Kerry Releases All Military Records...

[Moooooo]

Senator John F. Kerry, ending at least two years of refusal, has waived privacy restrictions and authorized the release of his full military and medical records.

The records, which the Navy Personnel Command provided to the Globe, are mostly a duplication of what Kerry released during his 2004 campaign for president, including numerous commendations from commanding officers who later criticized Kerry's Vietnam service.

The lack of any substantive new material about Kerry's military career in the documents raises the question of why Kerry refused for so long to waive privacy restrictions. An earlier release of the full record might have helped his campaign because it contains a number of reports lauding his service. Indeed, one of the first actions of the group that came to be known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was to call on Kerry to sign a privacy waiver and release all of his military and medical records.

But Kerry refused, even though it turned out that the records included commendations from some of the same veterans who were criticizing him.

On May 20, Kerry signed a document called Standard Form 180, authorizing the Navy to send an ''undeleted" copy of his ''complete military service record and medical record" to the Globe. Asked why he delayed signing the form for so long, Kerry said in a written response: ''The call for me to sign a 180 form came from the same partisan operatives who were lying about my record on a daily basis on the Web and in the right-wing media. Even though the media was discrediting them, they continued to lie. I felt strongly that we shouldn't kowtow to them and their attempts to drag their lies out."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation...

[Beet]

This isn't as bad as hoarding millions of dollars raised for his campaign until after the election. Anyone know what ended up happening to that money?

[Moooooo]

Kerry's the only one at fault here, IMO.  He should have released the records a long time ago.

[Moooooo]

This isn't as bad as hoarding millions of dollars raised for his campaign until after the election. Anyone know what ended up happening to that money?

He donated some to the Governor of Washington for the recount.  He also donated a couple million to the DNC.  The rest is waiting in his war chest for 2008.

[Sam Spade]

Apparently, the only new portion of information that can explain why he waited almost a year to release his military records was that his grade point average at Yale was slightly lower than George W. Bush's.

Rather amusing, I might say.

[Moooooo]

At least this proves one thing. The Swift Boat Liars were just that...  Liars.

[TheresNoMoney]

Kerry's the only one at fault here, IMO.  He should have released the records a long time ago.

Agree 100%. We could have put the Swift Boat Liars out of business.

[Gabu]

Man, I don't get it.  With it coming out that Kerry didn't nearly spend all of his campaign funds and now this, I personally feel cheated in a way by Kerry.  Those who nominated him expected him to give his all in the campaign, and he didn't.  I would have been completely fine with losing in 2004 had I known that my candidate did his very best to beat Bush, but it's becoming increasingly clear that he didn't, and I can't understand why.  Did he not want to beat Bush?  Did he feel that he couldn't win, so there was no point?  Did he just have that much of a lack of perception to be able to see what to do?

I really don't know.

[Jake]

Conspiracy Gabu. Kerry is actually an Illuminati mole who has spent his entire life preparing to run against and throw the election to George Bush. Furthering the "New World Order" and the Bush family.

[Gabu]

Conspiracy Gabu. Kerry is actually an Illuminati mole who has spent his entire life preparing to run against and throw the election to George Bush. Furthering the "New World Order" and the Bush family.

Oh, okay, thanks, Jake.  I suspected as much all along.

[Jake]

Glad to help Gabu. The sooner we understand the coming threat, the better off we'll be when it comes.

[The Vorlon]

I wonder what would have happened to George Bush if he had refused to release his records until after the election.

The press has no double standard... nope... not even a little.

[Ebowed]

I remember being so excited all of 2004 following the Democratic convention-- this time, the Democrats were going to win!  We were going to become respected again!  A better, smarter, and respectable person in office!  Immediately following the election, I grew increasingly upset that perhaps Kerry hadn't tried his hardest.  Reading this news is kind of a slap in the face.  Kerry had better not try to run again in 2008, if he does I hope he gets laughed out of the primary.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I wonder what would have happened to George Bush if he had refused to release his records until after the election.

The press has no double standard... nope... not even a little.

You partisan hack, he never released all of his records. Kerry released far more records than Bush. Lying hypocrite.

[The Duke]

He also released his academic records.  He got worse grades than Bush at Yale.

Let's all understand the ignominy of that fact.  George W. Bush is practically illiterate, and he is smarter than John Kerry.

