From Today's Charlotte Observer

(via Instapundit)

Kerry: Flip-Flopping Away

Does Senator John Kerry stand for anything? Apparently not. Here's Kerry on August 11th, blasting President Bush's proposed troop draw-down in Europe and Korea:

Wednesday Mr Kerry said the president's withdrawal plan was misguided. "Nobody wants to bring troops home more than those of us who have fought in foreign wars, but it needs to be done at the right time and in a sensible way. This is not that time or that way," he said. "Why are we unilaterally withdrawing 12,000 troops from the Korean Peninsula at the very time we are negotiating with North Korea - a country that really has nuclear weapons?" he added. He said the move risked alienating US allies at a time when the support of such allies is needed in the global fight against al-Qaeda.

And, courtesy of Just One Minute, here's Kerry just ten days earlier (August 1) on ABC’s "This Week":

If the diplomacy that I believe can be put in place can work, I think we can significantly change the deployment of troops, not just there but elsewhere in the world. In the Korean peninsula perhaps, in Europe perhaps. There are great possibilities open to us. But this administration has had very little imagination, enormous sort of ideological fixation and, frankly, took its eye off the war against al Qaeda and the war on terror shifting it to Iraq at enormous cost to the American people and to the legitimacy of the war on terror.

So, yes, Kerry does have principles--he favors whatever George Bush doesn't. Vice President Cheney ridiculed Kerry's waffle:

Just over two weeks ago, Senator Kerry talked about the merits of troop realignment in Europe and Asia. 'There are great possibilities open to us,' he said. Yesterday he said it was a bad idea. The one consistency we have seen from Senator Kerry is that he is willing to take any position on any issue if he thinks it will benefit him politically. As we saw yesterday, these political calculations even include his positions on our national security.

Campaigning without convictions is contemptible. Jim Geraghty on NRO's KerrySpot says:

I suspect this kind of stuff makes the average voter think that if Bush said the sun was going to set in the west, Kerry would insist that was wrong and obviously it was going to set in the east.

I agree with True Blue Gal--Kerry's nuts.

Mouthpiece Meehan & the Lap-Dog Media

Kerry's chosen custodian for his military history and records is Michael Meehan. Two newspapers quote Meehan today. First, the Boston Globe says Meehan's still insisting Kerry was in Cambodia, albeit not around Christmas 1968:

During John Kerry's service in Vietnam, many times he was on or near the Cambodian border and on one occasion crossed into Cambodia at the request of members of a special operations group operating out of Ha Tien," Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan said in a statement. The statement did not say when the cross-border mission took place. . . In an interview, Meehan said there was no paperwork for such missions and he could not supply a date.

Second, the Washington Times focuses on Kerry's service records:

Sen. John Kerry's campaign said yesterday that the Democratic presidential nominee is not hiding any of his war records and has, in fact, released them all to the public. "Senator Kerry's entire military service record is posted on JohnKerry.com. His entire record," said Michael Meehan, adviser for communications to the campaign, at a press conference called to defend Mr. Kerry.

Meehan's first statement is both unproven and hotly disputed--including by pro-Kerry Swiftboat vets, as the Globe admits:

Michael Medeiros, who served aboard the No. 94 with Kerry and appeared with him at the Democratic National Convention, vividly recalled an occasion on which Kerry and the crew chased an enemy to the Cambodian border but did not go beyond the border. Yet Medeiros said he could not recall dropping off special forces in Cambodia or going inside Cambodia with Kerry.

Meehan's second claim is a flat-out lie. The official Kerry website starts its summary in February 1969. The site carries spot (after action) reports for February and March 1969, but omits December 1968 and January 1969. This changed quite recently, when Kerry's site removed Navy records and summary information--including the January 1969 spot report. Kerry's cover-up can be confirmed by Meehan himself, who touted the now-vanished data in an April 2004 press release still available on ScienceBlog. Was Kerry's service record "entire" before? Or is the slimmed-down version "entire" now? Disclosing, then deleting--seems like "hiding" to me.

Will the press challenge Kerry? Before answering, consider Senator Tom Harkin's (D-Iowa) widely reported criticism of Vice President Cheney on Monday:

Harkin said that it angered him to hear tough talk from Cheney. "When I hear this coming from Dick Cheney, who was a coward, who would not serve during the Vietnam War, it makes my blood boil," said Harkin.

