The right's attacks on Kerry's service are pathetic.

[anti-NAFTA]

I was just listening to some local Rush-wannabe talking about Kerry. He implied that Kerry was a sissy for not staying in Nam after "minor injuries." Then he went on about how Kerry insulted America by throwing away his ribbons.

Earlier today, Rush said that Kerry was unpatriotic because he protested with Jane Fonda and that Kerry was a liar for accusing the US troops in Nam of raping and mutilating people. Hannity said the same thing.

Really sad.


edited for error in title

[anti-NAFTA]

1. kick

[Padraig18]

2. Welcome to the front-runner's position!

:nopity:

[anti-NAFTA]

3. I'm a Dean supporter, but I have to say

that their attacks on Kerry are a lot less strong than those used on Dean.

[valuesenvironment]

4. I do believe Kerry has a lot of baggage

i consider myself very pro environment and am as mad as the next guy when it comes to the destruction of our environment..ie big oil..but i also do research on any candidate before i vote for that person..i do believe i will not be supporting john kerry..problem is bush is lame on many issues i hold dear and near to my heart but i simply cannot vote for a guy who has lead anti war demonstrations..i have too many family members who have served and served honorably in our armed forces..that being said take a few moments to read about john kerry at this website..thanx

http://vietnamveteransagainstjohnkerry.com/

[NNN0LHI]

6. Have you ever served honorably in our armed forces? n/t

[mitchum]

7. Utter nonsense

and...uh...welcome to DU

[Career Prole]

9. I respectfully disagree.

While it may not be possible to avoid all wars since self-defense is necessary for survival, in the main--war is incredibly stupid. War protesters are extremely valuable to society for they serve as the nation's conscience when the government has none. Those who lead protests against unjust and immoral wars are in my eyes heroes of a different sort.

[anti-NAFTA]

10. Greenie Troll

eom

[NNN0LHI]

11. Please don't do that. The poor mods are busy enough already n/t

[theoceansnerves]

13. uhh

i'm not a kerry fan/supporter by any means but he did score 92% on the League of Conservation Voters scorecard, and is in fact endorsed by them.

[DemMother]

15. This is from the same guy that smeared McCain

Joe Conason has a column about this guy in salon today. I can't figure out the links but here is a paragraph from Conason's piece that describes this sleazeball. Strange a Democrat would post a link to this right-wing smear artist.

"And a key purveyor of this anti-Kerry propaganda is a former Green Beret named Ted Sampley, who has run a profitable business as a "POW/MIA advocate" from his home in North Carolina for most of the past two decades. Few remember that Sampley was critical to efforts to similarly smear Sen. John McCain, another war hero, when he ran for president against George W. Bush in 2000. Now Sampley has started an organization pointedly calling itself "Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry," which proclaims its determination to ruin Kerry's campaign."

[Piperay]

16. Geesh, I suppose you think it is

fine to support a chickenhawk like chimp who went AWOL verses someone who actually went over there and fought and was a real hero just because he believes that war is wrong???? :wow:

Oh, yeah, Welcome to DU :hi: but I doubt your stay will be long.

[betweenwars]

17. Nope, Sorry, this is crap

Conason's entry at Salon today debunks this site and the guy who runs it. Here's Conason:

And a key purveyor of this anti-Kerry propaganda is a former Green Beret named Ted Sampley, who has run a profitable business as a "POW/MIA advocate" from his home in North Carolina for most of the past two decades. Few remember that Sampley was critical to efforts to similarly smear Sen. John McCain, another war hero, when he ran for president against George W. Bush in 2000. Now Sampley has started an organization pointedly calling itself "Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry," which proclaims its determination to ruin Kerry's campaign.

<snip>


But for the Republicans, cutting off Kerry's potential base among veterans is as vital as deflecting questions about Bush's military record. From obscure Web sites to Rush Limbaugh to the Weekly Standard, the right-wing media are eagerly popularizing the same attacks featured in Sherman's essay. The Web site for Ted Sampley's Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry offers a pungent example of the right's rhetorical style: The Viet Cong's National Liberation Front flag is the background to a shot of a young, fatigue-clad Kerry. That picture is pure computer magic -- in other words, a fake.

According to author Susan Katz Keating, who has written extensively on Vietnam veterans and the POW/MIA movement for the Washington Times and Soldier of Fortune magazine, deception is what Sampley does for a living. Her book "Prisoners of Hope: Exploiting the POW-MIA Myth in America," published in 1994 by Random House, exposes how Sampley and his allies abused the hopes of grieving families for fun and profit. Their best-known victim, until now, was Sen. John McCain. He first drew Sampley's poisonous attention when, along with Kerry, he debunked the idea that Americans were still being held by Vietnam, and endorsed the restoration of diplomatic relations with the Communist government.

Keating describes in detail how, in 1992, Sampley commenced a "scurrilous" crusade to punish McCain:

<end of excerpt>

Conason, via Keating, goes on to flesh out the McCain is a "Manchurian Candidate" ploy used by Sampley. Then we get the right's trying to tie Kerry in with Hanoi Jane Fonda because, two years before she visited Hanoi, she is in a photo two rows ahead of Kerry (if it was Kerry) at a demonstration. Yada, yada and the beat(ing) goes on.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/02/10/kerry_smear/index.html


Next time check your sources as well as your candidates.
Mitch

[chocolateeater]

5. Yes it is pathetic,

and easily refuted. I think they are throwing what ever they have or think they have to see if anything sticks.

[Uzybone]

8. That they are

and "liberals" joining in on those attacks are even more pathetic. But it comes with the territory.

[anti-NAFTA]

12. kick

[anti-NAFTA]

14. kick