[Ebowed]

I don't pay much attention to grades (if I did, I wouldn't have that impressive of a record myself-- not that I strive to have one).  I think the way someone displays himself in public is much more important.

[The Duke]

I don't pay much attention to grades (if I did, I wouldn't have that impressive of a record myself-- not that I strive to have one).  I think the way someone displays himself in public is much more important.

So you think its more important that a President trick you into thinking he's smart than actually be smart?

[Ebowed]

1.) When did I say such a thing?

2.) Kerry never tricked anyone into thinking he's smart.  Just watch one of the debates from last year and tell me which of the two candidates displays better intelligence.

3.) Your definition of "smart" seems to come directly from grades, which I stated I don't pay much attention to, therefore making your flawed argument even more flawed, not to mention useless to me.

[TheWildCard]

The only answer to why Kerry was so stupid is that he was blinded by arrogance. He must of thought he was going to be able to walk all over Bush and that it would be better if he saved his money so he use the money in his war chest for his 2008 re-election campaign.

Oh and Ebowed... Bush got elected... Kerry didn't use all of his resources to beat Bush in a close election.

Who is really the stupid one?

[The Duke]

1.) When did I say such a thing?

2.) Kerry never tricked anyone into thinking he's smart.  Just watch one of the debates from last year and tell me which of the two candidates displays better intelligence.

3.) Your definition of "smart" seems to come directly from grades, which I stated I don't pay much attention to, therefore making your flawed argument even more flawed, not to mention useless to me.

Your definition of smart has more to do with a man's TV presence than his intellect, so I'm afraid your definition is useless to me.

Smart people don't get Ds.  End of sentence.  Kerry got five Ds.

[Ebowed]

First off, whether or not Bush won the election doesn't prove his intelligence, but regardless of that, it wasn't his intelligence that beat Kerry's, rather, it was Karl Rove's intelligence that beat Mary Beth Cahill's.  Second, I have no doubt that Kerry may have been afraid that the records would hold some sort of secret that Kerry didn't want known-- which apparently weren't in the records after all.  Arrogance would be a very dumb reason not to get those records released.  Or maybe he was being honest when he said he wouldn't take the demands of a bunch of lying swift boat veterans.  Whatever the reason, Kerry's poor strategy does not outweigh the fact that, despite his odd opinions, flip-flop on Iraq, and selfishness of money, he is still more intelligent than Bush.  I honestly don't care what his or Bush's grades were, because frankly, I think the education system is bullsh**t and whatever it tells us shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Your definition of smart has more to do with a man's TV presence than his intellect, so I'm afraid your definition is useless to me.

TV presense?  I never said anything about TV presense.  I said how he displays himself in public.  That means, speeches, debates, etc.  Not how he is presented on TV channels, now what suit he wears, and not what grades he got.

Smart people don't get Ds. End of sentence. Kerry got five Ds.

Actually, you must accumulate several factors: laziness, increased intelligence following university, intelligence in comparison to Bush-- regardless of grades (after all, I'm not saying Kerry's that intelligent, just more intelligent than Bush), and most likely a flawed grading system.  People who put too much faith in our education system aren't likely to handle facts well.

[Rob]

Smart people don't get Ds.  End of sentence.

What? Grades have everything to do with motivation, and not much to do with intelligence. A fairly stupid person, if he studied all the time and crammed before tests, could easily get good grades. On the other hand, a very smart person, if he never studied or didn't bother to do classwork, could easily get bad grades. I don't see where you're getting this "smart people don't get Ds".

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

One thing that should be noted is that grades at different universities, different department at the same university, difference classes in the same department, and different professors who teach the same class are often not so comperable.

For something like graduate school admissions, they'd try to find out how hard the indiividual classes taken were. However, if it was a reputable graduate program, it would reject both of them.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

End of sentence. 

Beginning of sentence.

[Ebowed]

One thing that should be noted is that grades at different universities, different department at the same university, difference classes in the same department, and different professors who teach the same class are often not so comperable.

For something like graduate school admissions, they'd try to find out how hard the indiividual classes taken were. However, if it was a reputable graduate program, it would reject both of them.

Also an excellent point.

And may I add that Kerry's reluctance to release his records before the election could have to do with a difference between intelligence and common sense, which are too often confused.