But as bloggers John Cole and Donald Sensing reveal, Harkin--Navy pilot who flew between Japan and the Philippines--consistently claimed he was a fighter jock in Vietnam. Not so--he neither flew fighters nor was in Vietnam. Instapundit excerpts the relevant page (182) from "Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History,"which documents Harkin's phony stories of combat patrols over North Vietnam and combat sorties over Cuba. Senator Harkin's been peddling this fib for years, somehow exempt from media fact-checking (outside of a decade-old Wall Street Journal article and a two-paragraph report on Fox News today). Instapundit correctly concludes that, were the press playing fair, Harkin would be "a Senator who, like President Bush, flew fighter jets during the Vietnam era without seeing combat but who, unlike President Bush, lied about it."

Plainly, the press won't investigate, much less challenge, any Dem. Yet they don't hide their hostility toward Republicans or even for Democrats short on team spirit. Consider Deborah Solomon's unintentionally hilarious interview of Ray Fair in Sunday's NY Times. Fair, an economics professor at Yale, developed an econometric equation forecasting Presidential elections, which predicts Bush will receive 57.5 percent of the "two-party" vote this November:

Q: Why should we trust your equation, which seems unusually reductive?

A: It has done well historically. The average mistake of the equation is about 2.5 percentage points. . .

Q: But the country hasn't been this polarized since the 60's, and voters seem genuinely engaged by social issues like gay marriage and the overall question of a more just society.

A: We throw all those into what we call the error term. In the past, all that stuff that you think should count averages about 2.5 percent, and that is pretty small.

Q: It saddens me that you teach this to students at Yale, who could be thinking about society in complex and meaningful ways. . . .

Q: I just want to know if you are a Kerry supporter.

A: . . . I am a Kerry supporter.

Q: I believe you entirely, although I'm a little surprised, because your predictions implicitly lend support to Bush.

A: I am not attempting to be an advocate for one party or another. I am attempting to be a social scientist trying to explain voting behavior.

Q: But in the process you are shaping opinion. Predictions can be self-confirming, because wishy-washy voters might go with the candidate who is perceived to be more successful.

It is impossible to imagine similar hostility toward, say, a pollster predicting Kerry; nor would the press describe Kerry supporters as "wishy-washy voters" wanting only a winner. And, of course, most media denies "shaping opinion." They're simply "genuinely engaged by social issues like gay marriage and the overall question of a more just society." By supporting liberals in "complex and meaningful ways."

So don't trust Meehan; don't assume the media will bird-dog Kerry's lies. If you favor President Bush, forget the press--but spread the word.

More:

The French press openly backs Kerry:

Le Figaro from Paris also praised Kerry's suggestion, but for different reasons. It commented that moving the troops out of Europe to Iraq and elsewhere actually makes those extra 40,000 "unnecessary." But according to the French daily, "any argument that Kerry makes is right, if it means he wins the White House."

(via LGF)

More from Mark Steyn

Haven't had time to celebrate the Administration's decision to cut troop strength in Europe and Korea. Nor the irony of Kerry's team critiquing the draw-down. I agree with NRO's "Kerry Spot":

[The Dems'] viewpoint appears to be a formula for paralysis. Don't change anything without checking to make sure no other country would be "unhappy" with the move.

But Mark Steyn in the Telegraph (U.K.), nails it, as usual:

The basic flaw in the Atlantic "alliance" is that, for almost all its participants, the free world is a free lunch: a defence pact of wealthy nations in which only one guy picks up the tab. . . . [I]n Nato, for generations, whenever the bill's come, there's been a stampede to the washroom . . .

European countries now have attitudes in inverse proportion to the likelihood of their acting upon them. They're like my hippy-dippy Vermont neighbours who drive around with "Free Tibet" bumper stickers. Every couple of years, they trade in the Volvo for a Subaru, and painstakingly paste a new "Free Tibet" sticker on the back.

What are they doing to free Tibet? Nothing. Tibet is as unfree now as it was when they started advertising their commitment to a free Tibet. And it will be just as unfree when they buy their next car and slap on the old sticker one mo' time. If Don Rumsfeld were to say, "'Free Tibet'? That's a great idea! The Third Infantry Division go in on Thursday", all the 'Free Tibet' crowd would be driving around with 'War is not the answer' stickers. When entire nations embrace self-congratulatory holier-than-thou moral poseurdom as a way of life, it's even less attractive. . . .

