Kerry Medal Controversy

[The Vorlon]

John Kerry has posted on his website that he never threw away his Vietnam medals

http://blog.johnkerry.com/dbunker/archives/001343.html#001343

The ever reliable (ok.. maybe not) Drudge Report is now reporting that on Monday Good Morning America will run actual footage of Kerry claiming the exact opposite.

http://www.drudgereport.com/rckm.htm

Just my 2 cents worth... but I think the GOP is really braindead wrong flogging this Vietnam thing.

Kerry served in Vietnam, he did so honorable, and came home.

Regardless of if he "deserved" (however you define that) 3 medals, or 2, or 6 is kinda beside the point imho.  Complaining about "medal inflation" in Vietnam is kinda like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500...  Ok.. the GOP "proves" their point that Kerry "deserved" 2 medals, not 3... so what...?

It's kinda like the "terror" issue.  People have made up their minds that Bush will kill more terrorists the Kerry will.  Every time Kerry flogs this pony Bush goes up in the polls.

People also know Kerry served in Vietnam and Bush did not.

Why is the GOP flogging an issue they can't win?

Kerry should shut up about 9/11
Bush should shut up about Kerry in VietNam.

Just my 2 cents worth...

[© tweed]

I don't see how this gains the Bush camp anything.  They are shooting themselves in the foot..and there are other things to attack Kerry on, believe me.

[agcatter]

Generally speaking, I think you are right on.  If he got caught on tape lying about the medal throwing thing, let the media report it.  GOP should keep quiet and let the media carry the water on this one. Just another small chip out of the image the Kerry campaign is trying to project.  Republicans don't need to say a thing and would be foolish to do so.

[The Vorlon]

Generally speaking, I think you are right on.  If he got caught on tape lying about the medal throwing thing, let the media report it.  GOP should keep quiet and let the media carry the water on this one. Just another small chip out of the image the Kerry campaign is trying to project.  Republicans don't need to say a thing and would be foolish to do so.

Agreed.  Fist rule of politics is that if your enemies are shooting at each other... don't interupt..!

[Giant Saguaro]

I agree. Since such a small shift in the electorate will win this election, it's about safe angles at the opponent. Kerry's medals and Bush's guard duty aren't safe, they seem petty, polarizing, and they're probably at least partly responsible for the deadlock. That's why the safe attack is best: Where Kerry is on defense and taxes is a safe attack, like Kerry feels hammering on jobs is his safest.

[A-Max]

Kerry is the one who keeps bringing up Vietnam.  Every time that the GOP mentions any of his votes on defense, he claims that he served in Vietnam and not to question his patriotism. Yet, he feels he can criticize Bush as a draft dodger, and question the patriotism of Cheney and Rove.  If he doesn't like the heat he should get out of the kitchen.

[Lunar]

Kerry is the one who keeps bringing up Vietnam.  Every time that the GOP mentions any of his votes on defense, he claims that he served in Vietnam and not to question his patriotism. Yet, he feels he can criticize Bush as a draft dodger, and question the patriotism of Cheney and Rove.  If he doesn't like the heat he should get out of the kitchen.

Maybe you don't understand the point of the first post.  Vietnam HELPS Kerry if it keeps getting mentioned and it HURTS Bush.  Vorlon is suggesting that the GOP back away from it since it hurts them to keep it in the spotlight.

I'm also interested if you can get me a Kerry quote accusing Bush of being a draft dodger.

[StevenNick]

I don't know if anybody mentioned this recently, but did you know that John Kerry served in Vietnam???

[Wakie]

If you have to compare what Bush and Kerry each did during Vietnam, Kerry wins hands down.

Kerry volunteered, served honorably, won several medals, and was respected by his men (several of whom are actively campaigning for him).

Bush used his father's connections to jump the waiting list to get into the Texas Air National Guard (so as to avoid being drafted).  Then bummed around Texas, Florida, and Alabama (where he may or may not have gone AWOL).  During this time he developed his alcoholism.  Interestingly, you don't see any of the guys who served with George during this period campaigning for him.

If the Bush people really want to push the Vietnam angle they are going to find their guy coming under fire as well.

[agcatter]

Vietnam is so far down the list of factors determining how people will vote it's not even a factor.  Kerry's time in Vietnam is a positive and his time protesting when he came back is not.  However, in neither case does it move the numbers.

Dems discovered the same thing when they tried running Cleland around the country questioning Bush on his guard duty.  Even with their allies in the newsmedia carping on it nonstop it got no traction.  It actually began to backfire which is why Dems have  finally shut up about it.

[NHPolitico]

I think if the media focus on this as a part of the grand list of Kerry flip-flops, it's a real win for Bush.  You want voters to know for a fact that Kerry either doesn't tell the truth on purpose or he has some psychological disorder that keeps him from telling the truth. This is the media saying: He doesn't tell the truth-- believe your own eyes, voters.  That's destructive to Kerry.

------------------------------------
Discarded Decorations
Videotape Contradicts John Kerry's Own Statements Over Vietnam Medals
By Brian Ross and Chris Vlasto
ABCNEWS.com

April 25— Contradicting his statements as a candidate for president, Sen. John Kerry claimed in a 1971 television interview that he threw away as many as nine of his combat medals to protest the war in Vietnam.



 
"I gave back, I can't remember, 6, 7, 8, 9 medals," Kerry said in an interview on a Washington, D.C. news program on WRC-TV's called Viewpoints on November 6, 1971, according to a tape obtained by ABCNEWS.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Kerry has denied that he threw away any of his 11 medals during an anti-war protest in April, 1971.

