Fellow Swamp Stomper Sister Toldjah [1]takes on St Andrew the Incontinent:
June 30, 2008:
McCain himself disowned the Swift Boat nutters in 2004 as “dishonest and dishonorable.” I find both attempts to smear the war records of people who volunteered to fight for their country to be repellent. But the far right is too invested in the politics of Vietnam to take the high road.
August 17, 2008 [2]:
I’ve now heard it countless times. McCain has used what appears to be an intensely personal moment in a prison camp as a reason to vote for him in a campaign ad. As he tells it today, it was the pivotal moment in his struggle to survive in the Hanoi Hilton. And yet, in his first thorough account of his time in captivity, in 1973, the story is absent [3]. The story is also hauntingly like [4] that recounted by Solzhenitsen, as told in Luke Veronis, “The Sign of the Cross”:
Leaving his shovel on the ground, he slowly walked to a crude bench and sat down. He knew that at any moment a guard would order him to stand up, and when he failed to respond, the guard would beat him to death, probably with his own shovel. He had seen it happen to other prisoners.
As he waited, head down, he felt a presence. Slowly he looked up and saw a skinny old prisoner squat down beside him. The man said nothing. Instead, he used a stick to trace in the dirt the sign of the Cross. The man then got back up and returned to his work.
As Solzhenitsyn stared at the Cross drawn in the dirt his entire perspective changed.
I have one simple question: when was the first time that McCain told this story?
And he didn’t stop there. He has continued on today here [5], here [6], here [7], here [8], here [9], here [9], here [10], here [11], here [12], here [13], and here [14].
That’s 12, count ’em, 12 posts to date so far from the same guy who said back in June [15], “I find both attempts to smear the war records of people who volunteered to fight for their country to be repellent. But the far right is too invested in the politics of Vietnam to take the high road.”
Bruce McQuain observes: [16]
I’m not sure why Andrew Sullivan [17] believes this is something worth pursuing but if the same argument that was applied during John Kerry’s 2004 run (“they were in the boat with him”) is applied here, that ends the argument, doesn’t it?
The answer is rather simple, and fellow POW Orson Swindle identified the issue [18]in clear toes when he said “These people are desperate”
Addenudum: (David L)
Bit has afforded me the luxury of brevity. There two differences beween the Swift Boaters versus John Kerry and the Andrew Sullivan versus John McCain dust-ups.
One, target. John Kerry military record was, and is, not widely respected. Kerry’s standing is akin to that of Hanoi Jane Fonda. In contrast, John McCain military service was heroic, and is honored and respected. McCain served with honor, Jenkis Khan Kerry did not.
Two, source. Kerry was criticized by his fellow veterans. Those who criticized Kerry had earned their right to do so. Andrew Sullivan has earned no such right. Call it Sullying McCain record. Sullivan lacks the standing to Swift Boat any veteran.