The US security umbrella, along with the Eurovision Song Contest, was really the prototype pan-European institution. The Americans helped build a continent in which you could sing Waterloo rather than fight it, and, . . in their excessive generosity[, . . .] accelerated an inclination to softness and decadence.

Read the whole thing.

Media Promotes Kerry, Pummels Bush

To deflect attention from Kerry's Vietnam fibs, Dems and the liberal-biased media often revert to the schoolyard: "Oh yeah? Well what about Bush's phony stint in the Guard?" Evading consequences when caught is more juvenile bully than campaign plank.

Bush, of course, released his service records. And the chattering died when the supposed "inconsistencies" vanished. But Kerry supporters and the press prefer the playground to transparency and truth. And so, says Lee Cearnal of the Houston Chronicle, "Even when he's caught in a lie, media aren't scrutinizing [Kerry] the same way they did Bush":

The same news media that demanded George W. Bush release his National Guard records -- and went over them with a microscope -- have shown an appalling lack of interest in John Kerry's military service. And as it turns out, there are far more legitimate questions about the latter than the former. . .

As to the truth of [Kerry's Cambodia] tale, there is only Kerry's word, which the press seems quite willing to take, to the extent of not reporting on the controversy at all. It is not a trivial matter. Kerry has pimped the story repeatedly in an effort to paint himself as a stand-up eyewitness to events that were both illegal and, in his view, immoral.

And that's not the only issue that reporters are curiously incurious about. At least one of Kerry's Purple Hearts has been challenged by his unit's medical officer, who notes that the wound was barely visible and was treated with a Band-Aid. Some questions should also be asked about his Silver Star: Should shooting a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back -- as justifiable as it was as an act of war -- be worthy of the nation's third-highest award for courage?

To those of you who say such questions are unseemly, consider that John Kerry's principal claim on the presidency is that he served four months and 11 days in Vietnam. OK, fine. Let's examine the records -- all the records, which, unlike Bush and contrary to popular perception, Kerry has not released -- and have a debate. We would be if it were George W. Bush. The media would see to it.

(via Instapundit).

Consequences of Kerry's Tale--According to "Day By Day"

Don't miss cartoonist Chris Muir's take on Kerry in Cambodia. Remember, the liberal media still refuses to publish Muir's strip--while many still print the lame "Doonesbury."

Kerry Tales, Part XLV--Another Vietnam Lie

The Democratic convention began dramatically and effectively with the Reverend David Alston's opening night address. Alston, who was a gunner on Swiftboat PCF94, endorsed Kerry on the basis of "my personal knowledge of [Kerry as] a young naval officer." In particular, Alston told assembled Democrats:

I know him from a small boat in Vietnam, where we fought and bled together, serving our country. There were six of us aboard PCF-94, a 50-foot, twin-engine craft known as a "Swift Boat." . . .Lieutenant Kerry had to make quick, life-or-death decisions for the entire boat. . . .

Lieutenant Kerry was known for taking the fight straight to the enemy. I can still see him now, standing in the doorway of the pilothouse, firing his M-16, shouting orders through the smoke and chaos.

Once, he even directed the helmsman to beach the boat, right into the teeth of an ambush, and pursued our attackers on foot, into the jungle. In the toughest of situations, Lieutenant Kerry showed judgment, loyalty and courage. Even wounded, or confronting sights no man should ever have to see, he never lost his cool.

And when the shooting stopped, he was always there too, with a caring hand on my shoulder asking, "Gunner, are you OK?" I was only 21, running on fear and adrenaline. Lieutenant Kerry always took the time to calm us down, to bring us back to reality, to give us hope, to show us what we truly had within ourselves. I came to love and respect him as a man I could trust with life itself.

Quite a testimonial--if true.

Like so many "Kerry Tales," it's false--another Kerry Vietnam lie. As detailed by The Bandit and Captain's Quarters, if Alston and Kerry served on the same boat at the same time, it lasted only few weeks. Moreover, Navy records--since deleted from Kerry's campaign website--show that Alston was not present during the alleged Kerry heroics Alston describes.

