It overrides the skewered selection process of who appears
on Hardball and Larry King giving voice to discerning commentary and astute observations and, for me, far more thought provoking debate than the shouting on Chris Matthews or the sycophantic soft balling on Larry King interrupted by ads for Preparation H.
Aug 24, 2004 - 12:25 pm 13. Lapsed Randian:Blogging is an example of capitalism with its sleeves rolled up, i.e., voluntary cyber-communities existing because of the voluntary exchanges of ideas and value. There are no enforced rules, only the merits and the honesty of the Blogger himself. My guess, Roger, is if you weren’t intellectually honest and willing to acknowledge the occasional taint of bias, you could count your page views on both hands.
Aug 24, 2004 - 12:43 pm 14. Rick Ballard:Thanks John, but I’m really a minor light on this board (around the world, heads nod vigorishly), mostly I just kick trolls in the shin while my betters sort out the factual rebuttals.
What I truly enjoy about this board is the overall quality of the longer responses. There are a number of well qualified acute observers here who are quite capable of formulating logical arguments and rebuttals. Secondarily, women are welcome and well represented here. I don’t believe that there is another large board that has a fraction of the number of women commenters that are heard from here.
Aug 24, 2004 - 12:57 pm 15. TmjUtah:Slightly OT…but I believe fitting in with the spirit of “The Hits Keep Coming”:
Mr. Edward’s past is about to be examined.
I’m willing to bet the good senator is wishing he never channelled those babies…
Hat tip: Lucianne.com
Aug 24, 2004 - 12:59 pm 16. Steven Smith:We must set an example too in correcting our mistakes. Don’t bury them the way the major newspapers often do.
Considering the way the “Swift Boat Veterans” stories have been completely discredited in the last week, and the way you (and others) reacted to Fred Kaplan’s piece on whether Kerry was ever in Cambodia, I have to appreciate the irony of you being the one to call on other bloggers to “(correct) our mistakes”. First you whined that the MSM wasn’t covering your obsession, then you complain about them when they do. Is your hatred and envy of the Senator so great that any charge against him will suffice?
Aug 24, 2004 - 1:05 pm 17. Charlie (Colorado):Steven Smith, don’t you even have a moment’s qualm about Fred Kaplan’s piece considering the fact that the Kerry campaign has repudiated the “Christmas in Cambodia” story, and the Washington Post has refuted it?
Nah, didn’t think so.
Aug 24, 2004 - 1:22 pm 18. JB:“Considering the way the “Swift Boat Veterans” stories have been completely discredited in the last week”
Cambodia. First purple heart.
Thank you for playing. Come again.
Aug 24, 2004 - 1:24 pm 19. Fresh Air:Stevey Pooh–
“Completely discredited”? Come, now. I will grant you that Rood’s story probably indicates Kerry did not shoot a young boy in a loincloth, and he may have been doing so in self-defense. However…..
What about the Cambodian Christmas story (”seared–seared”)?
What about the hatless CIA man?
What about the claims of “hostile fire” during the first PH on the Boston Whaler despite no records of encountering any such fire?
What about that “hostile fire” during the Bronze Star event?
What about leaving the scene of battle and supposedly running a 5,000-meter gauntlet of enemy fire that miraculously resulted in no bullet holes in Kerry’s boat?
What about Kerry writing up the Bronze Star report in the middle of the night and featuring his own minimal exploits when there were real heroes actually deserving of credit he conveniently omitted?
What about Alston, who claimed on ABC’s Nightline to have witnessed the Silver Star event but who was in fact not even among the crew at the time?
What about the Winter Soldier testimony? Were those not Kerry’s words, said on the floor of the Senate?
What about the fact that Kerry met with representatives from Hanoi in Paris while he was still a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve (an act that may qualify as treason)?
Stevie, I’m afraid you’ll have to keep your fingers in your ears for a couple more months. Then all the pain will go away.
Hillary in 2008!
Aug 24, 2004 - 1:29 pm 20. Roberts:Steven, are you really so far out of the loop that you don’t even know that the Kerry campaign has admitted that the Cambodia story is false? Kaplan’s story is four Kerry revisions obsolete.
