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INTRODUCTION
to Swiftvets.eRiposte.Com
(email:
feedback-at-eriposte-dot-com)
Welcome!
This website (a sub-domain to eRiposte.com)
is dedicated to revealing the real truth about the claims from the
following bunch of closely linked individuals:
1. Those who are part of (or fund)
the so-called "Swift Vets and POWs for Truth" - formerly
known as "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth".
2. Those who wrote (or contributed
to) the fraudulent, lie-ridden, anti-Kerry book titled "Unfit
for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry"
3. Those who
made/produced/contributed to the fraudulent, lie-ridden, anti-Kerry
film "Stolen Honor, Wounds That Never
Heal"
For
convenience, I use the term SBV to refer to anyone who is part of any
of these groups above [they
are perhaps more appropriately referred to as Swift Boat
Veterans (and POWs) Who Have a Major Problem With The Truth. On
the blogosphere you will find other, equally appropriate names for
SBV - such as Swift Boat Veteran Flip-Floppers for Bush or Smear
Boat Veterans for Bush or Swift
Boat Liars for Bush). Pick the name you like. I'll stick with
SBV.]
Many media outlets (see below) have
been providing a relatively easy opening for SBV (at least until
8/19/04) - sometimes parading these folks before viewers (or readers),
often without critically examining the full breadth and
depth of their egregiously false charges against Senator
John Kerry (some
media,
"journalists",
and serial
liars
are
far
worse
than others on this). In an attempt to correct the lack of balance in
the media's treatment of this group and to refute the false
allegations that form the basis of the book and the film, this website
explores SBV's charges in detail and shows you the truth behind the
so-called "truth".
What will become clear when you review
the material here is that SBV has major ultra-right-wing, partisan,
Bush supporters and Kerry haters and GOP slime operators who are
merely kicking off Part
II of "The Hunting of the President" - while creating
the appearance of being an "independent" group.
What is even more remarkable
is that SBV's hate-filled mendacity is nothing other than a direct
attack on the integrity of the American Armed Forces - something that
Republicans like them claim to hold dear.
As Digby has eloquently
noted:
It has struck me
lately what a terrible indictment of the military these charges are
and how once again the Republicans have absolutely no limits in
terms of how fully they are willing to trash the American
institutions they allegedly love in order to win. What these people
are saying is that the US Navy awarded some of its highest medals
for bravery to a coward. The many officers who signed those glowing
fitness reports and awarded those citations are either liars or they
are incompetent. The word of his shipmates, even the man whose life
he saved, are worth nothing. You can't believe military documentary
evidence. It was all bullshit, every last piece of it.
And because of this it can now be said that all medals awarded for
bravery are suspect. A superior military record is no longer a
recommendation. Who can ever believe the government on this issue,
now?
...
The conservative attack on the military is, on the other hand, so
small minded, so parochial. For puny, partisan reasons they are
accusing the military of widespread corruption --- merely to excuse
the behavior of their less than stellar candidate.
...
Too bad for the men and women who are risking their necks as we
speak for Junior's Big Adventure. Any act of bravery on which the
military might bestow a medal is now subject to interpretation.
Nothing is sacred to these people.
Some veterans agree:
As was shamefully
done previously against decorated veterans like John McCain and Max
Cleland, extreme right-wing groups such as the so-called 'Swift-Boat
Veterans for Truth' are again spreading lies meant to discredit a
decorated veteran. A veteran who volunteered for combat, who was
brave enough not only to withstand the rigors of battle but then the
equally difficult struggle to speak the truth about war's inevitable
dark side: savagery, stupidity, recklessness, maiming, and death.
These are the truths of every war -- those necessary and those
avoidable; those just and those unjust.
"The slander
about John Kerry's Purple Hearts and courage in command is
fallacious at best and spuriously shameful. More, the attacks
against Kerry's post-discharge protest of Vietnam represent a
concerted attempt to prevent others from speaking the necessary
truth of their experience by those too cowardly to admit their own
share in our flawed humanity...
...
If they succeed, hundreds of thousands of young soldiers and Marines
will find it that much more difficult to tell their difficult
stories -- whether heroic, tragic, barbaric, or all three -- when
they return from Iraq and Afghanistan. So that another generation of
veterans will not be rent by the difficult choice between living
with a lie and feeling shamed for telling the truth, we ask you: do
not listen to those who would distort a brave man's struggle.
Please
select one of the menu options at the top of this page to see all the
facts - which show how this band of frauds calling themselves
"Swift Vets and POWs for Truth" have no interest in facts
and are a complete national disgrace. Indeed, their fraudulent
campaign against Sen. John Kerry transparently revealed that they
represent the worst of America.
OTHER
SITES
Eric Rasmussen has done a
great job reviewing the SBV book "Unfit for Command". Please
be SURE to pay his site a visit and review his research. His main page
is here.
The summary of his rebuttal/refuting of the charges in "Unfit for
Command" is here.
Reader E. L. pointed me to
the movie about John Kerry's great contributions to the U.S. in the
Vietnam era - "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry".
The website for the movie is goingupriver.com.
I watched the movie on opening night and I was moved by Kerry's bravery
in not just going to Vietnam (a fairly unpopular thing to do) but his
courage in taking on a corrupt, lying Government (Nixon's) after he
returned - something, arguably, that was a far more unpopular act. If
there is any doubt in your mind that Kerry puts values and principles
above popularity, this movie will remove that doubt.
ARCHIVES
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