THE CLAIMS:

Alston and Kerry repeatedly said they served together as crew-mates, Alston asserting he observed Kerry under fire:

1. Orlando Sentinel, Jan. 31, 2004:

   BIG BOAT, BIG CREW
   
   Kerry must have commanded some pretty big swift boats in Vietnam, judging from the number of crewmates who keep turning up in his campaign.
   
   On Friday, it was a preacher from Rock Hill, S.C., who turned out for Kerry at a rally for veterans at the University of South Carolina.
   
   David Alston was the gunner atop Kerry's pilot house. Kerry, he told an audience here, was a compassionate commander.
   
   "We were in a lot of firefights," Alston said. "You learn a lot about people. After a firefight, John would come up to me and he would put his hand on me and he'd say, `David, are you all right?' "
   
   "I didn't know then that I had a man of God on my boat," Kerry said. "That's probably why I'm here today."

   (article purchased and quoted accurately.)



2. Kerry Campaign Advisor Michael Meehan, writing in Science Blog, April 21, 2004:

   The Kerry Campaign announced today that online at http://www.johnkerry.com are the official Naval records and the after-action combat reports that are part of the public record at the Naval Historical Center, Operational Archives Branch in Washington, DC. What follows is a summary list of the pages on the website and a summary of the after-action combat reports. . . .
   
   29 JAN 1969 Cua Lon Rivers
   
   Early in the morning seven swift boats embarked on a mission to destroy enemy installations along the Cua Lon River. While Kerry's boat and another (PCF72) were probing a canal along the river, Kerry's boat came under heavy fire and was hit by a B-40 rocket in the cabin area. One member of Kerry's crew -- Forward Gunner David Alston - suffered shrapnel wounds in his head. His injuries were not considered serious and he was sent to the 29th Evac Hospital at Binh Thuy.

3. ABC News, June 24, 2004:

   Feb. 28, 1969, was a day that started out badly and got much worse. Kerry and his crewmates were given a mission to take their Swift boat up a canal off the Bay Hap River, surrounded by thick mangrove brush and many, many Vietcong. There were two ambushes.
   
   "I guess we had gotten 800 yards or 1,000 yards at the most," recalled crewmate Fred Short. "And this time, another B-40 rocket hit, and maybe a couple more. But this one was close aboard. It blew the windows out of the crew cabin. I see out of a spider hole a Vietcong stand up dressed in a loin cloth, holding a B-40 rocket."
   
   "Charlie would have lit us up like a Roman candle because we're full of fuel, we're full of ammunition," said [enlisted crewmate Del] Sandusky.
   
   Protocol at the time would be for Kerry's Swift boat to fire to shore and then take evasive action. But Kerry ordered Sandusky, his second-in-command, to drive the boat onto the beach -- directly into the ambush.
   
   "I knew right away that, you know, uh-oh, we're in the doo-doo now," Sandusky said. "But, yeah, I knew -- you know, John was intent. You know: 'We got to go and get this guy.' There was no way we were going to back down off the beach." Alston recalled: "I know when John Kerry told Del to beach that damn boat, this was a brand-new ball game. We wasn't running. We took it to Charlie."

4. Kerry campaign press release, July 10, 2004:"David Alston, Kerry Crewmate & Gunner from PCF-94. . ."



5. Kerry campaign ad, July 10, 2004:Featuring Senator Edwards and a picture of Kerry and Alston in Vietnam.



6. Charlotte Observer, July 27, 2004:

   David Alston spent four months alongside John Kerry, 35 years ago. But their stint together in Vietnam was time enough to convince the Columbia, S.C., minister and nuclear fuel plant worker that Kerry should be president of the United States.

7. Fox News, July 27, 2004:

   "If John Kerry came up to us and said we had one more swift boat mission and we were going to hell, he would have a full crew," said David Alston, a crewmate of Kerry, who commanded a Navy river swift boat in the Vietnam War

8. The Herald (Rock Hill, SC), July 28, 2004:

   Kerry found his shipmate, and Alston went to a reunion of that swift boat crew years ago, Ida Alston [David Alson's mother] said. Alston has helped Kerry on the campaign trail since Kerry started his presidential run, including stops in South Carolina before the primary in February and television spots. . .
   
   "Kerry was his lieutenant," Ida Alston said, "His commander. He had nothing bad to say about him (Kerry). He said he was a good man. Very, very good."

