“I’m saying to myself, ‘What do I want to do?’ I think I don’t want to be an infantry guy as a private in Vietnam. What I do decide to want to do is learn to fly.”
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 1989
“I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes.”
Dallas Morning News, Feb. 25, 1990
“I don’t want to play like I was somebody out there marching when I wasn’t. It was either Canada or the service. … Somebody said the Guard was looking for pilots. All I know is, there weren’t that many people trying to be pilots.”
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) – A Vietnam veteran who worked with President Bush (news – web sites)’s campaign has left over his appearance in a commercial by a group challenging Democratic candidate John Kerry (news – web sites)’s war record, a campaign spokesman said on Saturday.
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Ken Cordier was a Bush supporter during the 2000 election and served as a member of his a steering committee to help reach out to veterans during this election.
“Col. Cordier did not inform the campaign of his involvement in the advertisement being run by (Swift Boat Veterans for Truth),” Schmidt said. “Because of his involvement with this 527 (group), Col. Cordier will no longer participate” in the steering committee.
The disclosure of Cordier’s involvement came one day after White House spokesman Scott McClellan and Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot denied the campaign coordinated with the group on the ads, which claim that Kerry lied about his Vietnam War service.
Kerry has called the ads inaccurate and accused the group of being a front for the Bush campaign. On Friday the Kerry campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (news – web sites) seeking to force the ads’ withdrawal.
New advertisements by the group are set to debut next week in states where Kerry has touted his military service. Kerry won several medals and his record is often contrasted with Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard during the war.
McClellan has refused to specifically condemn the ads and instead has urged Kerry to join Bush in calling for an end to all commercials funded by unrestricted donations.
U.S. advocacy groups can collect vast sums of money to run their own political advertisements but are barred from coordinating their activities with campaigns or political parties.
“There seems to be an increasing amount of evidence that the Bush campaign is behind this,” Kerry campaign spokesman Phil Singer said. “So it’s no surprise that the president refuses to condemn these scurrilous ads.”
Bush adviser quits after appearing in swift boat ad
Kerry has accused group of illegally working with campaign
Saturday, August 21, 2004 Posted: 11:43 PM EDT (0343 GMT)
ROANOKE, Virginia (CNN) — A volunteer adviser has quit President Bush’s re-election campaign after appearing in a veterans group’s television commercial blasting Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s involvement in the Vietnam-era antiwar movement.
A Bush campaign statement said it did not know that retired Air Force Col. Ken Cordier had appeared in an ad by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The Kerry campaign has accused the group of illegally working with the Bush campaign.
The RNC lawyers seem to have forgotten to tell their local patriots to ixnay on the wift-boat-say on their official sites,too:
Patriotboy has a screenshot of the Collier County Republican Central Committee soliciting funds for the Swift Boat Liars.
Uh, and it’s still on their web site right now at 3:45 PDT on August 21, 2004. Check it out.
The last google cache they have is for August 10th, but they were featuring the book “Unfit For Command” and the Swift Boat ad ready for viewing right up front then, too.
In the post below, I highlighted something that I haven’t seen anyone comment upon. This ex-POW, Kenneth Cordier, a man who has held other POW’s to account for accepting early release from the North Vietnamese as traitors, is the subject of a letter to the editor in the Dallas Morning News as follows:
“Last month, a lone bagpiper marched to the tune of “Amazing Grace” as silence fell over the distinguished guests, choir, color guard and the veterans and families who came to dedicate the Irving Veteran’s Memorial Park honoring those who gave “the last full measure of devotion” to their nation.
Unfortunately, one of the invested [sic] guests, retired Air Force Col. Ken Cordier, a decorated former Vietnam POW and experienced speaker, chose to politicize this solemn event. In an attempt at levity, he defended the pulling of ladies’ panties over the faces of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. interrogators at Abu Ghraib as preferable to beheading. His inappropriate, Limbaughistic comments detracted from the reverence and purpose of this event.
Richard A. Widener, Irving”
[THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/13/04]
Of all the people to make mock of the depravity visited upon those prisoners at Abu Ghraib, a former POW is the last one I’d expect to see doing it. I wonder if he will find it so amusing when our guys are imprisoned and sexually humiliated in the future. I suppose he will counsel the prisoners and their families to comfort themselves with the fact that “at least it wasn’t a beheading.”
30 year old bitterness and rage is a very ugly thing and I think we are seeing how it can warp some people into a twisted version of their former selves. In some ways these guys are to be pitied. That war messed them up so badly they apparently lost their humanity.
