Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief

[adios]

I doubt if Kerry and folks will comment on this. Lehman was a member or the recent 9/11 commission and I would think he would remember signing such a certificate. I'm also hearing today that Kerry volunteered for Swift Boat duty before Swift Boats were designated for the hazerdous inland water patrols he participated in. I haven't been able to confirm this though. It gets stranger and stranger.

Kerry citation a 'totay mystery' to ex-Navy chief (http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-lips28.html)

Kerry citation a 'total mystery' to ex-Navy chief

August 28, 2004

BY THOMAS LIPSCOMB

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature.

"It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said.

The additional language varied from the two previous citations, signed first by Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and then Adm. John Hyland, which themselves differ. The new material added in the Lehman citation reads in part: "By his brave actions, bold initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty, Lieutenant (jg) Kerry reflected great credit upon himself...."

Asked how the citation could have been executed over his signature without his knowledge, Lehman said: "I have no idea. I can only imagine they were signed by an autopen." The autopen is a device often used in the routine execution of executive documents in government.

Kerry senior adviser Michael Meehan could not be reached for comment on Kerry's records.

Thomas Lipscomb is chairman of the Center for the Digital Future in New York.

[CORed]

So far, only the Sun Times and Matt Drudge seem to be covering this. If it turns out to be true that he has posted altered records on his web site, it is difficult to see how he could possibly win the election. It would not only raise issues of credibility and itegrity, but of how he could be stupid enough to think he could get away with it. I can only hope this is another smear campaing, but I'm afraid it might be the real deal. Four more years of George Bush. Damn.

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
I can only hope this is another smear campaing, but I'm afraid it might be the real deal.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Lehman quote was clear to me, Lehman was quoted as uncategorically denying that he ever signed such a document. If Lehman wasn't misquoted, which I highly doubt, questions about where this citation came from are legitimate. I've read in many places where this certificate is strange in that it was issued nearly 20 years after the fact and it differs in language from the original. Some opined that Lehman was trying to please a Senator for political reasons while Lehman was Secretary of the Navy. But Lehman is denying ever issuing or signing this document.

Here's a biased score card but many of his bullet items are true. I'll admit that editorial comments about a biased media are his opinions but most of the bullet items are accurate IMO.

The scorecard: Swiftees vs. Kerry
David Limbaugh (archive)


August 27, 2004 | Print | Send


Despite the partisan media's claims to the contrary, John Kerry has not successfully refuted "almost all the Swiftees' charges." Though he has attempted to dodge the bullets, he has been deeply wounded by them.

Instead of responding factually to the charges, Kerry and his defenders have:

-- personally attacked the Swiftees and reportedly hired private investigators to look for dirt on them;

-- mischaracterized Swiftee John O'Neill as a Nixon dirty trickster;

-- reiterated their lies about President Bush's Air National Guard service;

-- filed complaints with the FEC to muzzle the Swiftees;

-- pressured media outlets not to run the Swiftees' ads;

-- whined about coordination between the Swiftees and the Bush campaign because attorney Ben Ginsberg advised both;

-- gloated when Ginsberg resigned from representing the Bush campaign, saying it proved there had been coordination all along, though Ginsberg denies any coordination;

-- refused to insist that their similarly situated lawyers or operatives Robert Bauer, Jim Jordan, Joe Sandler and Zack Exley -- sever their ties as well;

-- theatrically dispatched former Senator Max Cleland to the Bush ranch with a letter imploring the president to urge the Swiftees, over whom the president genuinely has no control, to cease and desist.

-- called other veterans to pressure them into supporting Kerry;

-- invoked the only sacred Republican name among Democrats, John McCain. (Bob Dole lost similar status this week when nobly standing up for the Swiftees.)

-- suppressed John Kerry's shameful, America-trashing book "The New Soldier," refusing to allow it to be reprinted;

-- said, dishonestly, that the Swiftees keep changing their stories;

-- repeatedly changed Kerry's story on Christmas in Cambodia. The reasons it was "seared, seared" in Kerry's memory were that it was during Christmas time (people associate events with the sentimentality of Christmas) and President Richard Nixon had supposedly ordered Kerry into Cambodia illegally -- which outraged Kerry. Turns out Nixon wasn't in office yet. How can people brush this off as inconsequential? This lie really mattered at the time, and, obviously still does today in terms of the negativity it generated against America;

-- dramatically backtracked on the first Purple Heart account, being forced to all but admit that Kerry wasn't injured by enemy fire -- which means, if nothing else, that he wasn't entitled to that Purple Heart nor his early out after four months;

-- watched as their enabling mainstream media -- the Democrats' most powerful and unregulated "527" group -- have systematically tried to discredit the Swiftees' claims by masquerading as objective, investigative journalists. In fact, they've combed records to catch the Swiftees in supposed inconsistencies and painted a fantastic picture trying to connect absurdly remote dots tying the Swiftees to President Bush. All the while they've ignored the mountains of factual evidence against Kerry and even mindlessly repeated the dismissive conclusion that almost all of Kerry's stories have held up to scrutiny. Never has the liberal bias of the partisan media been so conspicuous. On August 25, the twin print media goliaths: the New York Times and The Washington Post, sang a propaganda duet dismissing the Swiftees' claims: WP: "Many of the charges have been rebutted by veterans who served with Kerry and by military records." NYT: “the Swift Boat group, almost all of whose challenges to Mr. Kerry and his war record have been contradicted by official war records and even some of its members' own past statements." Makes you wonder whether these two media outlets are recipients or authors of Democratic talking points.