9. Providence Journal, August 1, 2004: "I saw John Kerry's blood on the deck of that boat [PCF-94]." (behind intrusive registration; quoted by The Bandit)

NAVY RECORDS

1. Many have disappeared from Kerry's official website: Recently, the records Mr. Meehan placed online have shrunk. Meehan originally included "after-action ("spot") reports from two of the combat actions in which John Kerry was wounded [beginning with] Spot Reports for January, 1969 (pdf: 2.4MB)." The "summary of combat actions of [Swiftboat] PCF94" now covers only "February 12 to March 17, 1969." Similarly, the "spot reports" begin in February 1969.--the 2.4 MB .pdf file for January is gone.



2. Remaining reports confirm that PCF 94 was under fire on January 29, 1969: "PCF 94 and 72 came under fire while probing a side canal resulting in 3 USN WIA [wounded in action] and light damage to PCF 94." This account of January 29th squares with Meehan's summary, quoted above.



3. Captain's Quarters saved one official record, now removed covering events of January 29, 1969:

   AWFA: GMG2 DAVID MARION Alston, USN, 99T 57 46
   BRAVO: ACTIVE DUTY, ATTACHED TO COASTAL DIVISION ELEVEN AT AN THOI, RVN
   CHARLIE: INJURY, HOSTILE FIRE
   DELTA: 29, JAN 69, 1030H, SONG CUA LON - SONG BO DE, WHILE SERVING AS FORWARD GUNNER ABOARD PCF 94, ENGAGED IN CORDON AND SEARCH OPERATIONS IN THE ABOVE RIVER, GMG2 Alston RECEIVED SHRAPNEL WOUNDS TO HIS HEAD WHEN PCF CAME UNDER INTENSE HOSTILE ROCKET AND A/W FIRE.
   ECHO: CONDITION GOOD, PROGNOSIS GOOD. PRESENCE OF NOK IS NOT MEDICALLY WARRANTED AS REPORTED BY CORPSMAN.
   FOXTROT: MRS. IDA MCQUILLAR ALSTON, MOTHER
   GOLF: NOK NOT OFFICIALLY NOTIFIED. REQ NOK NOT REPEAT NOT BE NOTIFIED.
   HOTEL: SERVICEMAN TREATED BY CORPSMAN AND MEDEVACED TO 29TH EVAC HOSP. BINH THUY.
   2. PATIENT ABL TO COMMUNICATE WITH NOK.
   3. NO FURTHER INFO WILL FOLLOW.

   The Bandit preserved a .jpg of the same report. There is no record that Alston returned to PCF94; the Kerry campaign says Alston was back when Kerry earned his third (and final) Purple Heart.



4. The events leading to Kerry's Silver Star took place on February 28, 1969: Kerry's website preserves the relevant Command History and combat report, the latter of which reads:

   28 FEB 1969 Bay Hap River
   
   Three PCFs were traveling up the Bay Hap River with 70 South Vietnamese Militia investigating an area where the boats were ambushed the previous night. During the patrol, the boats came under heavy fore from the shore. Kerry, serving as the Officer in Tactical Command of the mission, ordered the units to turn toward the fire and beach. As the boats approached shore, more than 20 Viet Cong troops stood up and ran. They were quickly overrun when the Marines troops reached the shore. While the Militia searched the area, PCFs 23 and 94 left to investigate another site where an Army advisor reported gunshots. Returning from the site, a B-40 rocket exploded close to PCF94, blowing out one of the windows. Kerry again ordered the units to turn into the fire and charge the ambush site. PCF 94 landed in the center of ambush and a man jumped up holding a B-40 rocket launcher and started to run. The forward M-60 gunner on PCF94 wounded him in the leg as Kerry jumped off the boat and chased him inland behind a hooch and shot him. Marines swept the area, and received fire from snipers and small arms that was suppressed with the assistance of mortars and gunfire from the swiftboats. The landing parties found vast stores of rice, ammunition and clothing. The boats were fired on one additional time as they were heading back down the river. The site of the second ambush was believed to be a major Viet Cong supply point. Kerry received the Silver Star for this operation.

   Alston's description of Kerry's "beach[ing]" and taking "it to Charlie" leave no doubt Alston was remembering, and referring to, the February 28th incident.

EVIDENCE KERRY AND ALSTON SIMULANEOUSLY SERVED ABOARD PCF-94.

