Open Question to Republicans

[Pollwatch99]

One of John Kerry's criticisms of Bush was that he would never admit a mistake.  The Swift Boat Veterans said they would stop their advertising if John Kerry apologized to them.  Right or wrong the Swift Boat veterans felt that Kerry's testimony was a reasonable part of the reason they were treated with disdain when they returned from Vietnam.  It sounds plausible, after all these veterans were called baby killers and all sort of other ugly things.

Kerry said on Meet the Press that his testimony was over the top.  I could not understand why he simply didn't call a press conference and apologize to all the Vietnam Veterans. His acknowledgement that his "over the top testimony" could have been part of the reason they were treated without the respect veterans of other wars would have ended the issue.  If the Swift Boat veterans broke their word and continued they would have lost creditability.

A week or so after that, he could have claimed that he will be a President that will acknowledge mistakes and have the courage to correct them implying that Bush could not. 

So what was it about Kerry that stopped him from doing this?  The inner core of John Kerry is deeply anti-war under almost all circumstances.  He could not acknowledge that his actions could have caused pain to others.  That is why he voted the way he did in 1991.