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Howdy! Reporting for Duty!
Rich Galen Monday August 11, 2004
It appears that Senator John Kerry and I have something in common:
We both, if we tell a story long enough, will come to believe the event actually happened. Even if we made it up in the first place.
It seems that Senator Kerry, who has suggested that his opposition to the war in Vietnam was fueled by his Swiftboat being illegally in Cambodia on Christmas Eve, 1968, was never actually in Cambodia. Not on Christmas Eve. Not in 1968. Not ever.
According to the new book, "Unfit for Command," (which, yesterday morning was ranked at number 1 on Amazon.com) Kerry was never closer than 50 miles to Cambodia.
Carl Cameron, reporting on the Fox News Channel, said that the Kerry campaign's first response was to claim that Kerry had never said he was in Cambodia. Cameron read them the transcript of the Congressional Record from March 27, 1986 in which Senator Kerry said:
"I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the president of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia."
Then the campaign was read a section of a Boston Herald piece written by Kerry on October 14, 1979:
"I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real."
So the campaign said, in effect, "Um � we'll get back to you on this."
President Nixon wasn't President Nixon on Christmas Eve 1968. He wasn't sworn in as President until January 20, 1969, so Senator Kerry's insinuation that Nixon had lied about his being in Cambodia is, in itself, absurd.
Kerry's supporters have retreated into two different Fox holes:
First, they say that Kerry might have THOUGHT he was in Cambodia, although a skipper who misses his location by 50 miles - on a RIVER - is someone whom many observers might not think is as qualified to pilot the ship of state as he has suggested; AND one might have thought that by 1986 - the date of the Senate speech - he might have used the intervening 17 years to get a closer fix on his location.
Second, they point out that the Cambodia misunderstanding is not central to his heroism and combat experience, which is absolutely true except that it lends credence to those - including the doctor who treated him - who say Kerry lied about the nature of the wound which resulted in his first Purple Heart.
Some people think this book and the 60-second commercial produced and paid for by a group called "Swiftboat Veterans for Truth" is somehow unfair and that President Bush should denounce them.
As General Anthony McAuliffe said at Bastogne in 1944: "Nuts."
I am waiting for those same people to demand that John Kerry denounce Michael Moore's film which is dishonestly edited, unfairly slanted, and patently untrue (as evidenced by a lawsuit filed by a newspaper for Moore's inventing a headline which never ran), which runs for TWO HOURS and has been hailed as a milestone in motion picture history by the Left.
While it is not clear whether this Cambodian Controversy will have any impact on the campaign, we know this: Nothing is as devastating to a politician than being found to have lied about their resum�. This is because every person controls every sentence in his or her own bio.
The fact that Kerry might have lied about his Vietnam experience may re-ignite fears which voters have previously expressed that Kerry will say whatever he thinks is politically expedient, rather than what is - as we used to say in Texas - what is on his heart.
Lots o' stuff on the Secret Decoder Ring Page today: A link to what constitutes a legit Purple Heart award; a link to Carl Cameron's Fox News report on the Cambodian camouflage, a link to Amazon.com if you want to read "Unfit for Command" (or, at least, read about the book), a great Catchy Caption of the Day, and a Mullfoto suitable for framing!
--END --
Copyright © 2004 Richard A. Galen
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