QandO

September 06, 2004

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the Wind
Posted by McQ

And so is a certain candidate. Which one of these quotes is the "real" John Kerry?

This one?:

... I will always remember that America’s security begins and ends with the soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine – with every man and every woman in our armed services standing a post somewhere in the world. Today, we salute each and every one of them for their commitment, strength, and extraordinary courage – especially those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. They, like all veterans of wars past, deserve our prayers and then, when they come home, they deserve the respect and support of a grateful nation. After all, the first definition of patriotism is to keep faith with those who have worn the uniform of the United States.. --- John Kerry, June 3, 2004. [emphasis mine]

Or this one?

These were not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit - the emotions in the room and the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.

They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country. -- John Kerry, June 22, 1971 [emphasis mine]

Its time that John Kerry stood up and told us how he "kept faith" with those who were fighting and dying in Vietnam on June 22, 1971? Those of us who weren't engaged in "raping" and "cutting off heads" or ordering our troops to shoot "cattle and dogs for fun" while our commanders benignly and approvingly looked on and encouraged us would really like to know.

If, as you claim, "the first definition of patriotism is to keep faith with those who have worn the uniform of the United States" , then how do you characterize what's seen here?

Is that, "keeping faith" with those who were in combat that day in June of 1971 or those who had already served in Vietnam?

How about it Kerry, did you live up to your own definiton of patriotism?

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