August 29, 2004

Why Kerry is Constitutional Traitor Unfit for Office

It is hard to know the truth about John Kerry’s four-month and eleven-day tour of Swift Boat service during the Vietnam War – campaign politics being mostly a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Nevertheless, to be awarded a Silver Star, Bronze Medal and three Purple Hearts in so short a time is, let us say, very unusual. But Vietnam was an unusual war.

President Kennedy sent the first troops. President Johnson doubled the ante. U.S. combat deaths were 47,369 until President Richard Nixon started bombing Vietcong bases in Cambodia and withdrawing troops. The halt to communism had been met.

This much is clear: Kerry and his sister were active in the student anti-war movement. When facing a draft into the armed services, he applied for a deferment. Upon being denied, Kerry enlisted in the Navy and applied for duty aboard patrol boats.  

The conditions under which Kerry is said to have qualified for medals are disputed. Two of the five "band of brothers" -- under his command -- support Kerry’s claims. Three others dispute them.  

More significant is the sworn statements of 200 other members of the Swift Boat squadron that participated jointly in river excursions. They have published a best-seller book -- "Unfit For Command" -- that gives an unflattering account of Kerry’s participation in events.

This much is clear from official sources: (1) Kerry did not spend Christmas Eve 1969 in Cambodia – as he claimed -- with enemy fire "searing, searing my brain," and (2) one Purple Heart was for a minor cut "self inflicted without intent."

He did get a small hit on the leg with a piece of shrapnel. Origin of the shrapnel is uncertain.

A third Purple Heart -- making him eligible for rotation home upon request – was "self described with out debilitating effect."

Two days after one action -- in which Kerry jumped ashore to shoot and kill a wounded cong in the back – Kerry bought a small movie camera. He returned to the scene to have one of his crew photograph him tramping around in the jungle.  

The Silver Star was recommended perfunctorily, but years later it was rewritten more dramatically at Kerry’s request.

Kerry could substantiate his claims simply by signing NavReg form 180 releasing his official records for public review. He refuses.

The Dem candidate early in the campaign, accused Bush of "ducking the draft" by enlisting in the Air National Guard where he learned to fly a fighter jet.

When this charge didn’t stick, Democrat National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliff asserted Bush was "absent without leave" for a month in Alabama. Medical records were found proving Bush was where and when he was supposed to be.

 Sen. Teddy Kennedy, the coward of Chappaquidick, says President Bush is a "liar."

A pro-Kerry website – visited twice at a fund-raising party by Sen. and Mrs. Kerry – portrays Bush as a Nazi screaming invective in German.

President Bush has praised Kerry’s Vietnam service and calls on "all independent soft-money groups" – created by the McCain-Finegold campaign reform bill -- to stop negative advertising.

Not enough. Kerry demands that Bush order the "swifties" to cease talking, the publisher of "Unfit To Command" to cease printing, and bookstores to cease selling the book. Alas, First Amendment.

Bush’s call for independent, political action committees to make nice is not enough for Kerry. He wants Bush to denounce the swifties. Liberals know how to dish it out, but they can’t take it.

Kerry went to Vietnam predisposed to criticize.  He manipulated the system to rush home and seek political stature with the Jane Fonda anti-war crowd. He testified before a Senate committee that all U.S. soldiers in Vietnam "routinely committed" all manner of atrocities. He publicly threw his medals over a restraining fence in front of the U.S. Capitol.

Here is the significance of Kerry’s medal controversy.

He disavowed his medals and therefore cannot now claim ownership. He denounced his country and gave "aid and comfort" to our enemies in time of war. This is constitutional treason.

Kerry has spent 19 years in the Senate voting against every budget bill for the military and homeland security. He voted for the war on terrorism before the flipped and denounced it. He is a disgrace and unfit for public office.  

Lindsey Williams is a Sun columnist who can be contacted at linwms@lindseywilliams.org