John Kerry and a few of his Vietnam war cronies say one thing.
Over 250 Vietnam Swift Boat Veterans For Truth (SBVFT) say something else.
Who's a voter to believe?
The story is 35 years old, so everyone involved is entitled to be a bit hazy on details. Although, I've never been in a war...I suspect it might sharpen one's memory skills, but I don't know. I do know that if someone says a thing is "seared" in his memory, it should be a factual representation of what happened. But that's not how it turned out for John Kerry's "Christmas Eve in Cambodia, 1968" -- so many swift boat veterans stepped forward to object to that story that Kerry had to recant.
What about the veterans who support Kerry? Although far fewer in number than the SBVFT, they speak unchallenged. Mainstream media chases their statements and features them prominently. The SBVFT are threatened with lawsuits for presenting their case. Bookstores won't even stock Unfit For Command (www.amazon.com). Yet Kerry blusters at the Internet book distributors to stop shipping the books, in effect calling for a modern day e-version of book burning.
Apparently, in John Kerry's world, the First Amendment applies to his supporters only.
The media storm swirling about this insistent controversy grows stronger with the force of the blogosphere's powerful winds and the high pressure system of conservative talk radio. It's not going to go away, Senator. And the more you scream in protest, the more guilty of dishonesty you appear. That is the stark truth that will be seared--seared--in the minds of many swing and independent voters, come Election Day.
The hundreds of voices of your peers are going to be impossible to shout down. As Bob Dole so wisely noted, you weren't the only serviceman in Vietnam. It seems that more than a few of them have their own searing memories, especially of how you slandered them when you returned to the U.S.
Now it is their turn to come after you, and they are doing so "in a style reminiscent of Genghis Khan."
Now, where have I heard that before?
