Campaign of Hypocrisy
If you don't regular read National Review Online's "Kerry Spot" by Jim Geraghty, it is time to start. Then follow that with a bit of the Chicago Sun Times.
Want a summary?
About Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Boorda, via Kerry Spot :
"the Boston Herald of May 18, 1996:Seems pretty reasonable, unless you are under the same scrutiny while running for highest office in the land. Or as Kerry says, when you are "chief of them all."Veterans said yesterday that although they would take offense at someone falsely wearing a "V" combat pin, they couldn't see how this could drive Navy Adm. Jeremy Michael Boorda to suicide.Is it wrong? Yes, it is very wrong. Sufficient to question his leadership position? The answer is yes, which he clearly understood, said Sen. John Kerry, a Navy combat veteran who served in Vietnam.
Citing uncertainty of whether Boorda deliberately wore the pins improperly, Kerry added: If he made a mistake, in my judgment it wasn't worth his life, so I'm very sad about it.
And let us consult the Boston Globe for the same day:
The military is a rigorous culture that places a high premium on battlefield accomplishment, said Sen. John F. Kerry, who received numerous decorations, including a Bronze Star with a "V" pin, as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam.In a sense, there's nothing that says more about your career than when you fought, where you fought and how you fought, Kerry said.
If you wind up being less than what youre pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value and self-esteem and your sense of how others view you.
Of Boorda and his apparent violation, Kerry said: When you are the chief of them all, it has to weigh even more heavily."
Take that piece and add it to the words of Rear Adm. William L. Schachte Jr. as reported by Novak, on how Kerry requested his purple heart after injuring himself with a grenade launcher, toss in a Combat 'V' on a Silver Star, where it should never have been, and you've got yet another hell of mix.
Senator Kerry should not be in the race. Perhaps it is time for what Hugh Hewitt calls "the Torricelli option." When I first read it, in May, I had a laugh, but the more time you spend watching the meltdown, the more real an option it seems it should be.
If you want more, and there are those who'll need it, start with Hugh's blog, and work your way in. There is no better source at this time. Hat tip to Hugh.
