SwiftBoatVets v. Kerry is the First Battle of the Blogosphere versus the Elite Media
I started getting involved in this corner of the world at the time of the 2002 election. Peggy Noonan’s WSJ piece explaining the results in terms of Democratic success seemed a masterful analysis of the election results. Patrick Ruffini supplied some fascinating polling data, and the single most interesting political statistic I had encountered: namely, that among active officeholders of some period of years, those switching to GOP outnumbered their opposites by something like 453 to 4. It seemed pretty clear that there was considerable evidence in a red shift that had been going on for over a decade.
You will recall that it was in November 2002 that the big Trent Lott dustup occurred, and that it was the blogosphere that gave the story legs. Liberal, conservative and libertarian blogs sang pretty much the same tune. The elite media were happy to join in, once the ball was rolling. When Lott resigned and was replaced by Frist, a certain milestone was reached in the world of political blogging.
It’s been a long two years.
Hearkening back to Noonan’s article for a moment, you may recall that her question for the Democrats was: where do you go from here since you have achieved many of your important historical objectives. With the ABB crowd, Michael Moore, and the current cover-up going on for John Kerry, I think the answer has become pretty clear. The Democrats want a return to power at any price.
Kerry v. SwiftBoatVets is a very serious matter. It is certainly politically motivated, anti-Kerry, partisan, funded by right-wingers, and all the rest — but those things are completely beside the point. The question is whether the allegations are true. We now know that some of the memories seared into JFKII are fabrications, and there are some pretty funny Keystone Kops scenes with the various Kerry spinners running around Krazy and bumping into each other in their conflicting stories (NRO, Tony Snow, Instapundit, etc.). The reason is obvious: falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus: Buchanan via Captain Ed:
Now, if John Kerry lied about being in Cambodia, if he lied about being on a secret mission like Martin Sheen, if he lied about not being in Kansas City when he was there when they all chatted about that crazy assassination idea, if he lied about Americans committing rampant war crimes all over Vietnam which he witnessed and which were authorized by his superior, if he lied about all those things, is it not possible he lied about his medals?
It’s pretty obvious to many of us that Kerry has been lying, boldly, serially, self-aggrandizingly, for many years, and the Christmas in Cambodia story is nice because it is so obviously false that his defenders can’t get their stories straight. But to the New York Times and the Washington Post, the story does not exist, at least so far.
So sometime between now and election day, something very interesting is going to happen. Glenn Reynolds, Hugh Hewitt, Powerline, Captain Ed, NRO, Lileks, Mark Steyn, Roger L. Simon and others of sound reputation and solid followings will not go away. Either the elite media will do their job, or they will not.
I have gone back and forth on what I think will happen, but as of this morning, the Washington Post is treating the SwiftBoatVets as partisan hacks (via Captain Ed and RogerLSimon), so I don’t think the prognosis is good. Roger:
[W]hile I was in the air, I noticed that certain bloggers are accusing Instapundit…. and by extension me … and obsessing on this Cambodia flap. I am sorry but I respectfully disagree. I think lying on the Senate floor about a situation of war is pretty much as bad as it gets for an elected official of our government. Comparing that to a flap about Howard Stern doesn’t even compute for me. But maybe I’m missing something.
MORE: The WaPo editorial on the Swift Boat Veterans is a pure example of the New Reactionaries at work. The papers’ editors barely deal with the substance of the charge at all, which are DETAILED IN A FOOTNOTED BOOK, but attack a soundbite ad and slam the individuals behind it. Facts? Forget about them. Shame on the WaPo. This is the newspaper that gave us Watergate, but they won’t touch Cambodiagate with ten-foot sampan!
Why is this Cambodia situation the first battle of the blogosphere? Let’s stipulate that the first and highest commitment of any journalistic enterprise must be to report the truth, not to shill for the side you want to win. Kerry has already been caught in a lie, and is lying further to cover it up. This should be red meat to a journalist, but it is, so far, getting a pass from the agenda-setting WaPo and NYT. In prior times, that might be the end of the story. But with the blogosphere continuing to do research to find the fire through the smoke, this story will not go away. There will be other Kerry lies, other versions of the stories, perhaps even some dramatic developments.
If the NYT (Pentagon Papers) and the WaPo (Watergate) manage to go through this election cycle without giving serious coverage to Kerry’s thirty years of lies, they will have disgraced themselves and forfeited their heritages in order to be the favored concubines in a Kerry administration. And meanwhile, even if he were to be elected and inaugurated, the story still will not die. The distinguished bloggers and commentators I mention above will have been shown to have more integrity than any of the Crimson or Yalie Daily alumni in the editorial offices of those formerly prestigious newspapers.
