Bush and Kerry on the Actual Issues

[Dixon Carter Lee]

This one? ttp://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20040815

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/db/2004/db040815.gif

 

[Weevil]

This is where I office indeed.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I firmly believe that we went into Iraq on a combination of otherwise differing factions that all shared an ultimate goal...power.

GWB is probably sincere in his claim to protect the people of the US at all cost. I think he sees himself as a shephard of sorts. Looking at his psychological profile, history and spirituality, combine with his quotes and he is a man on an ordained mission.

He has said that God has chosen him to be where he is, and looking at the 2000 election, people of similar faith feel the same way. Add to that a compliant media who stood to rake in a windfall on an unquestioned righteous war and the foundation to go there was built. The neocons had their sources and agenda to provide justification. Everyone at the low levels who had money in the markets were easier to persuade for support.

The protectors of Israel, some of which are powerful neocons, had a firm basis for the pre-emptive action. The Industrial/Military/Congressional complex owns the media and most everything anyway so their success was guarranteed.

Everyone had reasons not to try and stop it.

Do you remember the 24/7 cable news coverage that resembled an all night infomercial for military hardware?

Go back and look again at GWB's quotes and SOTU's to hear the evangelical message.

Find The 700 Club, CBN, PTL, and listen to the message of Robertson. Millions hang on his every word and take it as the message they are meant to hear.

I've lived with them. When it comes to the Bible people are either with them or against them. There is no middle.

I agree actually, though I would temper that with actual reasons involving defense and U.N. viability regarding enforcement of resolutions 12 years old.

I was just thinking the other day how much Fox Cable News is beginning to resemble "The 700 club".

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

This is where I office indeed.

They can't all be real quotes can they? Santa Maria, make it not be so.

 

[ruminator]

I don't think anyone could be aware of that until well after some military action began.

<clip>

It was out there.

This is from February 2003

excerpt

"To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace."
- Tacitus

It sounded like two behemoth icebergs colliding in the North Atlantic, but you needed the right kind of ears to hear it. Two immensely powerful forces crashed into each other over the weekend of February 15th, and the resulting thunder has set the world to trembling.

On one side were the people, who took to the streets all across the world by the tens of millions to stand against George W. Bush's push for pre-emptive war on Iraq. The numbers, and the locations, were staggering. More than 100,000 people took to the streets of Sydney, Australia, a nation that has been solidly in Bush's corner on this matter. In Spain, another member of Bush's "Coalition of the Willing," several million protesters took over Madrid, Barcelona and 55 other cities. Italy, another Bush ally, saw over a million citizens take to the streets of Rome. Britain, Bush's go/no go ally of allies, saw over a million people protesting in London. Police there said it was the largest demonstration in that nation's long history.

The Netherlands saw one hundred thousand protesters, as did Belgium and Ireland. There were protesters by the tens of thousands in Sweden, Switzerland, Scotland, Denmark, Austria, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, Greece, Russia and Japan. 500,000 protesters demonstrated in Germany, joined by three members of Gerhard Schroder's cabinet who defied their Chancellor by being there. It was the largest demonstration ever in post-war Germany. Another 500,000 people marched in Paris and 60 other French cities.

The United States of America saw protests from coast to coast in over 100 cities nationwide. New York City was paralyzed by over a million marchers. San Francisco was taken over by well over 200,000 protesters, and Los Angeles saw over 100,000 people take to the streets. Thousands upon thousands joined them in Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami and Seattle.

This was a gathering of ordinary citizens who came together in the streets of the world in an organized event that has no precedent in all of human history. They were brought together by a global word-of-mouth activism rooted entirely in the Internet. Were it not for this planetary connection, no such coordination could have ever taken place. Once upon a time, the world wide web was a realm dominated by dreams of profit and marketing. Those dreams have soured, leaving behind a marvelous network now utilized by very average people who can, with the click of a button, bring forth from all points on the compass a roaring deluge of humanity to stand against craven injustice and ruinous war.