His campaign Web site calls it a "right wing fiction" and a smear. And in an interview with ABCNEWS' Peter Jennings last December, he said it was a "myth."

But Kerry told a much different story on Viewpoints. Asked about the anti-war veterans who threw their medals away, Kerry said "they decided to give them back to their country."

Kerry was asked if he gave back the Bronze Star, Silver Star and three Purple Hearts he was awarded for combat duty as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam. "Well, and above that, gave back the others," he said.

The statement directly contradicts Kerry's most recent claims on the disputed subject to the Los Angeles Times last Friday. "I never ever implied that I did it, " Kerry told the newspaper, responding to the question of whether he threw away his medals in protest.

"I'm proud of my medals. I always was proud of them," he told Jennings in December, adding that he had only thrown away his "ribbons" and the medals of two other veterans who could not attend the protest.

Flip Flop?

The disputed incident happened 33 years ago this past weekend, on April 23, 1971, when Kerry led the group Vietnam Veterans Against the War in a protest against the war they fought.

Many veterans were seen throwing their medals and ribbons over the fence in front of the U.S. Capitol. At the time, The Boston Globe and other newspapers reported that Kerry was among these veterans.

"In a real sense, this administration forced us to return our medals because beyond the perversion of the war, these leaders themselves denied us the integrity those symbols supposedly gave our lives," Kerry said the following day.

But in 1984, when he first ran for the U.S. Senate, Kerry revealed he still had his medals. According to a Boston Globe report on April 15, 1984, union officials had expressed uneasiness with Kerry's candidacy because he had thrown his medals away. Kerry acknowledged the medals he threw away were, in fact, another soldier's medals. He reportedly invited a union official home to personally inspect his Silver Star, Bronze Star and three purple hearts, awarded for his combat duty as a Navy lieutenant.

In the 1971 Viewpoints interview, he made no mention of the ribbons or the medals belonging to another veteran.

And in 1988, Kerry again clarified his statement by saying he threw out ribbons he had been awarded for three combat wounds, but not his medals. "I was proud of my personal service and remain so," he told the National Journal.

Eight years later in 1996, Kerry said while he did throw out his ribbons, he didn't throw out his own medals because he "didn't have time to go home [to New York] and get them," he told The Boston Globe.

Kerry's campaign Web site says he "is proud of the work he did to end the war. The Nixon Administration made John Kerry one of its targets and Republicans have been smearing him ever since. John Kerry threw his ribbons and the medals of two veterans who could not attend the event, and said, 'I am not doing this for any violent reasons, but for peace and justice, and to try to make this country wake up once and for all.'"

A spokesperson for Kerry's campaign said he didn't make a distinction between medals and ribbons, but Kerry plans to respond on Good Morning America.  
 

[agcatter]

I agree that it's not the medals per se, but rather the fact that it's another flip flop.  Another small nail in the coffin of the positive image his campaign handlers are so desperate to mold.

[Rococo4]

This wont hurt him overall, but it just ads to what a flip flopper he is

[emergingDmajority1]

Phew,  I thought this could be about something important

too much sh**t going on in Iraq for this to gain serious traction.

[??????????]

Yeah like your colleagues from the get go trying to Vietnamize this war. Get over it, I know most of the wacky far lefters would love to see us lose just to get Bush out of office, but we have to get this job done.

[WalterMitty]

this hurts kerry.  it just further adds to his negative image.

did anyone see where he said he didnt own an suv?  

[agcatter]

Dammit.  He didn't own an SUV.  His family does.

[??????????]

So he's not a member of his family? lol Oh he had a SUV before he was against it?

[angus]

this hurts kerry.  it just further adds to his negative image.

And image matters.  It seems like the Washington press corps don't like him any better than the Boston press corps did.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/columns/kurtzhoward/

[opebo]

This is the perfect issue on which to attack Kerry.  True, his record is also sort of left/anti-American/anti-military, but most of the undecideds will not be able to understand anything that complex - throwing away the medals is simple and symbolic, and they'll dislike him for it.

[ElCidGOP]

Bad for Kerry.  The video of Kerry sitting in a studio with a John Lennon haircut telling the interviewer that he threw away 8 or 9 medals is bad, bad, bad etc for Kerry.  The fact that he threw them over the White House fence is awful.  To me, it is repugnant.  I think the average voter will also find it disturbing.  It is almost unexplainable.

Kerry is in the process of imploding.  As we speak.  It is happening.  It will be a landslide.  Count on it.  He is the worst candidate they could have picked.  His past will kill him.  Its too bad.  As I have posted previously, Gephardt, Lieberman were fine candidates who would have had a chance.  

Check this out from the Village Voice.  This type of thing will increase in the coming months.  Expect Nader to gather more votes.  More dems will also committ to Bush as the weeks go by.  

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0417/mondo1.php

[??????????]

My prediction and this is just a gut feeling.

1.In the coming weeks the controversy will continue to build on Kerry with little to no explanations.

2.Kerry will announce that he has decided to no longer run for president.

3.Howard Dean will be nominated for president and he will pick Edwards as his VP nominee (or vice versa).

4. The election is very close and Bush eeks out a win.

Kerrys balloon is quickly deflating and I fear for the Democrats that if they stick with Kerry then he will be massacred at the polls.

Just my opinion.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Kerry's campaign imploding? Hardly. Just because the Deanics don't like him? That'll actually work to his advantage in the swing states IMO...
Don't confuse internet buzz or whathaveyou for actual trends... the internet has done some great things... but it's also helped to kill off peoples sense of perspective.