The cache has now updated to today. Here’s a link to the screen capture of the August 19 page. Thousands of others have archived it as well. In fact, I’m reliably told that Olberman showed it on his show this evening. As Cokie Roberts memorably said “It’s out there.”
Nothing To See Here
I wonder if its appropriate for Ken Cordier, a member of the Veterans For Bush-Cheney ’04 steering committee to appear in the new “unaffiliated” “independent” 527 Swift Boat Liars For Bush ad?
Of course you will only see his name if you google the cached version (linked above) of the page on the Bush-Cheney web site. Oddly, the current page doesn’t list his name.
But some might think it doesn’t look quite kosher. In fact, some might think it looks downright illegal.
Update:
The campaign is already on to this and has sent out the following press release. What they didn’t have, however, was this Google cache which shows that Cordier was listed as a member of the Bush-Cheney campaign until August 19th. (And, by the way, in case it’s escaped anyone’s notice, Mr Cordier has a Frenchman in the woodpile.)
Public records reveal that two of the people in the new “Swift Boat Veterans for Bush” television ad are Republican activists, as the fact sheet below shows. This is just more proof that Bush’s Republican allies are the ones behind this disgraceful smear of John Kerry’s military record. It’s pretty clear what’s going on here. It’s no wonder the Bush campaign refuses to condemn this smear.
KENNETH CORDIER
PARTISAN: Another Texas Republican Donor
CORDIER, KENNETH
DALLAS,TX 75208
US AIR FORCE/RETIRED COLONEL
3/2/2001
$1,000
Republican Party of Dallas County
CORDIER, KENNETHW MR
DALLAS,TX 75225
SELF EMPLOYED
2/27/2002
$238
RNC/Repub National State Elections Cmte
CORDIER, KENT
DALLAS,TX 75206
RETIRED
6/30/2000
$1,000
Hutchison, Kay Bailey
2001-06-05
REPUBLICAN PARTY OF TEXAS
CORDIER, KEN
1
$100
[followthemoney.org]
PARTISAN: “Despised” LBJ
“The procession ended just before the 1968 presidential election when the United States stopped its bombing campaign. ‘I remember that was the worst day of my life’ because the POWs’ treatment worsened and they felt forgotten by their government, Col. Cordier said. He “despised” Lyndon Johnson for his war policies.” [Dallas Morning News, 11/10/03]
PARTISAN: Bush Administration Ties
He is a member of a Bush administration advisory panel on veterans’ issues.
[“VA Announces Membership of POW Advisory Committee,” PR Newswire, 4/17/02;
PARTISAN: Open About His Conservative Political Views
“Col. Cordier (pronounced core-dee-AY) still wears his conservatism on his sleeve and doesn’t hold back in his appraisals of more liberal approaches “[Dallas Morning News, 11/10/03]
JUDGEMENT: Defending Abu Gharib Abuses?
” Inappropriate remarks: Last month, a lone bagpiper marched to the tune of “Amazing Grace” as silence fell over the distinguished guests, choir, color guard and the veterans and families who came to dedicate the Irving Veteran’s Memorial Park honoring those who gave “the last full measure of devotion” to their nation. Unfortunately, one of the invested guests, retired Air Force Col. Ken Cordier, a decorated former Vietnam POW and experienced speaker, chose to politicize this solemn event. In an attempt at levity, he defended the pulling of ladies’ panties over the faces of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. interrogators at Abu Ghraib as preferable to beheading. His inappropriate, Limbaughistic comments detracted from the reverence and purpose of this event. Richard A. Widener, Irving” [THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/13/04]
JUDGEMENT: Said Fellow POW Was “A Traitor”
Talking about POWs who were released early: “According to Cordier, Low ‘is a traitor to the other prisoners of war” for accepting premature release on July 18, 1968.’” [Air Force Times, 11/3/03]
INCONSISTENCY: Doesn’t Remember Kerry Being Invoked In Vietnam
“Cordier, now living in Texas, doesn’t recall Kerry’s name specifically being used in interrogations, propaganda broadcasts by Hanoi Hannah (Radio Vietnam) or during “attitude checks” — political indoctrination sessions — since Kerry was then not a household name. But he said he does remember the North Vietnamese using the so-called Winter Soldier investigations and photographs of war veterans, both real and imposters, throwing military medals over the White House fence.” [UPI, 8/3/04]
PARTISAN: Questioned Normalization Under Clinton And Wished Bush Would Win
“Said he questioned the president’s motives and the appropriateness of the visit at this time. He predicts that the next administration, which he presumes will be headed by Texas Gov. George W. Bush, will engage more in “carrot and stick diplomacy” with the Vietnamese government, offering “generous rewards” for concessions” [Dallas Morning News, 11/19/00]
PAUL GALANTI
JUDGEMENT: Wanted To Ban Draft Dodgers From Public Colleges
“A House of Delegates committee yesterday killed a bill sponsored by Del. Warren E. Barry (R-Fairfax) that would have directed Virginia’s state colleges not to admit any young man who failed to register for the draft. Barry appeared before the Education Committee along with a former Navy flier, Paul Galanti of Richmond, who had spent seven years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war, but the panel nonetheless killed his idea for the second year in a row, this time by a vote of 12 to 8.” [Washington Post, 2/5/83]
JUDGEMENT: Called Conservative Christians “Sheep”
“They probably called their little followers. They vote on that one issue. They call them sheep. That’s exactly what they are.” -Paul Galanti, McCain’s Virginia campaign co-chairman, on the backlash by Virginia’s conservative Christian voters after McCain’s attacks Monday on the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson. AP, 2/29/00
JUDGEMENT: Insulting Disabled Vets?
