Is There A Gag Order At The Washington Post?

A number of bloggers have been complaining about the blind eye and deaf ear the mainstream press has turned toward the substance of the charges leveled at Sen. Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. (Scroll down Instapundit and follow his links.)

Today, however, that studied and strained silence became almost deafening with a long front page article in the Washington Post by Dan Balz. Labeled “Analysis” and titled “Kerry Put On Defensive About Iraq,” the article went on (and on and on), for 18 paragraphs about “the orchestrated attacks” against Kerry by Bush and Cheney. These attacks, Balz writes, “the president’s weakness on the issues that once were his great strengths is on clear display.”

What is mind boggling here, howver, is that in an article that purports to analyze Kerry being put on the defensive about his national security credentials, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and their charges about Kerry’s military are record are not even mentioned. The article does mention the imported brass and the Kerry crew members who support him, and the central role they played at the Democratic convention, but not word one about the much larger number of Swifties, including virtually all of his commanding officers, who question his fitness.

Kerry designed his convention in Boston around a single goal, to establish the Democratic nominee as capable of being commander in chief. He assembled his former Swift boat crewmates and retired military brass to offer testimonials to his courage, experience and judgment

Apparently, the charge that this courage and judgment appeared only in Kerry’s false reports and statements is not even worthy of mention.

Well, that’s not completely true. They were at least mentioned today in an unctuous OpEd column by former Sen. and Vietnam vet Bob Kerrey about why John Kerry would make such a great commander in chief. According to Kerrey,

Most appear to be angry with him on account of his opposition to the Vietnam War, not his service in it. They have done a better job of damaging the reputation of the U.S. Navy than they have of damaging John Kerry.

Moreover, they ignore what I consider to be the most important qualities any commander in chief must possess.

Kerrey then proceeds to list these qualities, which include such banalities as:

… at the top of my list of reasons for believing Kerry can and will do this most difficult of jobs is that he has the requisite sympathy for the men and women who give up many of their rights as citizens in order to defend ours. My confidence also comes from knowing that he knows what it’s like to have served under leaders who lacked the moral clarity or the political backbone to sustain an effort from beginning to end.

In other words, Kerrey, unlike Dan Balz’s “Analysis” article, mentions the Swift Boat Veterans, but he doesn’t deign to deal with the charges in their sworn statements.

Kerrey honors Vietnam veterans … as long as they vote right.

Say What? (30)

  1. Dean's World August 15, 2004 at 3:38 am | | Reply

    Fascinating

    It increasingly appears that one of the few of the fellow vets who have been publicly supporting John Kerry never actually have served with him at…

  2. Bruce Rheinstein August 15, 2004 at 10:23 am | | Reply

    The choice Bob Kerrey to defend John Kerry is an interesting one. There’s a certain bizarre symmetry about it.

    Years ago it was Kerrey, not Kerry, whose accounts of his service in Indochina was demolished, terminating his run for the Presidency. Kerrey, as you may recall, was accused of serious war crimes.

    As described by John L. Hess for FAIR:

    The last weekend of April marked a high point in American journalism, when the New York Times Magazine and 60 Minutes II exposed a dreadful war crime. It also marked a low point in American journalism, when the media denied the crime, minimized it, defended it and reburied it.

    The story had first been exhumed by Newsweek’s Gregory L. Vistica in 1998. He established that in the Mekong Delta one night in 1969, in the village of Thanh Phong, a squad of Navy SEALs led by Bob Kerrey knifed to death an elderly couple and three children, then gunned down a cluster of women and children. Kerrey was cited for killing 21 Vietcong, and awarded a Bronze Star. Confronted by Vistica nearly 30 years later, he acknowledged that the citation was false and said he’d agonized over the killings ever since. A few days later, he withdrew as a candidate for the presidency. On that ground, Newsweek spiked the story as no longer of interest.

  3. Fleming August 15, 2004 at 2:01 pm | | Reply

    I once had a great deal of respect for Nebraska’s Kerrey. But with his histrionics on the 9/11 commission, and his whoring for the substanceless Kerry of Massachussetts, he has squandered that respect for nothing.

    Either Kerry needs to go on testosterone shots, or he should see about a sex change operation, because he is losing it as a man.