The weekend of February 15th saw this force ram headlong into the will of men who walk in shadow, whose hands wield lightning and steel, pestilence and famine. In their ranks stand Presidents, Prime Ministers, corporate magnates, untouchable billionaires, and the advisors who whisper to them of empire and domination. They are few in number, but life and death flows from their fingertips in freshets and gouts. These men control the armies and navies of great nations, nuclear and chemical nightmares beyond measure, unassailable technological weapons and walls, the financial cords which hold the package together, the water, the air, the oil, the law, and a global media machine by which they can obscure their designs with pleasing lies.

<clip>

source - Of Gods and Mortals and Empire

 

[Weevil]

They can't all be real quotes can they? Santa Maria, make it not be so.

They'd have to be. If Trudeau got even one wrong we'd start seeing newspaper ads by Comic Strip Artists for Truth.

 

[ruminator]

I agree actually, though I would temper that with actual reasons involving defense and U.N. viability regarding enforcement of resolutions 12 years old.

I was just thinking the other day how much Fox Cable News is beginning to resemble "The 700 club".

Yes it does, especially in the blind faith loyalty to whatever is said there.

I have no problem with Fox being Conservative, it's the misleading part that dangerously infringes on my life.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I recall that. But I saw a large part of that as Dovish nonsense. "Things are quiet! Shh! I'm trying to read! Don't make things go boom!"

I'm being flip, but not completely.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Yes it does, especially in the blind faith loyalty to whatever is said there.

I have no problem with Fox being Conservative, it's the misleading part that dangerously infringes on my life.

It's when the female "anchors" started wearing wigs and pearls that I really noticed the resemblance.

 

[ruminator]

Another excerpt from the same article

<clip>

Two events brought PNAC into the mainstream of American government: the disputed election of George W. Bush, and the attacks of September 11th. When Bush assumed the Presidency, the men who created and nurtured the imperial dreams of PNAC became the men who run the Pentagon, the Defense Department and the White House. When the Towers came down, these men saw, at long last, their chance to turn their White Papers into substantive policy.

Vice President Dick Cheney is a founding member of PNAC, along with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz is the ideological father of the group. Bruce Jackson, a PNAC director, served as a Pentagon official for Ronald Reagan before leaving government service to take a leading position with the weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin.


<clip>

Most ominously, this PNAC document described four "Core Missions" for the American military. The two central requirements are for American forces to "fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars," and to "perform the 'constabulary' duties associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions." Note well that PNAC does not want America to be prepared to fight simultaneous major wars. That is old school. In order to bring this plan to fruition, the military must fight these wars one way or the other to establish American dominance for all to see.

<clip>

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Yes, this was my basis for an argument I had with Ish the other day, that the neocon dream of a democracy bubble also included constant war and a good century to fullfill, and I don't think the actual costs in human life or on the human psyche were/are taken into account.

This has been great. I'll pick it up tomorrow.

 

[ruminator]

It's when the female "anchors" started wearing wigs and pearls that I really noticed the resemblance.

I sometimes keep FoxNews on to challenge my thinking and I pick up small tidbits in conversation.

Evidently all of the female anchors are required to wear false eyelashes and high heels.

Nice,...but an odd requirement.

 

[busybody..]

James Lileks wonders exactly why Kerry is running for president.
The reason is almost tautological: John Kerry wants to be president because he is John Kerry, and John Kerry is supposed to be president. Hence his campaign's flummoxed and tone-deaf response to the swift boat vets. Ban the books, sue the stations, retreat, attack. Underneath it all you can sense the confusion. How dare they attack Kerry? He's supposed to be president. It's almost treason in advance.

It's not enough to believe you should be president. Clueless mortals need some hints. Is he motivated by a broad ideological agenda? There's no Kerry Doctrine, no Kerry Approach, no Tony-Blair-style "third way" gambit. There's just Lurch, lurching.

The war? He's said he would have gone to Iraq even if he knew then what he knows now -- he just would have done it differently, whatever that means. He has endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war -- but of course he would do it differently. It all seems to boil down to getting the French and the Germans on board so they can complain about the food and the quality of the sheets. He's pro-war when it counts, anti-war when it matters.

Inconsistencies are irrelevant, because he's consistently John Kerry. And he's supposed to be president.

As Lileks points out, there are a lot of men who have run for and won the presidency didn't seem to have any motivation for running beyond that they thought they should have the job.

 

[busybody..]

