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Originally Posted by irateplatypus
shakran,
the only way to account for the 30 years of bitterness against him seems to be that there was a very real sense of betrayal... not simply because he chose to give an account of the war that did not align with the military's line.
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That's the thing, irate, I'm not aware of 30 years of bitterness. Kerry has been in public office for how long? And how many times has his vietnam record been brought up as a blight on his past?
The only information I have off the top of my head is that when he first began to run, and the administration was calling his ability to serve as a wartime president (in terms of bravery, fortitude, and patriotism) into question, that he started to ask vets to stand with him while he campaigned. The commentary then was that he had never before used his past as a political crutch. His opponents had never made it an issue, either, though.
The sequence of events as I remember them, and I do hope someone corrects me if I'm wrong because my point hinges upon it, were:
1. Right wing pundits began to question Democrats' integrity, patriotism, bravery, resolve, and any other qualities they argued were essential during this new epoch of the war on terror, wherein we will have to be strong in our defense and resolve in order to defeat the unseen enemy.
2. The Dems then began to discuss the reality that the only probable winner was going to have to be someone with wartime experience in order to illustrate the absurdity of claims that he wasn't patriotic and had a spine.
3. Kerry's medals began to be juxtaposed against Bush's lackluster service. HIs medals began to become an important piece of that discourse because he had been wounded in combat and had been awarded medals for bravery. This was the ongoing "discussion" between Coulter, Hannity, and Limbaugh versus Moore and Franken. Someone awarded for bravery and bleeding in battle defending this nation was a very powerful antidote to the anti-american clamor some commentators were making about liberal and democrat citizens in general.
4. Bush refused to release his records for a long time, explaining that the whole issue of his past conduct 30 years ago was irrelevant to today's political demands. The entire left-wing was criticized incessently for dwelling on the "irrelevant" past. Kerry denounced the muckraking over Bush's past, and then Bush capitlated and released his recordds. People still differ over how they interpret his record.
5. Kerry actually wins the nomination as the Democrat candidate and continues to campaign with vets. Then people began to question his record. They belittled the amount of time he served. After that, they finally began to question whether he deserved his medals or not. Then this latest swfit boat group came out and blatantly claimed that kerry was a liar about his experiences that led to his medals.
I haven't seen evidence of a long, disrespect for Senator kerry. This is only recent, as far as I can tell, which I interpreted as meaning the attacks are politically motivated.