Aug 24, 2004 - 1:31 pm 21. holdfast:Ahh with the regularity and repitition of a truly bad nine layer bean dip, another trollus ignormamus sticks its weaselly little head above ground, sniffs (actually more like a moue) and tosses an usuported assertion into the thread, where it falls like a porterhouse steak among hungry wolves.
For Steve “completely discredited” means that Adam Nagourney says that their not true. Never mind that Rood’s story only addressed the weakest of the Swifites’ claims (the Silver Star), an argument that the denizens of this blog have pretty much said is unproveable – and it actually back some of the Swifties’ claims. Never mind that Kaplan’s piece, while interesting, doesn’t really connect to Kerry. Never mind that even the WaPo said that the one cannot get at the truth until all the records are opened – and that Kerry is primarily reponsible for holding things back. Never mind that even this morning, the Swifites’ claims about the Kerry’s first PH are starting to gain acceptance, as more people read Brinkley’s BS Book and compare it to other Kerry Statements. Never mind that NOBODY has provided a satisfactory explanation for the total lack of damage and injuries from the heacy fire, pumped out by the tens of thousands of vision-impaired VC gunners stretched out along both banks of a 5,000 m length of canal.
Nope – Steve just listens to the radio in his head. You know, the one controlled by Pinch Sulzberger and Josh Marshall.
Aug 24, 2004 - 1:33 pm 22. Mark Poling:The new tactic for the water carriers seems to be to claim the Swifties have been refuted and say “time to move on.”
Trouble is, the Kerry campaign keeps pulling the rug out from under its strongest allies. I’m tempted to write something rude describing how Kaplan (and his editors) must feel about now, but this is a family-safe site.
Considering how much damage to its credibility the partisan press is taking, when they do finally turn on Kerry it will make the treatment of the Dukakis campaign seem like hugs and kisses.
Aug 24, 2004 - 1:38 pm 23. Knucklehead:At this point, Steve Smith, Kerry would be well served by finding some way to “discredit” even one of the charges against him.
As one example for just one person here at Roger’s Place, I had “discredited” the “complaints” regarding Kerry’s Silver Star. I checked it off to Grade Inflation (probably deserved something less, but that wouldn’t be a big deal to me). The fact that the citation on Kerry’s website is signed by Lehman (Secretary of the Navy under Reagan) I checked off to replacement of a lost record. The fact that the Lehman paperwork authorizes the “Combat Distinguishing Device” I checked off to either my misunderstanding of the “Combat V” upgrade to the SS or some silly SNAFU.
Well, FrontPage has an interesting article regarding the SS that raises some valid questions. The valid questions revolve around the fact that there have been not one, not two, but three citations issued for Kerry’s SS over approx. 15 years. The first citation, presumably issued shortly after the incident, contains the “chased the enemy behind a hooch and killed him” portion of the story.
Altering citations is apparently no small matter. Altering other portions of the paperwork is relatively easy – the service may have screwed up a date or place name or whatever. But the citation tells the story of why the medal was awarded.
The second citation removes the bit about shooting the enemy behind the hooch and was issued some months after the original citation and signed by a “Four Star” rather than Zumwalt (a “Three Star”). Was Kerry upgrading his award or “sanitizing” in to get rid of the “shot an enemy behind the hooch” reference? And what of the 3rd citation? This one upgrades the award to a “Secretary of the Navy” signature and, IIRC what I saw at Kerry’s website, is the one that “authorizes” the Combat V.
Very odd, Your Man Kerry, Steve Smith. By the time Lehman was Secretary of the Navy, Kerry’s SS was roughly a dozen years old. Yet apparently he was still fondling it and trying, for whatever reasons, to upgrade it.
Hmmmm… perhaps you’d care to explain to us how the charges regarding even this one medal, the Silver Star, have been discredited.
Aug 24, 2004 - 1:41 pm 24. John Moore ( Useful Fools ):If you want to see how the leftish press(redundant) deals with these issues in a debate rather than reporting, Jay Rosen’s PressThink blog and the comments on the current article give a pretty good idea. Professor Rosen seems to believe that the SBVT is a smear campaign made up mostly of falsehoods. I’ve been to busy to get back over there and deal with it.