This BOOK will sink the Kerry campaign for good.

http://johnkerrythenewsoldier.blogspot.com/


Someone has put up on the web the 1971 book that John Kerry wrote, The New Soldier. You can go there and read the whole thing. I expect that bloggers will be mining this book for key passages. This is the book that Kerry refused to rerelease and has been going for big bucks on ebay. Go and search out your favorite quotes.


Kerry in his own words, not pretty!

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

My wife pointed out their Stepford Wife look recently, the overly pressed "That Girl" hair, the Ladies Who Lunch Power Pearls, the Glossy Film Make-up Look that seems to have been tattooed on. I look at them and all I think is "Televangelist" or, at the very least, "Country Club".

I'm sure it's unfair to judge a News Channel by the appearance of its female anchors. But there is just something glossy behind the eyes and intolerant in the voices and righteous in the posture. I almost expect to hear them sign off with an "And may the Lord keep you safe. Good night, and God Bless."

"Outfoxed" is a very worthy documentary if not only for the large number of Fox producers, writers and Journalists who come forward to talk about how it was quickly made clear to them that journalism was not going to be their job. It's a nicely done, well researched documentary, despite the high school graphics they did on their iMacs.

 

[JazzManJim]

There are some conservatives out here. I can't speak for any of the rest, but I just don't feel like debating.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I think you're lying. I think you WANT to debate. Prove me wrong. Name your sources. LIAR!

 

[Ishmael]

Riight out of the Dem. 'talking points' Dix. Surely you can do better.

Kyoto is a lie. Lets start there.

Ishmael

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Who lied about Kyoto? I'm not for it, and that's the truth, Ruth.

 

[Ishmael]

Who lied about Kyoto? I'm not for it, and that's the truth, Ruth.

You repeat yourself. But that's not how the Dem. talking points you posted portray it, do they? Hmmmmm?

Kerry couldn't get that turkey through the Senate with a bulldozer.

And Kerry can't get a tax hike through the house.

He's a pandering piece of shit.

And the 'Swifties' are sinking his water taxi. I hope the fucker drops dead just after he recovers from the electoral rejection he's going to get.

Ishmael

 

[scylis]

light bulbs are in hardware. and Wally*Hell's isles are so foul and unspeakable, their labels cannot be uttered by the human tongue, and if you were to hear them from one that could speak it, your head would explode. very Lovercraftian, i've been told.

 

[Algore]

"I'm so tired of the negativity and junk!" Me too. So here's a thread with no Swift Boat liars, no overwrought saluting ready for duty rhetoric, just the issues, which everyone says they just can't wait to get back to.

------------------------------------------

Bush vs. Kerry at a glance
How Republican, Democrat stand on key issues
MSNBC
Updated: 4:19 p.m. ET Aug. 24, 2004

Here's a quick look at where Sen. John Kerry and President Bush stand on the central issues in the race for the White House.

In their own words

Kerry: "I'm running for President to make the country we love safer, stronger, and more secure. I'm asking every American to be a Citizen Soldier again committed to leaving no American behind."

Bush: “My campaign is going to take a hopeful and optimistic message to the American people. I hope you will show your support by taking action in your community. Vice President Cheney and I are focused on the nation's top priorities -- strengthening the economy, protecting the homeland, and winning the war on terror. We will continue to earn the confidence of the American people by working to keep this nation prosperous, strong and secure.”

Abortion

Bush: Would only support it in cases of rape or incest or when a woman’s life is endangered. He signed bill to ban a procedure that opponents call partial-birth abortion.

Kerry: Is a staunch pro-choice advocate and would nominate only Supreme Court justices who support abortion rights. He voted against partial-birth ban. Kerry also believes that the government should promote family planning and health plans should assure women contraceptive coverage.

Budget

Bush:_ Approved record deficits in a time of recession, war, terrorism and tax cuts. Budget in surplus when Bush took office; $521 billion deficit is projected this year. Budget plan for 2005 says annual deficits can be cut by half in five years. Bush proposes that Congress limit discretionary spending in programs outside defense and homeland security to a 0.5 percent increase next year.

Kerry: Cut deficit by half, at least, in first term, in part through repeal of Bush tax cuts for wealthier Americans.

Death penalty

Bush: Supports.