“Life has a way of throwing curve balls and John [Hager] got beaned by one when he acquired polio as an adult and lost the use of his legs. He would have been forgiven for tossing in the towel, drifting over to the VA hospital and spending the rest of his life feeling sorry for himself.” [Richmond Times Dispatch, 6/2/01]
JUDGEMENT: On Critics Of The Vietnam War: “Communist Sympathizers”
“It caused me to question anything I hear from Communists or their many sympathizers or copycats or dupes in America who tended then – and still tend – to distort the truth for their personal gain, or even (gasp) to lie if that will achieve the desired end.” [Richmond Times Dispatch, 6/17/01]
PARTISAN: Carter-Basher
“I had a great final three years in the Navy despite the devastation Carter’s policies had wrought on the military. My last Navy year was under one of the finest-ever Commanders-in-Chief, who led the country out of Jimmy Carter’s unlamented and self-caused “malaise.”” [Richmond Times Dispatch, 6/17/01]
Well it was a meeting of the minds (loosely speaking) on Rush today when the drug-addled, tripled divorced, didn’t-go-to-Vietnam-because-of-a-pimple-on-his-fat-ass Rush Limbaugh had Michelle “If I wanted to be publicly humiliated I would have signed on for a bukkake video instead of going on Hardball” Malkin on.
After Malkin’s little meltdown on Hardball last night, we all ought to forward old Chris this exchange from August 13th.
Q On behalf of Vietnam veterans — and I served six tours over there — we do support the President. I only have one concern, and that’s on the Purple Heart, and that is, is that there are over 200,000 Vietnam vets that died from Agent Orange and were never — no Purple Heart has ever been awarded to a Vietnam veteran because of Agent Orange because it’s never been changed in the regulations. Yet, we’ve got a candidate for President out here with two self-inflicted scratches, and I take that as an insult. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Six tours? Whew. That’s a lot of tours. Let’s see, who’ve we got here? You got a question?
If Chris wonders where the smear about self inflicted wounds is coming from he should probably ask the people who pre-screen the questions at the GOP only “Ask Bush” events. Obviously, they will have the names.
Funny, the president doesn’t seem too concerned about this toxic swill being bandied about in his presence. In fact, he says “he appreciates it.”
A Clackamas County prosecutor and decorated Vietnam veteran who appears in an ad attacking Democratic presidential contender John F. Kerry’s war record said he did not witness the events in question and is relying on the accounts of his friends who served with the senator.
The 60-second ad, which aired for seven days this month in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin, features 13 Vietnam veterans, including Alfred French, 58, a senior deputy district attorney in Clackamas County.
In the ad, French says: “I served with John Kerry. . . . He is lying about his record.”
[…]
French, in an interview Thursday, said Kerry lied about the circumstances that led to one of his Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. Kerry received a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts commanding a Swift boat in Vietnam.
French said he is relying on the accounts of three other veterans who were friends of his at the time. A fourth veteran with whom French was acquainted corroborated their accounts.
“I was not a witness to these events but my friends were,” said French, who was awarded two Bronze Stars during the war. “I believe these people. These are people I served with.”
One of the men is Larry Thurlow, a leader of the veterans group and one of Kerry’s most vocal critics. Thurlow, who served alongside Kerry, has disputed Kerry’s claim that the senator’s boat was under fire in March 1969 when he pulled Lt. Jim Rassmann out of the water.
