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In order to give my readers an idea of the sort of dreck that Conservatives are going to use in an attempt to sully John Kerry's reputation, I had to look no further than NewsMax. If Fox News Channel didn't have to at least keep up the pretext of being "Fair and Balanced", they would be NewsMax.
Editor’s note: This is part one in a series that will reveal the Democrat front-runner’s track record on the important issues of the day.
Right. In truth, these partisan, "I will do whatever it takes regardless of it's relation to the truth" goons are trying to convince us that John Kerry was somehow unsympathetic to the plight of American POWs.
What rankles many Vietnam veterans today is that Kerry’s blatant advocacy of the enemy's position occurred while hundreds of captured American fighting men suffered and languished as prisoners of war in North Vietnamese prisons.
The fact that John Kerry vocally opposed the war in Vietnam upon his return from that same war is hardly noteworthy. Millions of young Americans, including many Vietnam vets, recognized the illegitimacy and wastefulness of the war. How does Kerry's opposition to the war qualify as "blatant advocacy of the enemy's position"?
Of course, if you live in the black-and-white world occupied by blindly partisan Conservatives, anything that runs counter to their beliefs can legitimately be defined as treasonous. These folks really are arrogant enough to assume that their viewpoint really IS the Alpha and the Omega of political reality.
John Kerry fought in Vietnam. In doing so, he recognized that war for the exercise in futility and wasted American lives it in fact was. That he returned home and used his first-hand experience to work for an end to the war should be applauded. He at least followed his conscience and used his experience to effect positive change.
In the end, who would you rather have taking our country into war? Someone who has seen combat first-hand? Or someone who used his connections to escape combat and has shown himself willing to trade young American lives to achieve a policy objective? One that he had to lie about in order to be able to pursue in the first place?
Vietnam was a tragedy, a misguided effort by a craven Administration willing to sacrifice increasing numbers of young Americans in order to achieve the fuzzy goal of "stopping Communism". Iraq is likewise a tragic and misguided effort, albeit certainly not of the same proportions. John Kerry worked to end the war in Vietnam, and he should be applauded for his efforts instead of having them twisted and misrepresented for political gain 33 years later.
I have no problem with Conservatives engaging John Kerry on the issues. That, after all, is what a political campaign should be all about. Unfortunately, rabidly partisan Conservatives like the goons behind NewsMax seem quite willing to engage in any conduct, no matter how slanderous or untruthful, in order to get George W. Bush "re-elected". I can only hope that they American electorate has the wherewithal to recognize that the current occupant of the White House is a dishonest, manipulative prevaricator primarily concerned with his own political power. We deserve better.
