In a powerful gesture, richly symbolic and yet poignantly real and direct, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mekong Delta) dispatched Max Cleland (D-GA), who lost three limbs in Vietnam, and former Green Beret Jim Rassman, whose life JFK saved on that fateful day in Vietnam, to Waco (that's the reality of it, the increasingly unhinged and incredibly shrinking _resident's "ranch" is in Waco County) to deliver a letter from seven Democrat Senators who served in the US military, demanding that the increasingly unhinged and incredibly shrinking _resident stop playing games and repudiate the false and shameful character assassination squad that was bankrolled by his biggest Texas campaign financier and aided and abetted by his own campaign's lawyer (who forced to resigned quickly yesterday to stem the political hemorrhaging)...Of course, Cleland and Rassman were stopped at a security checkpoint and turned away. The increasingly unhinged and incredibly shrinking _resident's press flak called the Cleland-Rassman mission a "stunt." Hmmm...Did you hear the knocking at the door, Mr. _resident? Do you understand what time it is? "Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late." The woods have come to the castle walls. Yes, there is a Day of political Reckoning coming at the ballot box in November 2004..."Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."
Milan Simonich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Ed Belfoure, who flew helicopters as a Marine in Vietnam, is a registered Republican. But he promises to cross party lines in November to vote for Democrat John Kerry for president.
Belfoure, of Washington, Pa., said yesterday he cannot abide the "despicable television ads" that donors to President Bush's campaign have aimed at Kerry...
"In their perverted attempt to discredit John Kerry, they have done a greater harm to all Vietnam veterans who for years have sought validation for their service to country," he said.
About a dozen other military veterans sounded a similar theme.
Jonathan Soltz, an Army veteran who served in Iraq last year, said the two combat medals Kerry received were awarded only after high-ranking Navy officers evaluated his battle record. To challenge Kerry's medals now, Soltz said, amounts to an attack on the integrity of the military system.
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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04238/367395.stm
Swift boat ads push GOP veteran into Kerry camp
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
By Milan Simonich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Ed Belfoure, who flew helicopters as a Marine in Vietnam, is a registered Republican. But he promises to cross party lines in November to vote for Democrat John Kerry for president.
Belfoure, of Washington, Pa., said yesterday he cannot abide the "despicable television ads" that donors to President Bush's campaign have aimed at Kerry.
A group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has attacked Kerry's service record in Vietnam. Kerry received Silver and Bronze stars and three Purple Hearts in the war -- honors that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth say he did not deserve.
Belfoure, appearing yesterday with other veterans at a news conference at Kerry's Downtown Pittsburgh headquarters, called the ads slanderous and untruthful.
"In their perverted attempt to discredit John Kerry, they have done a greater harm to all Vietnam veterans who for years have sought validation for their service to country," he said.
About a dozen other military veterans sounded a similar theme.
Jonathan Soltz, an Army veteran who served in Iraq last year, said the two combat medals Kerry received were awarded only after high-ranking Navy officers evaluated his battle record. To challenge Kerry's medals now, Soltz said, amounts to an attack on the integrity of the military system.
Soltz, who is coordinating Pennsylvania veterans for Kerry, accused Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney of ducking military service in Vietnam, then tacitly supporting guttersnipe attacks on Kerry. Soltz said he believes such negative campaigning will backfire on Republicans.
"All they have done is mobilized our base," he said.
In Washington, a lawyer for Bush's re-election campaign disclosed yesterday that he has been providing legal advice for the Swift Boat group.
Benjamin Ginsberg's acknowledgment marks the second time in days that an individual associated with the Bush-Cheney campaign has been connected to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
The Kerry campaign last week filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing the Bush campaign and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth of illegally coordinating the group's ads. The Bush campaign and the veterans' group say there is no coordination.
On Saturday, retired Air Force Col. Ken Cordier resigned as a member of the Bush campaign's veterans' steering committee after it was learned that he appeared in the Swift Boat veterans' commercial.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Ginsberg said the group "came to me and said, 'We have a point of view we want to get into the First Amendment debate right now. There's a new law. It's very complicated. We want to comply with the law, will you keep us in the bounds of the law?' I said yes, absolutely, as I would do for anyone."
Ginsberg said he never told the Bush campaign what he discussed with the group, or vice versa, and doesn't advise the group on ad strategies.
Rich Baker, a former Navy lieutenant who served with Kerry on Swift boat missions in Vietnam, agreed with the others at the Pittsburgh appearance.
A Democrat from Scott, Baker voted for Bush in 2000 but said he will back Kerry this year.
Baker called the criticisms of Kerry's wartime service "a smear tactic" that voters should repudiate. "I can vouch for John Kerry's courage and dedication," he said.
Baker estimated that 75 to 100 men who served on Swift boats have direct knowledge of how Kerry conducted himself in battle. He said none of them ever questioned Kerry's courage until he ran for president. Then, Baker said, Republican operatives sprang into action, attacking Kerry despite wartime mission reports that praised his service.
"If I had to go up the river today, I'd want John Kerry on my flank," Baker said. "He knows what it's like to be under fire."
Baker, though, said he was annoyed by the focus on 35-year-old battles in Vietnam. The country and the candidates, he said, should be dealing with more important matters, such as creating jobs and ending warfare in Iraq.
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(Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1956.)