And they are not going away.
August 19th, 2004 at 5:48 pm
I understand that there is a URL that will let you contribute money concerning this cause, if so please let me know where this site is located.
August 20th, 2004 at 1:58 pm
if you are really interested in the truth about anything ingeneral please dont wast your time questioning the slimeball currently occupying the white house or anyone affiliated with him.
August 23rd, 2004 at 9:46 am
Keep their feet to the fire! Let the whole world see the NY times and Wash Post for what they are: hacks for the Kerry campaign and the Dem Party. The lack of an investigative response by these “great” paragons of virture into what appear to be great lies is shameful.
August 23rd, 2004 at 10:48 am
I was at Ft. Hood when Hanoi Jane was at the gate calling us baby killers. She was at the Hanoi Hilton and passed the messages given to her by prisoners to the North Vietnese Camp Commander which resulted in further beatings and torture for our POW’s. She was photographed setting on an North Vietnese AA Gun. Kerry returns, resigns form the Navy and joins her group. The only difference between Hanoi Jane and John Kerry and a bag of cow menure is the bag. They are traitors and should be treated as such.
August 23rd, 2004 at 7:14 pm
The one thing missing in this whole rigamaroll is that in testifying like Kerry did, that becomes perjury before Congress. So then Kerry is indeed a criminal. DO you want another Democratic criminal in the “White House”? The last let Al Queda alone long enough to mount a massive attack on the U.S.
August 24th, 2004 at 2:30 pm
John Kerry and his whole approach to running for office is the most hypocritical effort I have ever seen by a thinking, talking American. After supporting every attack on Pres. Bush, including Michael Moore that crap bag, and Soros and Move on .com, that stentorial asshole is complaining about a bunch of enraged vets who simply had to step up and reveal this phony bum.
August 24th, 2004 at 7:42 pm
It would be great to get some high ranking member of the armed forces to go on a national talk show and explain how after action reports are written, what they are, who writes them, and where the info in
the report comes from. these reporters that are saying that the ad
is in direct conflict with “official navy documents” make me want
to vomit. are they really that stupid, or is this they’re way of
trying to help the Kerry? i really believe the public needs to be
enlightened about these after action reports, and “official navy documents” keep up the great work guys. Gene, Middletown ct
August 25th, 2004 at 4:04 pm
This pretty much wraps it up for any residual perception of unbiased reporting as far as the MSM is concerned. You’d have to be in the moshpit of traditional journalism not to recognize that the influence is bleeding away… no time to hunt for meat, time to fight over the bones!
August 26th, 2004 at 1:03 pm
I want everyone to realize that the Navvy Records only reflect what was submitted on John Kerry, and that John Kerry being the OIC was the responsible person to submit the correct after action reports, and submitting any paper work required for all awards on his swift boat. I’m also tired of hearing Navy documents back him up.
Lets also remember that the Navy had a policy, once you recieve three purple hearts you don’t have to return to Viet Nam. How convient John Kerry got three Purple hearts in less than four months.
Sounds like he planned whole tour.
Bobby Simpson
Viet Nam Vet
USMC Retired
August 27th, 2004 at 5:55 am
Kerry wants everyone to think that he volunteered for service??? HA!!He petititioned his draft board for a student deferment to study in Paris (Yeah France). He was refused. He decided to enlist in the Navy or Coast Guard because he thought it was a safer place since the No Vietnameses & Viet Cong didn’t have ships, Committment was shorter and most of duty could be served stateside on inactive duty. He enlisted in the Naval “Reserves”. He says he served “2″ tours of duty in Nam. Wrong. 1st tour was on the frigate “Gridley” in the Pacific His term was — “3″ combat months plus “One” training month. He had the shortest Swiftee term EVER !!!
August 31st, 2004 at 3:56 pm
I am a WW2 combat vet..I was Furious with jane kerry.30 years when he was a out spoken hippy against viet vets,about time some one with guts went after him….
September 1st, 2004 at 3:54 pm
yOU GUYS ARE A BUNCH OF TRAITORS. yOU’RE PROBABLY JEALOUS BECAUSE YOU GOT NO MEDALS.
September 5th, 2004 at 6:00 pm
has anyone tried to find out why the difference of 6 years, on his discharge dates? maybe because they don’t want you to know that the difference usually means you haven’t attended your required meetings?
September 13th, 2004 at 1:37 pm
I am also a vet and am disgusted that Kerry would not only lie about his wartime experience but also attempt to disgrace those who served honorably. JOHN KERRY IS A LIAR AND IS A DISGRACE TO THE UNIFORM. IF YOU DENY THE FACTS, YOU ARE NOT IN TUNE WITH REALITY. IS THIS REALLY SOMEONE YOU WOULD WANT AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF? HASN’T THIS GREAT NATION SUFFERED ENOUGH?