Kerry: Opposes “other than in cases of real international and domestic terrorism.”

Education

Bush: Championed a bipartisan overhaul of elementary and secondary education that toughened standards for teachers, schools and student achievement. Federal spending on education has jumped nearly 50 percent since Bush took office.

Kerry: Would establish $3.2 billion community service plan for high school students that would qualify them for the equivalent of their states’ four-year public college tuition if they perform two years of national service. Provide a tax credit for every year of college on the first $4,000 paid in tuition. Credit would provide 100 percent of the first $1,000 and 50 percent on the rest. Opposes private-school vouchers. Backed Bush overhaul but says too much emphasis is placed on tests for measuring student achievement; additional factors, such as attendance and parental satisfaction, should be considered.

Energy and environment

Bush: Bush, who pulled the United States out of the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, believes the threat of global warming should be addressed through new economic growth and efficiency. He also favors oil exploration in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and backs legislation that would seek to reduce air pollution and acid rain by offering major polluters access to market-based incentives to reduce harmful emissions.

Kerry: Kerry favors U.S. participation in an international climate change program to curb global warming and would cut mercury emissions by American utilities and plants. To encourage more renewable energy sources, Kerry wants to create a renewable energy trust fund to reduce oil consumption by 2 million barrels per day, which is roughly the amount imported from the Middle East. Kerry also backed Senate legislation to impose stricter mileage standards on gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and automobiles.

Foreign policy

Bush: After straining relations with major European allies and the United Nations over war in Iraq, Bush has shifted his foreign policy focus to the spread of democracy by pushing a Greater Middle East Initiative that would aim to resolve the region’s political, economic and social problems through democratic reform. The president, criticized for the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is also pursuing a policy that seeks to unravel the black market in nuclear components and block programs in North Korea and Iran, countries he has labeled an “axis of evil” along with prewar Iraq.

Kerry: While insisting he would never cede U.S. security to any other nation and would use force when required, Kerry envisions “a new era of alliances” to replace what he sees as the White House’s go-it-alone approach to foreign policy. He has pledged to restore diplomacy as a tool of U.S. foreign policy, treat the United Nations as a “full partner” and pursue collective security arrangements. His inner circle of foreign policy advisers features prominent Democratic veterans, including some figures from the Clinton days.

Gay marriage

Bush: Proposes constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Has continued former President Clinton’s policy allowing gays to serve in military if they are not open about their homosexuality.

Kerry: Opposes gay marriage but also opposes constitutional amendment against it; supports right to civil unions. Would ban job discrimination against homosexuals, extend hate-crime protections to gays, and let gays serve openly in the military.

Guns

Bush: Favors granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits, but that measure failed in the Senate. Has said he supports extending ban on assault-type weapons that expires in September and requiring background checks at gun shows, but has backed delays in acting on those steps. Criticized Clinton for weak enforcement of existing gun laws, but prosecution of people who lie on background checks has continued to lag.

Kerry: Supports extending ban on assault-type weapons and requiring background checks at gun shows. Opposes granting immunity to gun makers.

Health care

Bush: Number of Americans without health insurance has risen in his presidency, reaching 43.6 million in 2002, up from 41.2 million in 2001 and 39.8 million in 2000, according to Census Bureau. Has won passage of prescription drug benefit for older Americans that will subsidize costs for low-income patients and encourage private insurance companies to offer coverage for the elderly willing to opt out of traditional Medicare. Cost of drug benefit and other Medicare changes now estimated at $534 billion over 10 years, up from $395 billion when changes were debated. New tax-free medical savings accounts can be opened by people under 65 who meet certain conditions.

Kerry: Expand existing insurance system for federal employees to private citizens through tax credits and subsidies. Unemployed would get 75 percent tax credit to help pay for insurance. Tax credits for small businesses and their employees for health insurance. People aged 55 to 64 could buy into federal employees’ health plan at affordable price. Government would help companies and insurers pay an employee’s catastrophic medical costs if the firms would agree to hold down premiums. Federal support to expand access to state-administered health insurance for children. Overall costs estimated by outside analyst at $895 billion over 10 years, to cover 27 million more people. Also, require mandatory financing for veterans health care.