But according to Thurlow’s military records, obtained this week by The Washington Post, the five-boat flotilla was under enemy fire that day.
French — relying on friends’ accounts — said Rassmann would have been picked up by another boat if Kerry had not helped. And French said any shots that were fired came from U.S. soldiers providing cover as Rassmann and two others were rescued.
“It’s not like he wouldn’t have been saved if Kerry had not been there,” French said. “I don’t believe they were under any fire when that happened. None of the other boats were damaged.”
He said Rassmann’s rescue did not merit a special honor.
“Somebody fell off your boat and you go back and pick him up,” French said. “It’s not worthy of a Bronze Star in my opinion.”
Rassmann, who lives in Florence and is campaigning for Kerry, said the ad is motivated in part by some veterans’ anger over Kerry’s antiwar stance upon returning home — a charge French acknowledges. Rassmann said the group’s claims are completely false.
“To come back 35 years later and conjure up fabricated stories is the lowest form of politics,” said Rassmann, who said he does not know French.
“I honor these guys for their service,” Rassmann said. “I know they were very courageous, along with John Kerry, and it saddens me that they are all at one another’s throats.”
French, a registered Republican, said he was reluctant at first to take part in the ad but ultimately “decided it was something I needed to do.”
French said his one-year tour of duty in Vietnam overlapped Kerry’s by two months. He said they served together in the same unit in January and February 1969. He said he did not know Kerry well during that time.
This scumbag not only lied about “serving” with John Kerry, he wasn’t even anywhere around and is just repeating his friends lies.
And, I’m hoping that somebody is working hard to verify where that asshole William Schachte really was on the day he claimed he was on Kerry’s skimmer and nobody on the boat remembers him being there. It’s probable that we’ll later find out that he was actually on R&R in Bangkok on that day but he later heard from a friend of a friend who channeled a Vietnamese fisherman that Kerry cynically launched a grenade in his skivvies so he could run for president in 30 years.
This has now entered the realm of the absurd. These guys have thrown themselves into the sewer for that petulant little cheerleader. Jesus.
Here’s a little anecdote on a Friday morning from the neighborhood Starbucks that I think illustrates a little bit of the Scumbags For Truth dilemma.
Overheard argument (and I swear it isn’t one of those taxicab confessions.)
Why would those guys lie about Kerry?
Because he said that soldiers committed atrocities in Vietnam.
Well he did and it was a shitty thing to do.
Yeah, well at least he fought instead of having his rich daddy get him into the guard.
The argument developed into a back and forth about Bush going AWOL, Kerry running from enemy fire etc, until it ended up with “Who the hell does Bush think he is?” Say what you want about Kerry, but he volunteered for combat and Bush didn’t, end of story” and the other guy blathering on for a while about Jane Fonda.
According to the Annenberg Center Survey (pdf) released today the ad’s effect seems to track pretty closely along the partisan divide, so I’m not sure whether we’ve seen any erosion in support (despite what people are saying):
Respondents who saw or heard about the ad are split about its believability. Forty-six percent find the ad very or somewhat believable and 49 percent find the ad very or somewhat un-believable. Beliefs about the believability of the advertisement are strongly associated with partisan inclinations. Seventy percent of those with favorable opinions ofBush find the advertisement somewhat or very believable while 19 percent of those with favorable opinions of Kerry find it believable. Independent voters are nearly evenly split over whether they find the ad believable; 44 percent find the ad somewhat or very believable while 49 percent find the ad somewhat or very unbelievable.
But, there’s another side to this and one that wasn’t addressed in this survey. It’s the other side of that argument I heard in Starbucks this morning. As David Gergen said on Hardball last night, it’s a bit inexplicable that Bush would want Kerry’s service back on the front page of the news in any capacity because it inevitably highlights the contrast between his own actions and Kerry’s. You have to wonder if Lee Atwater were alive if he wouldn’t have proposed this smear as a whisper campaign instead of a Willie Horton style feed-the-mediawhores special. Bush Sr wasn’t vulnerable on the crime issue like Dukakis was so he could afford to go nuclear. Over the long haul, keeping Vietnam on the front burner is not necessarily a winner for Junior. When Kerry said yesterday, “Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: Bring it on,” that’s what he was talking about.
That “he volunteered for combat” argument is hard for Bush to rebut. It’s simple and appeals to the common sense of average Americans. (And believe me, there isn’t a person in the country who doesn’t associate Bush with the attack. Most people believe in their gut that the campaigns are behind the ads whether they are or not.)