  4. ts August 15, 2004 at 7:00 pm | | Reply

    I have had the misfortune of seeing much of the TV coverage regarding the Swift Boat Vets, most of which seems to involve a Democratic operative screaming over John O’Neill. Their principal argument seems to be that the vets cannot comment if they did not serve on Kerry’s boat. This is the equivalent of saying I cannot assess someone’s driving ability if I am not riding in the same car.

    What is becoming more and more clear is that the Democrats are not out to elect Kerry, they are out to defeat Bush.

  5. Cobra August 16, 2004 at 10:53 am | | Reply

    In the 2000 primary campaign, when pro-Bush operatives assailed Sen. John McCain’s Vietnam record, and even called him a TRAITOR for having been held as a prisoner of war, what was your opinion then? Why should I, as a Democrat, think this is any different?

    –Cobra

  6. nobody important August 16, 2004 at 12:08 pm | | Reply

    I think the attacks on Sen. McCain were not for being held prisoner, but that he talked and supplied the North Vietnamese with propaganda opportunities.

    Try reading the book.

  7. Akefa August 16, 2004 at 12:24 pm | | Reply

    What’s the name of this book? Why haven’t I read about it in the New York Times? I don’t like Kerry but at least he went before the NAACP. If he turns out to be a liar like Clinton we might have to wait until 2008 for a true democratic candidate.

  8. michael August 16, 2004 at 2:59 pm | | Reply

    What amazes me is the smattering (and often discredited) group of people who are questioning Kerry’s war record. There are numerous groups who actually served with Kerry who verify his position.

    When Bush’s “military” service came under attack, where were his supporters? Where were all the people who served with him coming out of the woodwork to verify his position on the matter?

  9. Cobra August 16, 2004 at 3:02 pm | | Reply

    Michael,

    You’re on the wrong weblog if you think you’re going to find ANY questioning, criticism or investigative links to Bush’s millitary service record, or lack thereof. And God forbid you mention Dick “Deferrments” Cheney.

    –Cobra

  10. nobody important August 16, 2004 at 3:33 pm | | Reply

    The left has had plenty of chances to dig into Bush’s NG service and came up empty. Just like they had plenty of chances to get to the bottom of the Florida 2000 vote counts, again came up empty.

    As to the “smattering” of people attacking Kerry’s service record, there are 250 of them including every officer in his chain of command, most of the enlisted men and officers of the other swift boats in his unit, and at least one of his crew members. And they haven’t been discredited yet, hell, they haven’t even been discussed yet.

    I can understand the left’s desire to win the presidency, but if all you could come up with is Kerry…pathetic.

  11. Cobra August 16, 2004 at 4:23 pm | | Reply

    Nobody Important,

    The left didn’t come up empty on either case. The facts in both the Florida 2000 black voter disenfranchisement and Bush’s spotty service record are documented facts. The BBC has done intensive reporting on the Florida case, http://www.gregpalast.com, and they even caught Jeb Bush trying to do the same thing this year.

    –Cobra

  12. Bruce Rheinstein August 16, 2004 at 10:37 pm | | Reply

    It’s interesting that whenever someone blogs about discrepencies in Kerry’s personal narrative, such as his being/not being 5 miles into Cambodia on Cristmas 1968, the comments section gets clogged with the same old rehashed anti-Bush allegation we went through 4 years ago.

    It’s almost as though some people are afraid to look behind the curtain.

  13. Richard Nieporent August 16, 2004 at 10:59 pm | | Reply

    Actually, what amuses me is that the anti-military Left suddenly has become pro-military. First Clark and now Kerry. Soon we are going to have to start calling you guys warmongers.

  14. nobody important August 17, 2004 at 1:02 pm | | Reply

    The (Democrat led) US Commission on Civil Rights did investigate the black voter disenfranchisement claims in the 2000 election and found no examples of anyone being intimidated, coerced, or otherwise unable to vote. Not a few examples, not some examples, but none, zero, nada, nothing. Add to that the fact that the counties where there was high levels of invalid ballots being cast (dimpled, hanging, double) are controlled by Democrats.

  15. Sandy P August 17, 2004 at 2:15 pm | | Reply

    And as to AWOL, Cobra should go to Bill Hobbs’s place if he actually wants an extensive discussion w/links.

    Bill’s site was the place to go to actually understand the AWOL non-issue.

    But we shouldn’t let details get in the way of a good yarn.

