What Kerry Needs To Do To Successfully Destroy SwiftVets

This is the most cogent analysis I've yet seen as to how Kerry can address the Swift Vet charges... once and for all (author: "manofaiki"). Emphasis mine.

What the Kerry camp needs to do to effectively counter the Swift Vet charges: 1. Sign form 180 and release all of John Kerry's military records. 2. Provide damage report and wound reports from the No Man Left Behind incident that provides details about just how many bullet holes were shot into the 5 boats involved, and how many of the over 20 men involved suffered a gunshot wounds during this intense firefight. By effectively demonstrating that there was enemy fire during this incident, and that some of the sailors did indeed suffer gunshot wounds, Kerry's campaign can counter the claim there was no enemy fire. 3. Have statements from the other crewmembers of Kerry's boat to the effect that Steve Gardner is lying about the 'Sampan Incident' where he claims he shot a father and a little boy to death, and in which they took a mother and infant girl aboard. Have Kerry's other crewmembers state that the after-action report Gardner called attention to is completely accurate: 4 VC were killed and two VC were Captured in Action. 4. Provide statements from other crewmembers of Kerry's boat to the effect that they do remember being in Cambodia with John Kerry, either on Christmas Day or later on while dropping off Special Forces operatives. 5. Have other crewmembers of Kerry's boat sent out to appear in interviews to counter Gardner and other Swift Vets instead of professional political hacks. Gardner was there, he was an eyewitness and so are many of the Swift Vets to the events they are making claims about. Lanny Davis, James Carville, and John Hurley were not there. Neither was Tad Devine. You can only effectively counter eyewitnesses with other eyewitnesses. 6. Have Kerry address the specific charges being leveled about his medals. If the SwiftVets are claiming the first Purple Heart wound was a 'scratch' not worthy of the medal, have Kerry come out and talk about how bad the wound was, where it was located on his arm and show any scar that still remains. Let him show the scars on his leg where the shrapnel supposedly still resides. It must be noted that thus far, even though the Swift Vet story is building steam every day, John Kerry and his campaign managers have refused to do any of the six things listed above. 1. Kerry adamantly REFUSES to sign Form 180. Whenever he or his spokespersons are asked they insist they have released ALL records, but they clearly have not. Paperwork for Kerry's first Purple Heart has manifestly NOT been released, among several other documents. If Kerry has in fact released all of his available military records, as he claims, then there is no reason NOT to sign a Form 180. 2. Kerry's camp keeps referring to the medal citations that he and Larry Thurlow received for the No Man Left Behind event, and the after action report which Kerry wrote, which describes enemy fire coming from the banks during this action. The medal citations are based on the after action report, and since no other officer involved in this event has ever said there was enemy fire, Kerry must have written it. The most effective way to counter the over 12 eyewitness accounts that claim there was no enemy fire would be to produce the damage reports to the 5 boats involved in this incident from gunfire. It would be to produce medical reports about gunshot wounds treated due to the alleged enemy fire. Kerry's camp has NOT produced any such documentation. The Swift Vet eyewitnesses claim the 4 other boats were stationary around PCF 3 for more than an hour doing repair and recovery operations, as well as treating the crewmen of that boat that were injured when the mine went off. That was plenty of time for these sailors and their boats to be hit by enemy small arms fire if indeed there were any. Instead, Kerry's campaign keeps insisting that since the medal citations and the after-action report written by Kerry mentions enemy fire, the matter is closed and no damage or medical reports need to be produced. 3. None of Kerry's other crewmembers have shown up on any of the networks as a counterpart to a Swift Vet for Truth spokesman during a debate. All the spokespeople for Kerry's camp have been professional poltical people, not Vietnam eyewitnesses to the specific events being discussed. Another Kerry boatcrew member would be the most effective challenger to Steve Gardner's account of the 'Sampan Incident'. Such a person could say "Steve, I was there, we did kill four VC and capture two just like the report says." Instead we get John Hurley sputtering that Gardner is making it all up. Kerry's camp has had two weeks to get their eyewitness out there, including Kerry himself. They have not done so. 4. Kerry has pretty much given up on the Christmas in Cambodia, but has also 'floated' the idea that he was there later on dropping off Special Forces. All Kerry has to do is produce crewmembers of his own boat who can look into a camera and say "I was in Cambodia with John Kerry". They have NOT done so. 5. Once again, the best counter to an eyewitness is another eyewitness. Kerry claims to have up to 13 eyewitnesses on his side versus over 60 for the Swift Vet's For Truth. The Swift Vet's eyewitnesses can be seen on TV and heard on the radio almost every day for the past two weeks. They have been on Hardball with Christ Matthews, Hannity and Colmes, The No Spin Zone, Rush Limbaugh, and more. Kerry's eyewitnesses have been............................nowhere. Unseen and unheard. Whenever John O'Neil, Larry Thurlow, Steve Gardner or another Swift Vet is going to appear, the Kerry Campaign has had opportunity after opportunity to put one of Kerry's boat crewmembers on the show as well. They have NOT done so. As a matter of fact, the one statement I can find where one of Kerry's Swift Vet backers discusses the Christmas in Cambodia controversy, Meideros says he doesn't remember ever being in Cambodia with John Kerry. 6. Kerry has refused to address the specific charges regarding the wounds that resulted in his first and third Purple Hearts. Not once has he said that the wound to his arm that resulted in his first Purple Heart was a 'substantial' or 'serious' wound. He has not stated how many stitches were required to close it or how much blood he lost due to it. Numerous eyewitnesses, including his commanding officer, state the wound was a mere scratch. He has not produced a SINGLE MEDICAL RECORD that discusses the nature of the wounds for which he got his first and his third Purple Heart, and I am not sure about the second one, I will have to check. All the eyewitnesses besides himself state these first and third Purple Heart wounds were so slight they had nothing but contempt for Kerry as they watched him try to wrangle medals out of them. After Kerry's attempt to get his first Purple Heart for the slight scratch on his arm, the one where his C.O. Grant Hibbard threw him out of his office, Kerry was assigned to take his boat to An Thoi with another swift boat commanded by Lieutenant Tedd Peck, who told him "Kerry, follow me no closer than a thousand yards. If you get any closer, I'll teach you what a real Purple Heart is." Instead of doing these six things that would effectively counter the Swift Vet's For Truth ads and book, Kerry has: 1. Filed a complait with the FEC claiming that Swiftboat Vets for Truth is funded and coordinated as a part of the Bush-Cheney campaign and not a real 527 organization. 2. Claimed all the Swift Vets For Truth, over 200 of them, are all Republicans who are lying. 3. Put pressure on TV stations and bookstores not to air the ads and to not display the book. 4. Asked Regenry, publishers of Unfit For Command, to cease publishing the book. 5. Claimed that President Bush is using the Swiftboat Vets For Truth to attack his war record and challenged the President to 'Bring it on!'. Every step that Kerry has made on this issue has been a mis-step. He has changed his story, not provided any eyewitness to counter the specific Swift Vet charges, and has instead attempted to censor the charges by having the ads and the book pulled instead of answering the charges. He then makes every effort to tie the Swift Vets to the Bush campaign, the strategy being if he can prove Bush is funding and directing SBVFT the organization is instantly and automatically discredited and no one need look seriously at the charges that are being leveled against him. Thus far, Kerry's defense has been misdirection and avoidance and attempts at censorship. Can he really keep this up for the next two and a half months?