———————————————
By the way, here’s a radical thought: Kerry’s war service is very germane to this discussion and Bush’s National Guard service is irrelevant.
The reason is that the only reason to dig into the past is to discover matters of character. Kerry’s character in these areas should be open, because Kerry’s character has not been very visible all these years.
But we already know Bush’s character. He has been CIC for 3 1/2 years, most of which were war years. He has demonstrated his character and people already know what they like and what they don’t. No surprises lurking 35 years ago are going to change that.
I know this is a nice self serving reason, but it makes a lot of sense (at least to my demended mind). Finally, I like it because it breaks an unspoken, and incorrect notion of symmetry.
Aug 24, 2004 - 2:00 pm 25. Knucklehead:John Moore,
I don’t think the point you make is self-serving at all. In another thread here at Roger’s Place I made the point that campaigns are somewhat like job interviews. We are the interviewers (it should be The Press, but they have abrogated the responsibility and have gone completely partisan) and the candidates are the interviewees.
In the case of POTUS/CIC, at least following a first term, we have an incumbent – someone who now has the job. The incumbent has no need to focus on anything much before he took office. He has a record. He can talk about why he did what he did, or how things that preceded his emplyment effected how he had to go about doing his job, but he has the luxury of focusing on job performance and the challenges that lie ahead.
And we, as interviewers who have to use whatever tools we can since we can’t directly ask questions of the candidate, would be foolish to waste time on anything other than how well the candidate has done the job we hired them for and which they’ve held for 3+ years.
The challenger not only needs to tell us why they’d do a great job in the future, but also why we should fire the current job holder in order to hire them.
Kerry came blasting through the front door and, without waiting to be offered a seat and a cup of coffee followed by Interview Question #1, began incessently blathering about how some job he held 30+ years ago for 4 months was all we needed to know to fire the other guy and hire him. Well, that was his mistake. I could have told him what the result would be if he’d have asked
He will get skewered in the interview and he deserves it. It was his mistake, not ours, to focus his precious interview time on what could have been irrelevant. But he made it relevant and now he’s gonna pay the price.
I think it was Rick Ballard who said he’s bleeding out slowly. That’s an apt description. He’ll hang in claiming his self-inflicted wound was just a scratch and is all healed, and the MSM will keep telling us what great health he’s in, but we’ll see him keep turning a Whiter Shade of Pale until his candidacy falls over dead as that VC behind the hooch.
Aug 24, 2004 - 2:15 pm 26. M. Simon:Just saw Thurlow on Brocaw. They gave the Swifties controversy about 4 min out of 5 on politics. (The other was Cheney coming out against the President on gay issues).
Wooo Hoo. Thurlow looked good. Coverage was about two stories behind. Plus they had short clips of the “Winter Soldier” commercial in the background but no audio and no explanation.
No mention of the self inflicted shrapnel wound now tentatively admitted by Kerry.
Not a complete story by any means but now it has broken in the open.
WHAAAAAAAAAAT A Day!
Aug 24, 2004 - 4:09 pm 27. Knucklehead:For those unfamiliar with NRO’s Kerry Spot, Geraghty is on fire today. He’s having a rip-roaring good time over there
Aug 24, 2004 - 4:21 pm 28. wxjames:See Michelle Malkin for a letter from a new source.
More Kerry statements questioned.
Aug 24, 2004 - 5:22 pm 29. Terrye:Steve:
If the swifties have been discredited why are the Dems ranting and raving?
For years I have listened to these same people yammer on about Bush being AWOL. Not one single iota of proof. Needless to say that did not stop them.
So far the swifties have forced our intrepid war hero JFK jr. to admit that maybe just maybe he was not in Cambodia Christmas ‘68 and yeah he got his first purple heart last and left that day. And so what if he called his band of brothers rapists, what is wrong with that? and on and on and the best you guys can do is what you always do, blame the other guy. It might not be that easy this time.