I’m not suggesting that this smear is good for Kerry, but I am suggesting that it doesn’t necessarily help Bush all that much with undecideds and may end up hurting him a little. (The GOP talk radio neanderthals will believe anything they’re told, so they are not worth worrying about at the moment.)
Rove probably feels he has no choice but to tear down Kerry’s heroism because Junior is extremely weak on every issue but terrorism so he has to run on his alleged cojones to grab the undecideds. (The “compassionate, uniter divider” side of his agenda is a total joke and everybody knows it.) But, it’s a dicey proposition. Regardless of whether people know the details of Bush going AWOL in the Guard, or even if they’ve heard about it, it is indisputable that he went in the Guard instead of volunteering for combat as Kerry did. That is the bottom line contrast and it doesn’t reflect well on him to attack Kerry’s war record because of it.
Kerry and his surrogates continuing to tie the attack to big Texas Republican money closely associated with Bush is an important element because Bush is doing something here that doesn’t make sense. One of the perverse advantages of the 527’s is to be able to claim that they are independent and don’t represent your view while they stick it to your opponent. It makes the media very suspicious when you don’t follow the pre-ordained script and Bush is not following the script on this. That makes the media skeptical.
It’s very interesting that Rove has adopted this odd hedging routine instead of taking the high road freebie offered by the 527 “independence.” The best explanation is that he’s worried about offending his base or his Texas contributors if he explicitly condemns the ad. And that is a sign of weakness. If that is right then Kerry is correct to hammer on Bush having these people do his dirty work for him. It puts him in a box.
I’ll repeat what I’ve said here too many times before. The operative motivation in a smear is not to convince people. It’s to “get it out there” and raise doubts. There’s almost nothing you can do when people are determined to smear you like this to completely contain the damage. Once it’s out there it’s out there. And in that sense, they have succeeded very well.
However, there is an interesting example of how a smear can be fought to a standstill (although with your reputation forever shredded.) That is the method by which Clinton fought the Monica frenzy. He turned it into an attack on Ken Starr. And it largely worked because people instinctively recoil at the idea of nosy creeps like Starr rifling through other people’s underwear drawers.
There are elements of the same thing here if the Democrats can correctly keep the frame where they want it to be. A man who maneuvered his way out of Vietnam is now ruthlessly tearing down the war record of one who volunteered for combat. That just doesn’t sit well — it breaks the unwritten rules we have about military service. Just as with the Starr counter attack, the rabid GOP base will become even more agitated and wild. But, the majority of the country will likely begin to see through the smokescreen to what is really going on. And it could end up hurting Bush more than Kerry.
It’s probably also why the Scumbags are now pushing this idea that Kerry “planned” to go to Nam and shoot himself three times and phony up his medals for political purposes. This absurd notion will be pushed to contrast with the all-American Bush, who honestly served in the Guard rather than do something so dishonest. Apparently, this idea has been out in the ether for some time. I quoted a Navy wife a couple of weeks ago saying it: “He was just planning to run for president, right from the beginning, that’s what I think,” said Margaret Leonie Dent, the wife of a Navy retiree. “They say his wounds were paper cuts. Just look at the man. He looks French for God’s sake.”
The sad thing, of course, is that Kerry will never have his reputation back and at a time when Vietnam veterans were finally beginning to receive their due for their service a bunch of self righteous, petty old men stepped in to cast doubts on them all over again. Nice bunch of patriots selling out their brothers toward the end of their lives to protest a man they claim sold them out when they were young. By any means necessary I guess.
I am e-mailing the following quote to members of the press today. And, I think that all talking heads should have it on a 3×5 card and repeat it everytime they face a swift boat liar or one of their mouthpieces. Everybody needs to be reminded of what the real contrast is here. It’s not between Kerry the hero vs Kerry the alleged liar, but rather, the combat volunteer vs the chickenhawk smear artist.
“I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes.” George W. Bush on why he joined the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, 1990.
Predictably, Judicial Watch gets in on the Scumbags for Truth action. I think there’s an excellent chance that the Navy is going to implicate itself in a massive, systemwide fraud, don’t you?
The only question I have about all this is when the charges of Kerry fucking Vietnamese child hookers comes in? No ginned up GOP smear campaign is worth its salt unless it features some juicy, voyeuristic tittilation so that Ann Coulter and Lucianne Goldberg can cackle and drool, screeching “pervert, pervert” over and over again. C’mon, there just have to be some faded tapes or fuzzy pictures of something somewhere. A bastard child he abandoned in a rice paddy? A non-stop orgy on his swift boat with the band of brothers? Let’s get with it people.