  16. Cobra August 17, 2004 at 3:07 pm | | Reply

    From Civil Rights.Org

    >>>Floridian Sam Heyward has been voting in presidential elections for years. As a black man voting in a contentious state in the upcoming November election, he knows his vote is exceedingly important. But Heyward found out in the last election that his vote was not counted, and has not been counted for more than a decade.

    Convicted of a felony and briefly incarcerated in 1981, Heyward was informed that his voting rights were restored in 1986, years after release. His vote was not counted in the 2000 election.

    On July 15, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held a hearing to determine why eligible voters are still incorrectly purged from voter lists in Florida. Testifying before the Commission, Ralph G. Neas, President of People For the American Way (PFAW), echoed Heyward’s remarks.

    “Mr. Heyward’s case was by no means isolated. In fact, the Miami Herald found more than 2,100 people on the list who had received clemency and in fact had every right to vote under state law,” Neas said.

    Even more remarkable to some were the findings of investigative reporter and author George Palast, who also testified at the hearing. Palast said he discovered that some voters on the purge list were convicted in 2007, which he termed “future felons.” In addition, 4,000 purged voters had blank conviction dates

  17. Andrew P. Connors August 17, 2004 at 4:10 pm | | Reply

    I don’t have the time to go point-by-point on all of Cobra’s fallacious claims (although I’m sure someone will), but I’d just like to point out one thing…

    This started about John Kerry and the accusations made against him by 250 people that worked alongside or above him in Vietnam. As of yet, every pro-Kerry comment has completely ignored anything and everything that the Swift Vets for Truth are saying. And don’t pan them as “Bush operatives” because Democrat John O’Neill, leader of the Swifties, has been against John Kerry for quite a long time.

    This is why I gave up discussing things with what I’ll term “crazy liberals.” They don’t answer anything you say and just revert to their conspiracy theory du jour.

    President Bush’s record in the National Guard already passed scrutiny through one election. So this whole “AWOL” crap is pretty much empirically denied.

    It’s funny. Bush fulfills his service in the Guard. Cheney gets a (legal) deferment. Clinton hides (illegally) in Canada. And yet Bush and Cheney are the evil ones.

  18. Claire August 17, 2004 at 4:26 pm | | Reply

    So a black voter goes into his voting precinct in Florida. He goes through the checking and ID process, and is given a choice of several random, identical ballots. He chooses one, and then goes to a private voting booth. When finished, he folds his punchcard ballot in half, so that it looks like every other punchcard ballot, and personally deposits it into a big, locked ballot box.

    So tell me, just HOW are local election officials going to a) know which ballots belong to black voters and which to whites, etc., b) select just those votes by blacks out of a large, locked box in the middle of a public room, and c) remove/damage or otherwise tamper with JUST the ballots belonging to blacks who, PRESUMABLY, always vote Democratic? AND do this under the watchful eyes of members of the Democratic party, who are certainly keeping an eagle eye out for ANY instances of voter fraud perpetrated by their opposition?

    I couldn’t come up with any way to do it, from a single, sneaky individual to a large group of (presumed) conspirators. And given the presence, prevalence, control, and dominance of Democrats in these heavily Democratic areas where the largest number of ‘questionable’ ballots were reported to occur, I am still puzzled as to how the EEEeeevvvvilllll Republicans are supposed to have pulled it off under the noses of the vigilant Dems?

    I mean, here in Texas, the felons, wetbacks, and dead people always vote the Democratic ticket, usually by pulling the party lever. Obviously, those in the afterlife are privy to special knowledge not revealed to those of us still in the mortal world, else why the overwhelming turnout in favor of the Dems? And everyone knows felons and illegal aliens are only interested in the good of society, right?

    Lots of handwaving and smoke-and-mirrors, Dems, but no big, evil conspiracy. More likely confusion on the part of inexperienced or marginally literate voters.

    By the way, our voting precinct here had an interesting exercise this year. They had a kid’s punchcard ballot, with kid-oriented questions. My daughter got one (she’s 8), and quickly read the instructions, punched her choices, and came up smiling. If a little kid can do it right, why can’t a bunch of adults?

  19. Fleming August 17, 2004 at 8:21 pm | | Reply

    We are entering an age when stupid voters are a distinct liability. A lot of voters are lazy, and depend too much on the news media. But a lot of people are incapable of understanding the issues, even if they were given objective information.

    It probably requires an IQ of at least 90 to be able to vote intelligently. That means a lot of democrats are voting blind. That’s democracy.