Thirty years have passed and a lot of the details will never be known as far as each and everyone of the incidents, people don’t always remember things the same way. But Kerry owes a lot of people an apology and that includes the men he is trashing right now. They served the same as him and to treat them like crap just because they fail to kiss his patrician ass shows you what kind of a self centered guy Kerry really is.
Aug 24, 2004 - 5:31 pm 30. Knucklehead:Terrye,
Not only has there never been a shred of “proof” regarding the idiotic “Bush was AWOL” nonsense, there has never been a shred of proof that those who keep making that stupid argument have even a remote understanding of what AWOL is or what the National Guard is.
It is an argument made by people who are willfully and stubbornly ignorant.
Aug 24, 2004 - 5:56 pm 31. richard mcenroe:Terrye ó You mean this apology? From Kerry’s late-night phone call to a Swiftie after the WaPo piece:
KERRY: “Why are all these swift boat guys opposed to me?”
BRANT: “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.”
[Brant had two men killed in battle.]
KERRY: “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.”
Gosh, I feel better already.
BTW, I ran across an interesting piece over at CQ : Kerry didn’t enlist in the Navy. After he failed to get his Paris deferment, he joined the Naval Reserve (the weekend warriors for the boat set). Then his unit got mobilized for sea duty and the rest is searing, searing history…
Aug 24, 2004 - 6:11 pm 32. richard mcenroe:Terrye ó Or this apology, from Instapundit?
Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh, speaking moments ago on ìHannity and Colmesî: ìGeorge Bush betrayed his country by sending us to war on false pretenses, and George Bush betrayed his country by not fighting in Vietnam.î
Aug 24, 2004 - 6:14 pm 33. PeterUK:Steven Smith,
Considering the way the “Swift Boat Veterans” stories have been completely discredited.
The fact that you have slithered so low as to put this in quotes prompts the question,”How heroic have you been?”
You may not agree with the Swifties but it is despicable to smear men whose boots you are not fit to clean.
Aug 24, 2004 - 6:24 pm 34. Assistant Village Idiot:Thanks for the link, Knucklehead.
In this job interview for POTUS, I’m not the first to point out that Kerry is awfully thin-skinned, and seems to be a little erratic in this minor crisis.
But I think Kerry is also showing that he’s not actually very bright — not in an SAT sense, not in a practical sense, not in a sharp wit or memory sense, not in a wisdom sense.
He’s revealing himself as, oh I don’t know, Bertie Wooster? Captain Absolute?
Aug 24, 2004 - 6:33 pm 35. Terrye:ricahrd:
You know some people just can not get out of their own way. Having already insulted all the men who went to Viet Nam the Kerry campaign decides it is time to move on and insult all the ones who did not.
I guess this means we can add trator to Clinton’s list of accomplishments along with serial womanizer and pussy whipped Arkie.
pardon my French.
Aug 24, 2004 - 6:35 pm 36. Terrye:Knucklehead:
An apology is beneath the great man’s dignity. Especially when dealing with these “pack of liars” so called by the Kerry campaign.
After Richmond fell Lincoln walked through the streets to the capitol building. He had only a body guard. The black residents of the city upon seeing him mobbed him and one man went down on his knees in front of the president. Lincoln told him to stand and that he should bow to no man.
Now that was a great man. Kerry is not this kind of man.
Aug 24, 2004 - 6:42 pm 37. Mike Silverman:I just wish that many supporters of same-sex marriage would see that just because they can’t “marry” that doesn’t make it the equivilent of AshKKKroft knocking down the front door and dragging people off to prison.
You are right, it is not the same.
The government doesn’t recognize my marriage.
On the lists of historic wrongs, that is not quite the same as Auchwitz, or even (for the most part) Jim Crow.
But it is still wrong, and it still hurts, and it still seems to me that I am not equal under the law as an American citizen, even though I was born here and will die here.
Aug 24, 2004 - 7:13 pm 38. Mike Silverman:Ooops, wrong thread! Sorry
Aug 24, 2004 - 7:13 pm 39. RogerA:Damn Terrye: you speak french very well. I think I have already pointed out on earlier threads how I feel as a Viet Nam vet and why I really really dislike Kerry–(I use visceral hate, as I recall)–he denigrates the service of men whose company he is not fit to keep.
