Let’s Be Fair to John Kerry…

Earlier this week, a group calling themselves “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” released a commercial and website criticizing and refuting John Kerry’s military record. Among their claims are that Kerry received purple hearts for self-inflicted and minor wounds, that he was reckless, and that outright lied about his record.
This site has even provided a link to SwiftVets.com and briefly touched on the forthcoming book, “Unfit for Command,” in the Quick Hits section. (Please remember that all hyperlinks provided on Conservative Blogger are “for informational and entertainment purposes only.”) While I do still believe that the information says something about Senator Kerry’s character, I’ve done a lot of thinking about the relevance of this topic over the past couple of days.
I do think seeking the Presidency has a great deal to do with the character of the individual in the office, but I don’t think that John Kerry’s military service in Vietnam is the right path to go down. In other words, this kind of criticism of Kerry is not only ill-timed, but it’s just plain wrong.
Regardless of what anyone thinks about John Kerry, the facts about his military service have already been entered into the record. He does, in fact, have three purple hearts, a bronze star, and a silver star. The Department of Defense doesn’t just hand those out like Kool-Aid on a hot day. You don’t just get those medals by showing up, do you?
He wasn’t drafted. He volunteered to go.
Kerry even saved the life of one of his ship mates after taking shrapnel. If he hadn’t pulled the man out of the water with his one good arm at the time, the man would have died.
This is the kind of stuff you just can’t negate. I understand where the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are coming from–I don’t want Kerry elected President, either. There is no way to turn this kind of thing into a win. Even though these guys are putting up soft-money ads and printing a book, it has the potential to have a negative backlash for Republicans in general–even if the accusations are true, and their validity is still under much debate.
If people want to criticize John Kerry for his stance on issues, that’s great.
If they want to go after his role in the anti-war movement, I’m all for that.
If they want to highlight his throwing his medals over the White House fence–and then saying he didn’t do it, be my guest.
If they want to go after his record in the Senate, then have at it! Take him to task on every vote he’s made and every interview he’s given.
Attempting to discredit the stellar record of a decorated Naval officer thirty years after the fact is quite another. They can’t, and won’t, win this particular fight. The White House and the Bush Campaign have gone on record as saying they had nothing to do with this, and I believe that’s true.
In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, John Kerry has served his country with honor and distinction and I, for one, thank him for his service to the United States. I don’t care if he received a purple heart for injuries sustained in mailing a letter home to his parents. He volunteered to go, he went into combat and fought under the flag of the USA, and he received an honorable discharge.
Attacking John Kerry for being decorated in his service to America is like attacking John McCain for getting shot down and having been a prisoner of war in Vietnam for five years. It’s just dumb.
I can hear the Liberals now. “ConFlopper.” “Hypocrite.” There’s a big difference between pointing out a seriously flawed political strategy and not being able to keep my story straight on Iraq.
Presidential politics in this country is a street fight at times. Let’s keep the battle for the Presidency in the streets of America’s towns and cities where it belongs, and not in the Mekong Delta.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com