WASHINGTON -- Is it not curious that in major media there is not
a trace of humor or even irony perceptible in the hullabaloo over
Senator John Kerry's latest self-inflicted wound, to wit: the
controversy over his Vietnam record? Oh, one fellow has shown a
proper sense of the absurdity of it all. James Taranto, editor of
the Wall Street Journal's "Best
of the Web Today," has for months made a running joke of
Kerry's reckless boasts about his service in Vietnam. Whenever he
introduces this insufferable braggart into his column Taranto is
wont to write "who by the way served in Vietnam" or "whom I am told
served in Vietnam." Now, as a growing number of Vietnam veterans
file their objections to Kerry's boasts, the suave Taranto e-mails
me, "Have you been following the news the past couple of weeks? And
are you finally ready to admit I was right about John Kerry serving
in Vietnam?"
As the waggish Taranto knows, I have never doubted that Kerry
served in Vietnam, for I remember with the utmost clarity his
return from Vietnam whereupon he played a star role in opposing the
war, often disloyally. I even recall his appearance before a Senate
committee where he accused his fellow veterans of "war crimes" --
or, as he said then: "Crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with
the full awareness of officers at all levels of command." He even
said on Meet the Press that he had committed war
crimes. I rather doubt that he did, but here is still more evidence
that Kerry is a fraud.
He is another of the politicians visited on us recently who lie
flagrantly, get caught in their lies, and are given a dispensation
in the media because the media's journalists somehow believe that
the liars are preferable to their opponents. That is how Bill
Clinton got his many passes in the 1992 election where he lied
about dodging the draft, about demonstrating against his country in
London, about smoking marijuana, about Gennifer Flowers and general
philandering. Notwithstanding all those obvious lies, Clinton went
on the White House and to eight years of lies and scandals -- or,
to continue my theme, self-inflicted wounds. In nominating Kerry as
their presidential candidate the Democrats have nominated another
fantasist.
You can be sure that the absurd controversy over his Vietnam
record will not be his last. Any sensible observer has by now
perceived that Kerry's opponents among the Swift boat veterans have
proven that Kerry wildly exaggerated his service in Vietnam. The
more important question is not his veracity but his judgment, and
that word has not even been mentioned in the media's
debate. For that matter there has not been all that much talk about
Kerry's mendacity, though he has been caught in petty lies since
the primaries, lies that contribute to the perception that Kerry is
a man of very poor judgment.
There was his early lie that he never made an issue about being
Irish. Then there was his lie to feminists that his first speech in
Congress was in support of abortion rights. In both instances fact
checkers exposed him. Then there was the imbroglio over his skiing
exploits where he denied that he suffers the occasional mishap
while skiing. At an Idaho ski resort in his boastful (and vengeful)
mode Kerry claimed, "I don't fall down. That son of a bitch ran
into me." From his bruised gluteus maximus he pointed to an
embarrassed member of his Secret Service detail. His falls were a
matter of record. And forget not the dispute over his claim that
"foreign leaders" told him they endorsed his presidency, though his
travel records revealed his claim to be preposterous. Since then
Kerry has been caught lying about the vehicles he owns. He has been
ensnared in lies about policy and legislation. There have been
other scrapes, schedules revised for $100 haircuts, scrapes where
he has been overheard calling the Bush Administration "crooked."
And now we have all his conjurings with his Vietnam record and the
records of his combat critics.
What ought to be raised is the issue of his judgment. What does
it tell you about this fantastico that he has made his
controversial service of 35 years ago the fulcrum on which he wages
his campaign for the presidency? Surely he remembered the
dishonorable and untrue things he said about Vietnam. Surely he
should have had the self-awareness to recognize possible dispute
arising over his medals and that obvious lie that he spent a
faraway Christmas in Cambodia. Yet this megalomaniac blundered on,
boasting of an episode in his life that had best be referred to
only in passing.
Now he is in the running to be president. Do we really want a
reckless self-promoter governing us in time of war? Do we want a
man with so little judgment and regard for the truth overseeing
American foreign and domestic policy? The vast majority of those
who served with him in Vietnam do not. Those in the media who
continue to give him a pass do. I hope that they are not surprised
or offended if President Kerry presides over another presidency of
self-inflicted controversies. Yet who will conduct our war on
terror while President Kerry schemes to disentangle himself from
one scrape after another?
Character was the issue never weighed in the 1992 campaign.
Character and judgment are the issues that ought to be
weighed in this campaign.
topics:
Abortion, NATO