    I’m in favor of giving a political familiarity test to every potential voter. Do it when they register, not when they go to vote. That gives them time to study and re-take. And only allow legal citizens to take the test and register. Living legal citizens. Voting only once. Not felons.

  20. Cobra August 17, 2004 at 8:52 pm | | Reply

    Fleming,

    It’s exactly the kind of statements you just posted that makes people with my opinion even more vigilant…more indefatigable.

    >>>It probably requires an IQ of at least 90 to be able to vote intelligently. That means a lot of democrats are voting blind. That’s democracy.

    I’m in favor of giving a political familiarity test to every potential voter. Do it when they register, not when they go to vote. That gives them time to study and re-take. And only allow legal citizens to take the test and register. Living legal citizens. Voting only once. Not felons.>>The extension of the franchise to black citizens was strongly resisted. Among others, the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camellia, and other terrorist organizations attempted to prevent the 15th Amendment from being enforced by violence and intimidation. Two decisions in 1876 by the Supreme Court narrowed the scope of enforcement under the Enforcement Act and the Force Act, and, together with the end of Reconstruction marked by the removal of federal troops after the Hayes-Tilden Compromise of 1877, resulted in a climate in which violence could be used to depress black voter turnout and fraud could be used to undo the effect of lawfully cast votes.

    Once whites regained control of the state legislatures using these tactics, a process known as “Redemption,” they used gerrymandering of election districts to further reduce black voting strength and minimize the number of black elected officials. In the 1890’s, these states began to amend their constitutions and to enact a series of laws intended to re- establish and entrench white political supremacy.

    Such disfranchising laws included poll taxes, literacy tests, vouchers of “good character” and disqualification for “crimes of moral turpitude.” These laws were “color-blind” on their face, but were designed to exclude black citizens disproportionately by allowing white election officials to apply the procedures selectively. Other laws and practices, such as the “white primary”, attempted to evade the 15th Amendment by allowing “private” political parties to conduct elections and establish qualifications for their members.

    The net effect of these efforts was the disfranchisement of nearly all black citizens and the removal from office of nearly all black legislators in the former Confederate states by 1910. The process of restoring the rights taken stolen by these tactics would take many decades.

  21. Sandy P August 17, 2004 at 9:04 pm | | Reply

    Cobra, how did and does the NG work?

    And the DU updated that since more of his timecards were found and released a few weeks ago????

    The DU?

    Go talk to those who were in the NG in the 60s and 70s.

    The 102s were 50-era deathtraps. They were being phased out by the end of his service.

    Now why in the world would you want the government to spend a ton of money on pilots to retrain them flying new equipment when they’re about ready to get out? That’s why he was reading magazines. They weren’t going to spend the money.

    Appears to agree?? Again, how did the NG work in the 60s and 70s???

    I know where he was – he was getting that abortion with his then girlfriend.

    Besides, I thought GQ had an article in last or this months’ issue that he was in Viet Nam on a secret mission to save McCain and the Hanoi Hilton guys. Even had a pic of him w/geisha girls.

    Try to keep up, will you?

    Even better, one had a 30% more chance of having one’s ballot spoiled if one were a black republican voting in polling place overseen by a black dem.

    So, blacks violated black ballots, eh? And now Cobra will explain how 120K or more black ballots were voided in Chicago. In a blue state.

    On the bright side, in Phili, there was 100% +++ turnout in some precincts. And they voted for Gore. Care to tell us how that happened, Cobra?

    Tin-foil hat too tight?

  22. Cobra August 17, 2004 at 9:38 pm | | Reply

    Sandy,

    One of the tactics those on the right often use is called “obfuscation.” By posting other statements to cloud the issue at hand. Even though Bush claimed to release “all records”, the Pentagon claimed to have destroyed a microfilm with Bush records, only to discover weeks later it didn’t destroy the same records. Even with the microfilm, there are GAPS in the Bush service record that are INEXPLICABLE. Your description of old fighter aircraft does not explain the GAP.

    As far as the nefarious behavior by America in regards to black voting, you have disproved NOTHING. A despoiled vote by an African American is just as despoiled if the perpetrator of the despoiling is white or African American. The victim is still the African American voter. That’s akin to saying I as a black pedestrian would be relieved to find out that the truck driver who splattered my entrails across the sidewalk was African American. Ludicrous argument, indeed.

    But don’t worry, Sandy. I will keep shining that lantern of truth along the docks, so that those of you cast adrift on the waves of injustice can find your way home.