BTW Terrye: as a male chauvinist pig I often categorize the ladies who post here in terms of who they might remind me of–when I see your posts I see Katherine Hepburn–Katherine reminds me of Ingrid Bergman–Perhaps the MCPs here should start a “Babes of the Blog” feature.
Aug 24, 2004 - 7:32 pm 40. Terrye:RogerA:
Hi there, she purred coyly.
Oh.. I forgot I am an old lady. Well not old exactly. Mature shall we say.
Ever see Lion In Winter? That Kate would be fine woman to be. I would like that.
Aug 24, 2004 - 7:40 pm 41. RogerA:Terrye–thats OK–I am an old guy as well. And Lion in Winter is a great story of a magnificent lady so well played by Kate Hepburn–but my all time fave is The African Queen. Two of the best actors in the world together at last
Aug 24, 2004 - 7:51 pm 42. MeTooThen:Roger,
“MSM may act as if they are, but everyone knows better.”
Gee, you think?
I’m not so sure everyone thinks so.
Via Allah
“Some of the reporters covering Kerry said that the candidate had become less accessible on the campaign plane in recent weeks, with a few speculating that it might be because he did not want to face questions about the swift boat issue. But among them, different views arose over the swift boat story, with some saying it had gone on too long and others believing it was news that had to be covered.
“What I’ve heard from colleagues is that people feel it probably has had too long a life,” said Frank James, a Chicago Tribune reporter. “We wish someone would put a stake in this vampire.“
Warning: Wet Blanket Alert
And no, the MSM is not finished with their negative treatment of the SwiftVets.
“When asked if newspapers should be reducing coverage of the swift boat story given the discrepancies found in many of the allegations made by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Broder said reporters needed to follow the story, not lead it. “The press does not have that authority,” he said.
But it does have the license to freely spin, distort, misreport, and in every other conceivable way shape the flow and content of this story.
Every move and response by John Forbes Kerry, as it relates to the SwiftVets, further reinforces the characterization of him as being weak, dishonest, and ultimately gutless.
Even the MSM has picked up on his missteps.
But will the SwiftVets impact the election?
I am betting it won’t.
The election is about Bush. The MSM knows this and has done its utmost to vilify and humiliate him. It’s Sutton’s Law, Bush is where the money’s at.
They are betting that if Kerry can get the AnyOneButBush voters to the polls, no matter what the undecided voters conclude regarding the SwiftVets, Kerry wins.
Sigh.
Be sure to vote.
Aug 24, 2004 - 8:03 pm 43. John Bono:When it comes to blogging, the only thing that counts is “to thine own self be true.” If you can’t do that, you should stop blogging and become a mob attorney.
Aug 24, 2004 - 8:55 pm 44. David Thomson:ìBut will the SwiftVets impact the election?
I am betting it won’t.î
The SwiftVets must not become the central story. The liberal media will simply exploit any differences of opinion. It will rapidly deteriorate into a he said/he said situation. No, we must focus the attention on the irrefutable evidence that John Kerry lied about spending Christmas 1968 in Cambodia and slimed his fellow veterans within the halls of the U.S. Congress. Iím convinced that the Kerry campaign will continue to unravel if these two facts become general knowledge to the swing voters.
There is also something else which is bothering me. Why the indifference towards Kerry desiring to intimidate publishers and book stores? This is fascist style activity. Where is the outrage?
We must demand that Mickey Kaus and other fair minded Kerry supporters address this issue.
Aug 24, 2004 - 10:55 pm 45. David Thomson:This SwiftVets ad frightens the liberal backers of John Kerry. We hear the Massachusetts senatorís own words when he slimed his fellow veterans:
http://swift2.he.net/~swift2/sellout.mov
http://www2.swiftvets.com/index.php?topic=Ads
Please email these links to your friends. Encourge them to continue the chain letter. The world must know what John Kerry said before the U.S. Congress.
Aug 24, 2004 - 11:23 pm 46. vegetius:Amazon has a 5 to 7 week wait for “Unfit for Command”, Barnes& Noble is out of supply. Has anybody actually read the book who conments on this board?
