A group of former Vietnam swift-boat veterans are running an ad campaign against John Kerry’s attempts to rewrite Vietnam for himself. Their site appears to be reeling from the traffic, and their ad has made quite a splash.
In the long run, I’m not sure how effective this will be. On the other hand, Kerry has been wrapping himself in the flag and claiming the mantle of patriotism in a shameless way – he made Vietnam an issue, and it’s fair game to take that issue and examine it. What really gets me about Kerry shameless use of patriotism is that the Democrats 12 years ago said that military service was a non-issue, and confirmed it once again 8 years ago. So either military service doesn’t matter, or it does. They can’t have it both ways. Either serving in the military doesn’t make you a better President as they said with Clinton, or it does as they said with Kerry. Instead, the Democrats are clearly trying to compensate for something. Seeing Kerry parade a group of veterans and try to claim the flag for himself was as obvious as a middle-aged man driving a brand-new sportscar around town while blaring rap music – it’s a desperate attempt at compensation.
Kerry’s constant harping on his Vietnam service is being used as a shield to deflect criticism on his many years as a liberal who worked to undermine defense and intelligence in this country. It’s being used to make him look strong when his policies are policies that would weaken this nation. If Kerry wants to make his service in Vietnam the central issue of this campaign, he should expect that service to be analyzed and questioned – and given that many Vietnam vets hate his guts for betraying them at home, he’s got no one to blame but himself for taking fire from those who resent being called part of his “band of brothers.”
A great quote from a veteran:
“We didn’t lose the war on the ground in Vietnam, we lost it at home, and at home John Kerry was the field general.”