1. There is no doubt Kerry and Alston knew each other: The Boston Globe reprints a posed photo of Kerry and Alston on a boat. The Globe says the photo was taken in March 1969.



2. The photo seems genuine; its supposed date isn't: David Alston was wounded in the head on January 28, 1969, severely enough to send Alston to a hospital; severely enough to have him replaced on the PCF94 crew. The Bandit includes a photograph of Alston's convention address. His wound is plainly visible.
   
   Yet Alston's wound is invisible in the picture of Kerry and Alston together.
   
   
   This is made clear by a close-up view of Alston.
   
   Given the prominence of the wound today, the joint photograph must have been taken prior to January 28, 1969.



3. Kerry began service on PCF-94 on January 30, 1969, one day after Alston was evacuated to a hospital: Though the Navy records Kerry once posted are gone, Del Sandusky, crewmate and still a Kerry defender, spoke with the St. Petersburg Times on August 8, 2004:

   In January 1969, Sandusky's boat, PCF-94, came under attack during one such ambush. Lt. Ted Peck, the officer in charge, and another crewman were seriously wounded. Sandusky had to take command.
   
   The boat was sinking and on fire, but Sandusky steered it back to safety. They counted 155 bullet holes in the boat and found a live enemy rocket in the main cabin. It had come to rest in a sack of potatoes.
   
   For his actions, Sandusky would receive the Bronze Star.

   Obviously, had John Kerry been aboard that day, he would have senior to enlisted man Sandusky, and thus would have taken command. In fact, Sandusky affirmatively states that Kerry joined the crew only on January 30th, after Alston (and Lt. Peck) left:

   With their officer headed home, the crew of PCF-94 needed a leader. And Lt. j.g. John Kerry, whose crew on PCF-44 had rotated back home, needed men to lead.
   
   "I was sure glad he came along," Sandusky said, "because to be honest, I didn't want to take command."
   
   From Jan. 30 to March 13, 1969, Kerry and the crew of the PCF-94 would conduct 18 missions in the Mekong Delta river system.

4. By February 28th, Fred Short had replaced David Alston on PCF94. According to the Boston Globe:

   The crewman with the best view of the [February 28th] action was Frederic Short, the man in the tub operating the twin guns. Short had not talked to Kerry for 34 years, until after he was recently contacted by a Globe reporter. Kerry said he had "totally forgotten" Short was on board that day. Short had joined Kerry's crew just two weeks earlier, as a last-minute replacement.

   The Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal confirms:

   Short, 56, wasn't supposed to be on Kerry's boat. A gunner's mate 3rd class, he was assigned to PCF 94 to replace a gunner who had been wounded. That wounded gunner, the Rev. David Alston of South Carolina, was one of the speakers at the convention Monday.

   Yet David Short does not appear in the photograph of Kerry and Alston, further confirming the picture predates the February 28th battle.



5. Alston wasn't decorated for action on February 28th: When John Kerry was awarded a Silver Star, his entire crew received official commendation, according to Captain's Quarters:

   In addition to Kerry's Silver Star PCF-94's performance on February 28 also earned Bronze Stars for Tommy Belodeau and Mike Medeiros and Navy Commendation Medals with Combat V Devices for Del Sandusky, Fred Short, and Gene Thorson.

   Similarly, the Boston Globe published an undated photograph of the PCF94 crew wearing the medals earned on February 28, 1969. Fred Short is in the front row. Alston--who is black--is absent.



6. Meehan knew: Return to Meehan's summary for January 29th, quoted above. In light of the evidence, his careful language seems suspicious:

   While Kerry's boat and another (PCF72) were probing a canal along the river, Kerry's boat came under heavy fire and was hit by a B-40 rocket in the cabin area. One member of Kerry's crew -- Forward Gunner David Alston - suffered shrapnel wounds in his head.

7. The press knows too: The Boston Globe had actual knowledge as far back as April 2004:

   Vietnam combat records posted on John F. Kerry's campaign website for the month of January 1969 as evidence of his service aboard swift boat No. 94 describe action that occurred before Kerry was skipper of that craft, according to the officer who said he commanded the boat at the time.
   
   On the site, the Massachusetts senator is described as the skipper of Navy boat No. 94 during several actions in late January 1969.
   