Aug 25, 2004 - 6:31 am 47. Knucklehead:Today’s NYT has a front page, medium length article about Bush’s Top Outside Lawyer’s connection with the Swiftvets. Typical of the NYT, the headline suggests something nefarious. Then we get (my count may be off, but I no longer have the paper handy and its close enough for gubmint work) 28 paragraphs of story. Guestimate is its foughly a 1,000 word article. The first 10 paragraphs tie Ginsburg to Bush and Ginsburg to Republican 527s. Finally, around paragraph eleven, we get one paragraph that gives some a shallow explanation of what the rules are concerning 527s and this sort of connection. Paragraphs 15 and 16 then mention a two or three Dem connections to 527s. Then back to trying to make a case that there’s something fishy about Ginsburg, the Swiftvets, and the Bush campaign.
Is the NYT stupid or do they just believe their readers are stupid?
Aug 25, 2004 - 6:36 am 48. Rick Ballard:vegetius,
I know Katherine has the book. I just got mine yesterday and I know that others have ordered it. Your point?
Aug 25, 2004 - 6:47 am 49. John Lynch:vegetius
I got my copy of Unfit for Command Monday night. I read it Tuesday night. I am now on to Kerry’s The New Soldier, a truly disgusting book.
I’ve friends queuing up to borrow my Unfit as they can’t get copies here anymore.
They will have to wait: Mrs. Lynch and daughter Lynch have the first rights and have exercised them.
Aug 25, 2004 - 7:23 am 50. Fresh Air:Knuckle–
Is the NYT stupid or do they just believe their readers are stupid?
The Times still believes they are the retrievers of all Holy Nuggets of Truth from the Mount. Times reporters are but messengers of The Word as received through the Times Editorial Board and translated from the original Sanskrit into eighth-grade English.
Of course, there is some artistic license provided for in their translation duties.
But the answer to your question is “yes” to both questions, which will be clear if you look at a recent New York Times Co. stock price chart.
I don’t know how that Pinch Sulzberger does it!
Aug 25, 2004 - 7:36 am 51. MeTooThen:David Thompson,
“Where is the outrage?
crickets.
The sound your hear is not only crickets but the cognitive dissonance that has become the impenetrable buzz of what was once Liberal thought.
It bears repeating, it is how John Forbes Kerry has responded to these allegations that has shown, more than anything else in my mind, that he is unfit to be President of the United States.
Today it is reported that Max Cleland and Jim Rasmussen are headed to the President’s ranch to deliver a plea, on behalf of Kerry, to stop the SwiftVet ads!
Are you joking?!?!
No, Kerry is weak, a poseur, a tireless self-promoting phony, an inveterate liar and solopsist. Kerry is Clinton with breeding.
How’s that for outrage.
Aug 25, 2004 - 7:47 am 52. John Lynch:Kerry is Clinton with breeding. LOL
Gives breeding a bad name.
Aug 25, 2004 - 7:55 am 53. MeTooThen:Roger,
A thought.
An epiphanette.
Life imitating art.
“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”
The cynical, ruthless, and self-serving spin that is the MSM today, reminds me of the movie Network.
Of course, the Left may feel that they have already laid claim to David Thompson’s call for outrage vis a vis “BusHitler”, “Haliburton”, “No Blood For Oil”,
“He Misled This Country, He Played on its Fears!”, “A Million Disenfranchised Votes”, “Bush Stole the Election”, etc…
But still, I like the idea of the inhabitants of the blogosphere, through their keyboards, having their own Howard Beale moment.
Aug 25, 2004 - 8:07 am 54. vegetius:Rick Ballard:
I’m so well rounded I have no point.
RE: “Unfit for Command”
I just can’t find a copy anywhere without an indefinite wait. Where’d you get yours??
When Amaaon says 5-7 week wait, that’s quite daunting.
Aug 25, 2004 - 11:51 am 55. Charlie (Colorado):Speaking of the book — Amazon still says mine is coming and should be delivered on the 25th of August … but it hasn’t shipped yet.
Aug 26, 2004 - 5:31 am