-- peddled the lie that the Swiftees "weren't there" because most weren't on Kerry's boat, ignoring that they were in adjacent boats within witnessing distance;

-- avoided Kerry media appearances -- he doesn't want to have to answer even the obligatory questions the partisan media might lob at him. And you can be sure there'll be no second or third Kerry-O'Neill debates -- no thrilla in Manila. Even Don King couldn't get Kerry to step back into the ring for a rematch with O'Neill, who knocked Kerry cold in the first fight;

-- with the media's help, held up Kerry's "heroism" as sacrosanct and unchallengeable while simultaneously disrespecting the heroism of Kerry's some 254 accusers;

-- with the media's help, held up official Navy records as sacrosanct and unchallengeable, ignoring the compelling Swiftee claim that Kerry manufactured false records;

-- refused to release Kerry's complete military and medical records and diary;

-- complained about the campaign's focus on Kerry's long-ago record, when they brought it up in the first place.

I'm just warming up, but I'm already out of space



BTW Cleland did not receive a Purple Heart for the accident that caused the loss of his limbs. Kerry got his first Purple Heart for something that required a band aid. I think worse than what's come out about Kerry in Viet Nam is how Kerry's handled it. First he hired law firms to send letters to television stations more or less threatening them with lawsuits. Then he tried to force the publisher to stop publishing the book. Reportedly he put pressure on bookstores to take it off of their shelves. BTW, Unfit for Command, was #1 on the NY Times best seller list last week. Then Kerry stated that he's released all of his military records. This claim has been refuted in many places including the Washington Post. My understanding is that their book and contributions via the internet have swelled the Swift Boat coffers. So far not a shred of evidence has been presented that the Swift Boat group is being directed by the Bush campaign. Has anyone in the main stream media asked anyone in the Kerry campaign if they have any proof that the Bush campaign is directing the Swift Boat Vet group? It's also been shown that there are ties between Democratic 527 groups and the Kerry campaign where lawyers work for both entities. Also 527 spending on the Kerry campaign far surpasses the 527 spending for the Bush campaign.

[vulturesrow]

Adios,

The really weird thing about it is not that Lehman doesnt remember signing it. That is important yes. But the really strange thing about this, is the fact that the citation has been rewritten 3 times, and signed by a different individual each time. That is very unusual and in my 6 years in so far I have never heard of such a thing. I would like to hear the story behind that.

[MaxPower]

Adios, why don't you just tell us what you think of Kerry and Bush, their respective military records and how this reflects on their character and their fitness to be the President.

You must believe something by now. Tell us what it is please.

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
Adios, why don't you just tell us what you think of Kerry and Bush, their respective military records and how this reflects on their character and their fitness to be the President.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why don't you? I basically already have. Is it ok if I discuss this issue? Perhaps someone will convince me that Kerry's service record is fine (because I'm not convinced now) and perhaps someone will see that Kerry's service record is questionable. This is Kerry's big issue. I never stated that people should quit stating that Bush went AWOL.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
If it turns out to be true that he has posted altered records on his web site, it is difficult to see how he could possibly win the election.

[/ QUOTE ]

If felonies and smoking crack on camera won't stop you from getting elected, why would this?

Linky Linky (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/dc/barry/barry.htm)

[MaxPower]

I do not believe the accounts of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. They are many reasons for this. Their recollections contradict many reliable witnesses and military records. Some of them have also contradicted their prior words where they defended Kerry's record.

Factcheck.org is the most unbiased source I can find. Here is there report on it:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=231

Different people can have different recollections especially after 35 years. Memory is a reconstructive and the anti-Kerry views of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth may unconsciously affect there memory. The same goes for Kerry supporters such as Rassman.

I don't believe that John Kerry is some kind of great war hero. He went to Vietnam for whatever reasons and performed a service to the country.

George W was a screw up most of his life, but I don't care about that. All I care about is what he is doing now as President and I don't care for most of it.

I said before that the SBVFT are entititled to their own opinions but not their own facts. I just can see how anyone with the slightest bit of objectivity takes their attacks seriously.

I say the same for those on the far left who claim that Bush knew about Sept 11 but choose to let it happen and other left wing nonsense.

I have no problem with your keeping this topic alive, I would just prefer that you take a stand on the veracity of these accusations. You seem to think that that is not important.