Homeland security

Bush: Sought and won the creation of the Homeland Security Department. His administration also pushed for creation of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center; launched the Container Security Initiative; boosted federal screening of airline passengers and baggage; and reorganized the FBI to improve its oversight of domestic terrorism. Wants Patriot Act renewed and strengthened. On the central recommendation of the the 9/11 Commission, the creation of a national intelligence director, Bush has suggested that he favors a national intelligence director with less than the full budgetary and hiring authority recommend by the panel.

Kerry: Voted for the Patriot Act. But he accuses the Bush administration of misusing it. Although he favors strengthening some parts of it, he favors eliminating other parts. Has endorsed all of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations and urged Bush to act quickly on them.

Immigration

Bush: Proposes granting legal status to millions of illegal workers as well as people outside the United States who line up jobs in America. Plan would give temporary legal status and expand the current program for highly skilled foreign workers and farm labor to other sectors of the economy where jobs are not being filled by Americans. Opposes giving illegal immigrants an “automatic path to citizenship.”

Kerry: People who have been in the United States at least five years, paid taxes and “stayed out of trouble ought to be able to translate into an American citizen immediately.”

Iraq

Bush: Authorized by Congress, he oversaw a swift military victory followed by a violent aftermath in which the death count for U.S. soldiers is approaching 1,000. Won congressional approval of $87 billion for continued military operations and aid in Iraq and Afghanistan and pushed plan for interim government to run country until it is replaced following national elections scheduled for January.

Kerry: Supported decision to go to war but now says he did so based on faulty U.S. intelligence. Opposed $87 billion package for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Social Security

Bush: Give younger workers the option of putting part of their payroll tax into personal retirement accounts, giving them a chance to make a higher return on that investment in return for smaller Social Security benefits.

Kerry: Opposes partial privatization of Social Security. Would require companies switching to cheaper lump-sum pension plans to offer retiring workers the choice of staying with traditional company pension.

Taxes

Bush: Has repeatedly called on Congress to make his tax cuts permanent, saying failure to do so would amount to a tax hike and threaten prospects for a robust economic recovery capable of generating new jobs. Congressional analysts say that making the tax cuts permanent would cost about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years.

Kerry: Has called for repeal of the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $200,000 a year, in order to pay for broad health care reform. However, he would retain the tax cuts for the middle class. He says he can halve the record half-trillion dollar budget by the end of one four-year term, even while spending $72 billion a year to extend health care to 27 million of the 40-plus million uninsured. His campaign has provided no details.

Trade

Bush: Is an avowed free trader, has embarked on a series of trade agreements with countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. But his administration has also faced charges of protectionism over steel tariffs that the World Trade Organization ruled illegal, and its reluctance to trim import barriers that protect U.S. sugar, dairy and beef industries.

Kerry: Has promised a 120-day review of all existing U.S. trade agreements upon taking office, and favors using the World Trade Organization to challenge China’s currency practices. He also has pressed for stronger labor and environmental language than Bush has required in growing collection of bilateral free trade agreements with countries around the world.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4448630/

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

NOW THEY WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE ISSUES! lololololololol...

 

[Algore]

Server Nuance

 

[Algore]

We went from “Reporting for Duty” and 26 seconds of Senate Accomplishment(s?) at the convention to, “Why can’t we get over Vietnam and talk about the issues,” in about 72 hours.

Coincidently, the Swifties Book has been sold out as it shot to number 1 and you can read Kerry’s first vile loathsome work of art on-line now and get the TRUE measure of the man.

Gawd they shoulda picked Edwards…

And their man is currently hiding behind a triple amputee!

How fucking noble!

Whatta leader!

KUDOS!

lol

.

 

[busybody..]

Why is Vietnam an issue?

Kerry made it so.

Read this and you will understand.

BTW, Dix, You are a reall asshole.

Cant debate ideas? Shut the opponent up, typical Kerry cock sucker.


Speaking on behalf of Vietnam veterans in his Senate testimony on April 22, 1971, John Kerry said, "We wish that a merciful God could wipe away our own memories of that service..." Thirty-three years later, it's clear that his plea fell on deaf ears. Kerry recalls his Vietnam service in virtually every campaign speech he makes. At the Boston convention, his four-month stint in Vietnam was repeatedly invoked as his primary qualification for the presidency.


