Too bad. Because I’m not. From today’s New York Post:
An officer who served with John Kerry yesterday finally broke his silence about the Swift vets controversy – and said Kerry accidentally wounded himself before requesting his first Purple Heart.
In a detailed new account that is certain to fuel the growing controversy, eyewitness William Schachte Jr., a retired rear admiral, told columnist Robert Novak for today’s papers that he was “astonished” to hear Kerry’s version of the events of Dec. 2, 1968, when Schachte was in command of Kerry aboard a skimmer boat on the Mekong River.
Schachte said that Kerry:
* Wasn’t wounded by hostile fire.
* Wasn’t even under fire by the enemy.
* “Nicked” himself with a grenade launcher and “requested a Purple Heart” afterward.
If Schachte’s version is accurate, Kerry would not have been eligible for the award, the first of the three Purple Hearts he received.
To win a Purple Heart, military personnel must have a wound that requires medical treatment, and it must have been received during the course of an engagement with the enemy, even if the wound was not a result of hostile fire.
And yes this matters, because it speaks directly to the character of the dandy who would be king.
…Not to mention that such information runs counter to the “reporting” being done by some of Kerry’s enablers in the mainstream press. For instance, here’s DNC handmaiden Elisabeth Bumiller, writing in yesterday’s New York Times:
The national counsel for President Bush’s re-election campaign resigned on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he acknowledged that he had provided legal advice to a veterans group that has leveled unsubstantiated attacks on Senator John Kerry’s Vietnam War record in a book and on the air [my emphasis]
“Unsubstantiated,” did you say? Tell that to Senator Kerry’s diaries, honey. And to the Grinch that stole his Cambodian Christmas set piece.
Hack.
(h/t Dailypundit)
John Edwards, reached today on his “Underwhelming America, one State at a Time Tour”, had this to say:
“I’m pretty sure that in one of these damned Americas John Kerry deserved all of those medals. What? My hair is messy? I mean, is it ‘cool, sexy’ kind of messy or ‘get the mousse, quick’ kind of messy?”
Is it me or is this story becoming the Hydra? As quick as Kerry can chop off a head, it grows two more.
John Edwards, in a secure FAX to John Kerry after reading Bill in CO’s comment:
“John, for crying out loud, leave the Hydra alone. Those new heads have terrific hair, damn them!
And, BTW, John; did I hear you had your hands on a different man’s ass yesterday?”
http://www.blogsforbush.com/mt/archives/001739.html#001739
Jeff:
Of course the party line with Kerry’s enablers in the media is that SBVT’s version is unsubstantiated, because none of the enablers are looking into it. They just rewrite Kerry’s press releases, and that’s their way of “reporting.”
If you go to the Kerry Edwards campaign site, you’ll find a press release from April 27th that lists a whole host of questions they have regarding Bush’s Guard service. The especially funny part is they utilize a Q and A format, where the answer is composed of quoted media reports from 1999–no acknowledgment of any of the disclosures and answers provided since then. In other words, Kerry perpetuates the myth that many questions remain unanswered, simply by ignoring updates and answers that are on the record.
So the media enables Kerry in both directions. First, by not looking into SBVT’s perspective, and second, by continuing to allow the Kerry campaign to suggest that Bush hasn’t answered the question regarding his own service, rather than answering that yes, Bush satisfied the annual obligation owed to the Guard–with the appropriate documentation and payroll records.
Bias? More like incompetance by the media.