September 15th, 2004 at 7:22 am
I was around 13 or 14 years old when the Vietnam war was on. Jane Fonda was and still is a traitor to the USA. What I think about John Kerry can not be printed. The democrats got us into the Vietnam War and then turned against the Veterans. It was completely disgusting about how they were treated.
September 22nd, 2004 at 8:09 am
Any rational and thinking person, including Bush haters and long time committed Democrats, can not ignore the simple statistics of the swiftboat vets; i.e., that 250 claim Kerry is a fraud and 8 claim he is a hero (250/8). Likewise, the band of brothers, the 18 swiftboat commanders, first introduced to the voting public by Mr. Kerry in a photo in his early campaign ad, vote 13 for fraud, 3 for hero and 1 dead (13/3+1+Kerry=18). Again, one does not have to be a statistician to see the overwhelming statistical evidence indicating Kerry is not the hero he would have us believe he is. The elite media was eager to rush to print to support Rather’s defamation of President Bush service record, based on several fraudulent memos whoes authorship was questionable from the beginning and were charaterized as untrue by the supposed authors family. Nevertheless they have yet to “investigate” the authenticity of the claims of the swiftboat vets, most of are true war heros who stayed to fight beyond 120 days, deported themselves with honor during the great struggle and most of whom have medals and citations equal to or greater than Kerry’s. How unfair! How UNAMERICAN!
October 1st, 2004 at 12:14 pm
Last nite President Bush got spanked. He got spanked because he lost his focus early. He lost his focus early because he got PISSED. He got PISSED because mr. kerry is a spinner/liar. Some recent examples: His brain was “seared” while being shot at Christmas Eve in Cambodia. He NOW ACKNOWLEDGES it was probably his own grenade that caused his first Purple Heart injury. He shouldn’t HAVE RECEIVED HIS FIRST PURPLE HEART AWARD. His contention is all vets had committed atrocities. To date he has had 11 flip-flops on Iraq. Is flip-flop lying? He continues to state America has gone on its own in Iraq. I wonder what the 30 or so other countries think of that one? He intimates he would include the whole world in Iraq. I assume he is suggesting those few countries who back-stabbed Colin Powell. You know the ones, they profited from the “Oil for Food” Program. But the absolute scariest message conveyed last nite was his suggestion for America to go back to its unilateral position of the clinton administration whereby N.Korea milked and lied to America WHILE PRODUCING THEIR NUCLEAR PROGRAM. Easy Joe Bramman
October 2nd, 2004 at 3:15 pm
I’m curious as to who is violating my Constitutional Rights whenever I try and go to Swiftboatvets. As an opinionated guy, I like to express my opinion. Do the articles of the US Constitution only apply to a select few? Does this happen to others? Is the Constitution being abrogated? Did I wake up this morning in the U.S.C.S.A(United States Communist Society of America? Every time I try and go on line to swiftboatvets, I’m blocked. Am I the only one in this country who is concerned? Easy Joe Bramman
October 5th, 2004 at 4:20 pm
I served with the 162nd Assault Helicopter Company, Can Tho, 1971-72. I was a 1LT Huey pilot. No officer with any integrity or honor would have used a little known clause in the Navy regulation to jump ship after 4 months. All the officers I knew would have stayed their whole tour, not abandoning their men and fellow officers. When Kerry left early, someone replaced him. I wonder if that officer is alive?
October 6th, 2004 at 10:26 pm
Interesting photos of John Kerry in combat. He is strolling around a combat zone holding his M-16 like his pappy’s shotgun, and his vest unsecured…Kerry won’t go to war with out the French, but he goes to war with a movie camera in tow.
November 19th, 2004 at 1:39 pm
GOD bless america and the swift boat vets we now have a realected presedent GEO.W.BUSH i am sure we had an impact on the out come.GOD speed to all our men in the service of our country and may god bless all our veterens i will forever be faithfull to those who served past and present. MR Kerry/fonda remains the loser he alwas was X army
May 22nd, 2005 at 3:29 pm
[...] ission in Laos. We understand the distinction TIME is drawing; therefore Deep Qa Qaa and SwiftBoatVets are not on the list. But [...]
June 5th, 2005 at 5:52 am
Try looking at the obvious Dishonesty of gw bush
No Service to America from george
Failed businesses.
Lied to America about his illegal War.
Lied about the environment.
The new terrorist is george.
His actions are CRIMINAL
You are his Paid faction of thugs and liars.