Kerry's problem is that those who served alongside him haven't forgotten either. Many Vietnam veterans remember that Kerry slandered their service when he claimed they were responsible for widespread atrocities. These veterans include 250 of his Swift boat comrades, whose organization, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, has taken to the airwaves to accuse him of lying about his record and betraying his fellow veterans. In particular, they say that in telling the U.S. Senate about non-existent American war crimes, he did something that our POWs refused to do under torture.

The book that has thrown Kerry on the defensive is not Unfit for Command so much as Tour of Duty, the authorized biography written by the pro-Kerry historian Douglas Brinkley. Until the book's publication in January, Kerry's fellow Swift boat veterans were unaware of his exact version of their alleged atrocities and his alleged heroics. Some of them had come to Kerry's rescue in the past, when he was accused of committing war crimes of his own (these statements are now used to challenge the Swift boat vets' consistency). The vets intended to refute Kerry's allegations of atrocities, but found that their eyewitness accounts contradicted Kerry's version of his exploits.

Why should it matter? First, there is the fact that Kerry has put his Vietnam experience at the center of his campaign. If it turns out that his account of that experience is based on exaggerations or lies, it is a damning indictment of his candidacy, on his own terms. Even if Kerry had not made Vietnam such a large part of his campaign, this controversy would be important, since dishonesty (even relatively minor incidents of it) with regard to war stories and decorations has ruined careers. Finally, there is Kerry's 1971 testimony, which he has never retracted and which still stands as testament to his belief that the American military was a criminal force in Vietnam. The Swift boat vets can be forgiven for asking whether someone who believes this country would order such crimes, and that its men in uniform would "routinely" carry them out, is fit to be commander-in-chief.

The merits of the charges about Kerry's service and how he won his Purple Hearts and Silver and Bronze Stars are difficult to disentangle (see Byron York's piece in the September 13 issue for a thorough evaluation). Kerry seems to have lied when he repeatedly claimed to have spent Christmas 1968 in Cambodia, an event allegedly "seared" in his memory. His campaign now allows that his memory was faulty. There are also legitimate questions about whether two of his Purple Hearts were awarded for wounds that were accidentally self-inflicted. The Purple Hearts matter so much because Kerry used them to take advantage of a Navy regulation that allowed him to leave Vietnam after four months of combat. Kerry's story about how he received his Silver Star — dashing ashore to shoot a wounded Viet Cong — holds up better. Finally, there is doubt whether, in the Bronze Star incident, he really rescued Jim Rassmann from the water under a hail of enemy bullets, as the Kerry campaign and Rassmann have repeated ad nauseam.

The "fog of war" no doubt explains some of the conflicting accounts, which may never be resolved. But we still don't have all the information. For months, the Swift boat vets have been calling on John Kerry to authorize the release of his complete Navy records, only selected portions of which have been made available by his campaign. We should still see his full personnel file and his medical records. For good measure, Kerry should release his wartime journals and his films of himself from Vietnam. The press can do its part by not acting as though its sole job were to discredit the Swift boat vets, and by reporting instead on the substance of their allegations (as Michael Dobbs recently did in an evenhanded front-page Washington Post story on the Bronze Star incident).

Kerry so far has hoped to get away with falsely charging that Bush is responsible for the ads and calling the Swift boat vets "liars," an accusation that hasn't affected them much since they have been called much worse by John Kerry. The contradiction at the center of Kerry's political persona is that he now wants to pretend that Vietnam was a noble war populated by American heroes, when he made his name by smearing it as an unworthy war waged by war criminals. Kerry can probably never fully resolve that contradiction, although he could make a start by repudiating and apologizing for his 1971 remarks. But that might require more moral courage than Kerry has ever mustered, in Vietnam or after



Speaking on behalf of Vietnam veterans in his Senate testimony on April 22, 1971, John Kerry said, "We wish that a merciful God could wipe away our own memories of that service..." Thirty-three years later, it's clear that his plea fell on deaf ears. Kerry recalls his Vietnam service in virtually every campaign speech he makes. At the Boston convention, his four-month stint in Vietnam was repeatedly invoked as his primary qualification for the presidency.