   However, Edward Peck, who was the skipper of the 94 before Kerry took over, said combat reports posted by the campaign for January 1969 involve action when he was the skipper, not Kerry.
   
   Peck, who was seriously wounded in fighting that took place on Jan. 29, 1969, said he believes Kerry campaign aides made a mistake in claiming Kerry as skipper of the 94 at that time.
   
   On the Kerry website, the report of the combat on that day on the 94 boat is posted as occurring during Kerry's time as skipper of the boat. Peck said Kerry replaced him after the Jan. 29, 1969, event. . .
   
   A Kerry campaign spokesman, Michael Meehan, said in an e-mail that the campaign had obtained the combat reports for the 94 from the Navy. He did not directly address the question of why the campaign describes Kerry being skipper of the 94 at a time when Peck says he commanded the boat.

   And, in retrospect, the January 31st Orlando Sentinel story (quoted above) hinted Kerry was embellishing:

   Kerry must have commanded some pretty big swift boats in Vietnam, judging from the number of crewmates who keep turning up in his campaign.

CONCLUSIONS

• Alston was seriously wounded while aboard PCF94 on January 28, 1969--but Kerry wasn't there.


• Kerry earned a Silver Star aboard PCF94 on February 28, 1969--but Alston wasn't there.


• Fred Short, not David Alston, was with Kerry on February 28th.


• Kerry's campaign knows the truth--and is engaged in a cover-up via weasel words and document deletion. This conduct seems familiar--and dangerous.


• Neither Kerry nor his staff can be trusted.


• Ditto for the "bury-the-bones-on-Democrats" liberal media.

More:

Byron York, National Review's White House correspondent, agrees:

Asked about Alston's length of service, John Hurley, the campaign's national director of veterans' issues, said, "My understanding is that he [Alston] was gone for a month.... Fred [Short] was on the boat for about a month." Hurley said he has not checked the specific dates of Alston's time on PCF-94, but, like Alston, Hurley cautioned, "It's 35 years later, and memories are different."

Powerline picks up the story to ask, reasonably enough, why Kerry hasn't released all his Navy records.

Still More:

The Strib publishes a follow-up by the folks behind the curtain at Powerline. And James Robbins at NRO summarizes the issue so far.

Kerry's Lie--Is it Consequential?

I've always said so. Here's a round-up of pundits other than bloggers who agree and their reasoning:

1. Pat Buchanan:

   Kerry has falsified a central event of his life. For Mr. Kerry has used this story repeatedly, and it has been used by admirers to explain how the idealistic young warrior lost his faith in the U.S. government. Nor is this an unserious matter. For the charges against Mr. Kerry in "Unfit for Command" go to an issue the media failed to address in 1992, to the detriment of this country: the issue of character and credibility.

2. Kathleen Parker:

   What if the single pivotal event of one's life - the moment that altered one's entire course, illuminating the path ahead, providing that critical psychological turning point - turned out to have been an invention of one's very own?

3. Mark Steyn:

   For Kerry, his Yuletide mission was an epiphany: the moment when he realized his government was lying to the people about what was going on. This is the turning point, the moment that set the young Kerry on the path from brave young war volunteer to fierce anti-war activist. . .

4. James Lileks:

   If Kerry’s story is a lie, it’s significant, but not because we have a gotcha moment – gee, a politician reworked the truth to his advantage, big surprise. This is much larger than that. This is like Bush insisting that he flew an intercept mission with the Texas Air National Guard to repel Soviet bombers based in Cuba, and later stating that this event was “seared in his memory – seared” because it taught him the necessity of standing up against evil governments, such as the ones we face today. In other words, it would not only be a lie, but one that eroded the political persona he was relying upon in the election. Kerry has made Vietnam central to his campaign. If he’s making crap up, it matters.

5. [new] Jim Wooten (Atlanta Journal-Constitution):

   Does it matter? It does to those he accused of committing atrocities.
   
   [Kerry's Vietnam record] is fair game, not only because he and his running mate invited it but also because there are legitimate reasons to examine it. "I ask you to judge me by my record," said Kerry in his acceptance speech. "If you have any questions about what John Kerry is made of, just spend three minutes with the men who served with him," urged John Edwards.. . .
   
   Disagree with the veterans if you like. Think them partisans. Accuse them of bitterness. But in the proper arena for public debate, hear them out.

Anyone disagree?