Swift Boat Veterans etc.

[Brambila]

With all this talk of the swift boat veterans, I’ve been disgusted with the media, the democrats, John McCain, George Bush, and especially John Kerry. The entire media has bloated the issue, the democrats have beaten the corpse, John McCain and George Bush have made themselves look like fools, and John Kerry has reprobated the issue, continuing on his campaign that is based on negativity. Writing this, I wonder- why does Kerry criticize Bush for something he’s not apart of? Why are Bush and McCain supporting Kerry? Why does it matter if Bush funds the swift boat veterans?

About a month or two ago, I was listening to a Vietnam veteran from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth be interviewed at the Savage Nation. He was talking about his background with John Kerry, and how many of his stories of courage are complete figments. I doubted the credibility of the man, but knew that they had a right to speak out if they wanted to. The host, Michael Savage, asked the man if he had any support from the GOP, the man said absolutely not. Later, the same man was on Hannity and Colmes, and the fill-in host for Alan Colmes, Susan Estrich, asked the veteran if he had support from the GOP. The man denied it. Even when Estrich brought out sources, the man explained that the source was untrue, and that they had absolutely no support from the GOP. Estrich shrugged, looking perhaps a bit embarrassed, and went on to a different question. While she went off on a series of very good, interrogating questions, I wondered why Estrich thought the funding of SBVT a bad thing.

What if the Republican Party funds them? It’s clearly not against campaign finance rules- Kerry funds organizations like Campaign for America’s Future, MoveOn.org, People for the American Way, and several other groups in support of Kerry. These organizations constantly mock Bush for his apparent AWOL from the military in the 70s, which is completely untrue. In addition, Bush has never made part of his campaign his military service. He may have mentioned that he was part of the National Guard, but he never made it part of most of his speeches as Kerry has been doing. I honestly don’t see the significance of having a military background- it’s really great if you do, and it’s honorable, but using it in support of your political campaigns is quite insulting. While Bush has several times honored Kerry for his military record, John McCain and several prominent democrats including John Kerry himself have attacked the president for supposedly funding the group and not trying to stop them, even though Bush is doing the exact antithesis.

Nonetheless, Bush is also to blame. I find it extremely cowardly that he would suddenly degrade the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as practically liars, when the fact is that they have much more evidence about Kerry’s bad military record than the liberal’s evidence on Bush’s bad military record. Bush shouldn’t hide behind the back of Kerry when Kerry will take advantage of his feebleness and make him look like a fool. He should begin proudly fund the Swift Boat Veterans, and support them when Kerry brings the issue up. Bush has every right to fund the SBVs, and Kerry is a hypocrite for attacking such an action. In addition, John McCain is in the background attacking Bush for supposedly not taking action against this ad, when first of all the ad was new, second of all it’s not Bush’s job or right to take the ad of the air, and thirdly he shouldn’t because it helps his campaign, and ultimately McCain’s as well. I believe that McCain’s time in the POW has seriously, and this is meant as an insult, caused massive damage to his thinking abilities*.

The entire issue is completely absurd. I’m ashamed of the democrats; I’m ashamed of the republicans; I’m ashamed of Kerry, McCain, and Bush. The Swift Boat Veterans should be allowed to run campaign ads as much as they want, and nobody should call their actions illegal or unconstitutional.

* I know several individuals from the Vietnamese community who were in POW camps from anywhere between a few weeks to almost 20 years, and they have not come back the same their families tell me. Many of them have temper problems, and simply cannot assess issues correctly. The communists have very powerful methods of interrogation and torture, and these methods caused serious damage to the very honorable veterans who served to defend democracy. John McCain is one of these very honorable men.