What Kerry Needs To Do To Successfully Destroy SwiftVets

Speakers at Republican National Convention

Here's the speaking lineup for the GOP convention. The spectrum of opinion on social issues represented by this group is significantly wider and more moderate than the analagous Dem Convention. The Dem leadership has seemingly been hijacked by the Kerry, Dean, Kennedy, Pelosi, crew of the far, far, far Left.



Full disclosure: I, for one, consider myself a "Bill Weld" Republican... a moderate on most social issues, but fiscally conservative and completely aware that our highest priority, without question, is the war on terror.



Apparently, the Democratic leadership hasn't quite comprehended the gravity of the war on terror. Why do I say that? How about a gaggle of Democratic Senators and Congressmen meeting with Islamic groups associated with terrorists and providing Al Jazeera with an official broadcast area at the Democratic convention. That doesn't smell right. In fact, it smells downright nasty.

Speakers at GOP Convention Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 62 - The mayor of New York is a self-made billionaire... Rudolph Giuliani, 60 - The former New York mayor was praised for his leadership after the Sept. 11 attacks... Sen. John McCain, 67 - The outspoken senator from Arizona... has campaigned heavily for Bush's re-election. Laura Bush, 57 - The first lady is a former schoolteacher who met George W. Bush at a Texas barbecue... Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 57 - The action-movie star turned politician took office last year as governor of California... Sen. Zell Miller, 72 - The retiring Democratic senator from Georgia has endorsed Bush's re-election bid... Gov. George Pataki, 59 - ...governor of New York, Pataki built a reputation as a moderate...

FACTBOX-Speakers at Republican National Convention

IT Myth 4: CIOs and CTOs have a greater need for business savvy than tech expertise

..."“Those CEOs and CIOs who are joined at the hip and who want only short-term ROI are myopic about where IT should be going technologically. An organization that really understands IT technologies and what to do to turn [those technologies] into genuine competitive advantage can be in a great position right now,” Zachmann contends...

IT Myth 4