Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Kerry Who?
With a tip o' the hat to neo-neocon, let me salute RealClearPolitics for a clearheaded look at John "Fumble" Kerry and his much-vaunted signing of his form SF 180:
...let's consider the one aspect of this story that we know for sure: Kerry released his records exclusively to The Boston Globe. This is an odd decision for someone seeking end speculation regarding the whole affair, and it's also a perfect example of why the issue of Kerry's military record continues to plague him.Indeed. As many have pointed out, Kerry has craftily used the system to release some of his military records... with no mention whatever of the ones that interest us the most. (Were you ever in Cambodia, Senator? And what was the nature of your original military discharge, before it got whitewashed in the late seventies?)
Without maligning Michael Kranish's motives or his ability as a reporter, it's fair to point out that privately funneling documents through a single source from your hometown paper and then declaring the story "dead" and "over" is hardly the epitome of full public disclosure. John Kerry would never accept this type of standard from his political opponents or this administration. Why he thinks the public should accept it now from him is beyond me.
What Kerry doesn't seem to realize, or perhaps not to care about, is that we're not looking for a crafty president. (We had one of those, thanks. And Clinton did a great job getting elected, given that Ross Perot was there as a spoiler. If you want to get elected on your own merits, Sen. Kerry, you'll have to do better than that... a lot better.)
Back to RCP:
The fact the Swift Boat Vets existed at all was the big story of the year (unprecedented in modern political history, I believe), and one that the mainstream press did their best to ignore. Is there any question what the press would have done if a similar group of a hundred (or even ten, for that matter) of George Bush's fellow Guardsmen had come forward to challenge his service, truthfulness and integrity?On the other hand, as Glenn Reynolds asks: why does anybody pay attention to Kerry anymore?
Here's my answer: I live in Massachusetts. I don't have much of a choice.