    –Cobra

  23. Nels Nelson August 17, 2004 at 9:44 pm | | Reply

    “Political familiarity tests?” Jonah Goldberg called for the same thing last week. After a hundred years of fighting it conservatives are now embracing the concept of a vanguard party. At least they had the decency to wait until Reagan was dead.

    But why stop with only middling intelligence – “familiarity?” Let’s find the smartest person (me, of course) and crown him king.

  24. Fleming August 17, 2004 at 9:58 pm | | Reply

    You’re right that republicans run a far bigger risk having their votes lost in a democratic district, than democrats have getting lost in a republican district. And those dead democrat voters sure prop up the numbers. Heck, I’d almost be satisfied to make sure the voter had a pulse!

    Yes, we have some paranoid bottom feeding-suckers around here. No surprise. Pseudo thinkers who take themselves far too seriously. But the issue of demanding responsibility from voters will not go away. We have a driver’s test and eye test to qualify drivers. Voters do far more damage every election day than poor drivers.

  25. Bruce Rheinstein August 17, 2004 at 10:07 pm | | Reply

    In case anyone hasn’t noticed, COBRA has contributed nothing to the original subject matter of this thread and is just rehashing the same old moonbat conspiracy theories we’ve been hearing for four years now.

    Don’t feed the troll.

  26. Richard Nieporent August 17, 2004 at 11:56 pm | | Reply

    Excellent, point Bruce!

    No matter how tempting it is, do not respond to a troll. That is exactly what they want you to do so that they can hijack the discussion. It is not as if you can have a rational discussion with them. They have their own set of “facts” that they will repeat ad infinitum. They are immune to reason and logic.

  27. Fleming August 18, 2004 at 8:56 am | | Reply

    Sorry, I inadvertently allowed my Contempt-O-Filter © to fall from its normal setting of 99.9% filtering, down to 97% filtering.

  28. Sandy P August 18, 2004 at 1:38 pm | | Reply

    Again – Cobra, how did the NG work?

    Unless you think the military punches a timecard.

    We’re not Belgium and Germany.

  29. Claire August 18, 2004 at 5:09 pm | | Reply

    Interesting point here that is often missed even in the blog stream.

    Seems John Kerry enlisted in the Navy Reserves, not the Navy. He admitted in his book that he did it because he was unlikely to see combat that way. Then he got called up for active duty, still in the Reserves. He was noved to inactive duty in the Reserves in 1970, and then discharged from the Navy Reserves in 1978.

    So, with all of his pointing the finger at Bush for (hehe!) enlisting in the National Guard to avoid combat (in spite of the fact that the combat unit he joined was actually in combat at the time he enlisted, but let’s not get confused by facts here), Kerry admitted on more than one occasion that he joined the Naval Reserves, after being turned down for a deferment (studying in Paris) and would have been drafted into the Army.

    So when Kerry met with members of the Communist PRG in Paris in 1971 (funny how Paris keeps popping up, isn’t it?), he was still a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve. And he met, without authorization or permission, with representatives of a government that the U.S. was actively at war with, and that enemy still proudly displays pictures of the meeting. Not cool, Mr. Kerry. In fact, downright treasonous. Wonder if they’ll ever prosecute him.

  30. Andrew Lazarus August 21, 2004 at 6:05 pm | | Reply

    Notwithstanding the increasingly farfetched comments on this thread (Clinton hid illegally in Canada? Someone’s been inhaling!), the Swift Boat Veterans are looking like a bunch of liars and smear artists today.

    Thurlow: he’s now reduced to saying that Kerry somehow juiced up Thurlow’s Bronze Star report, since it agrees with Kerry’s version of events. Talk abuot a conspiracy theory.

    Ledsoe: The documentation says someone else dealt with Kerry’s Purple Heart-winning injury, so Ledsoe is left insisting that we believe him over against both Kerry and the written record. He admits he has no supporting evidence for his version.

    What’s particularly vile about Ledsoe is that even if it were true that Kerry accidentally wounded himself, he would still (as I understand it) deserve a medal, but this trope has been introduced so that nitwits like Michelle Malkin speculate Kerry deliberately injured himself to obtain a medal.

    Oh, and one of the other boat commanders is heard from. Backing Kerry’s version.

    I understand not wanting John Kerry as President, but it’s you guys and not us guys who’ve been had!

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