"Unfit for Command : Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" Your Opinion

Actually,

I couldn't find this book at my local Waldenbooks in the Mall. They must of had 20 books, right at the entrance lambasting President Bush in some way or other, and, to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe two bashing the former president. I'm sure that the many members of the Madridman's website will be happy about that.

When I inquired about the availability of the book, they said that it wasn't out yet, and yet I can buy it from Amazon.com.....Conspiracy?

You can't buy it through their website @ www.swiftvets.com ? Read the 8/8/2004 10:41 PM (Updated 8/9/2004 12:13 AM) USAToday article "Anti-Kerry vets say 'lies' drove them to act" HERE .

Gazpacho,

Waldenboons may have been correct, because I tried Amazon.com and this is what they stated:

Sometimes, a book may be out but the discount book dealers like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Books-A-Million, and Waldenbooks, will get their shipments when it is released. There is no conspiracy, here!

Booklady,

I hope you didn't think I was serious. This was the first time I'd been to the bookstore in the mall in ages, and I was amazed by the amount of anti-Bush books. I would like a copy of this new book though. I'll add it to my growing stack of things to read.

What's really amazing is Martin de Madrid's assertion, from the Michael Moore post, that the democrats will restore the freedom of speech in the U.S. Mr. Heinz's lawyers are sitting pretty heavy on any station broadcasting the Swiftboat Veteran's advertisement. How dare they mess with the Politburo? To the Gulags.

I just looked at Barnes & Noble and it is for sale at their web page.

Gazpacho, generally, bookstores rank books depending on its sales record. That may be why you see so many anti-Bush books, because they sell so quickly! Generally, it is a well-known fact that books that denigrate sell better than books that uplift. A shame really, if I ruled the book world, then the books by Sister Wendy would be ranked much higher!

That's the book industry.

Thanks Booklady,

I just ordered it.

The Swift Boat Vetrans organization is a Republican-sponsored Kerry-bashing organization. The guy who claimed to be "yards" away when Kerry rescued the sailor was actually several hundred yards away according to people who were with Kerry. The bs goes on and on. . . it is so transparent, and of course, our brother Gazpacho is furthering this travesty. It is what the Republicans do best, spread disinformation, confuse the issues and then say some vague awful thing will happen unless they are in power. The really sad thing is that so many people, like Gazpacho, actually buy into it. Check your facts, it doesn't stand up.

Thanks, Martín de Madrid, for "stirring the pot". Gazpacho has a right to believe whatever he likes.

Martin, Martin, Martin,

Do you really think that the Republican party is the only party spreading lies and disinformation? I'll be the first to admit that the Swiftboat Vets are probably not engaged in pure objective truth, but lets look at your boy Michael Moore first. Not supported by the Democratic party. Right. They have a name for people who are so blind such as yourself, but I'm going to show constraint and disgression.

And as for the facts? That's laughable. Leftist politics have nothing to do with the facts. It's all about feeling good about yourself and imposing pie in the sky policies on others. If that's all you think life is about, then have at it, and I support your right to feel that way. But please, don't get your nose out of joint if I indulge myself in a little tit-for-tat propaganda. :p

I'll accept the fact from a few Vets who put it on the line for us any day, before I accept the bilge put out by that malcontent who created Paranoid 911. :p

Well, I was going to just shine it on, but since my brother Gazpacho continues to make outrageous charges without offering any references, not even to "sources" such as the "fair and balanced" newscasters at Fox, I guess I am just going to have to go ahead and start a full-on, carefully researched and documented rebuttal to his replies. It is a lot of time and effort which I don't really want to take, but I am so fed up with people who take pot-shots at the Left without any effort to back up their Right-Wing charges that I am just going to have do find the time and energy to do this.

I fully realize I will not be able to sway the opinion of Gazpacho or those who feel as he does (and he does have a right to his beliefs), but the spin has to be countered by someone. I probably won't reply quickly to everything because I have to do the research, but I will at least try to reply with sources for my contentions.

Please understand this does not have anything to do with how I feel personally towards Gazpacho: I have always felt his presence on the board is like a good chili sauce, (and I LOVE chili sauces) he adds a lot of zest to things! En garde!

Oh, and please don't get your nose out of joint if I indulge myself in a little tit-for-tat fact finding.

Later. . .
I have written my reply, now I am researching the sources, and will post it soon.

Martin,

Thanks so much for your graceful condescendence.....I feel.....so... much better. Especially since this comes from the purveyor of all facts.

I never thought I'd find myself saying this, and tears are truly in my eyes, but could you leftist please bring back Clinton instead of Kerry. He was totally dispicable and sleazy, but at least he had character.

Better yet, don't be shy, please offer us the true spirit of the Democratic party. That's right, Reverend Al Sharpton. If you guys weren't so busy hiding your agenda and bamboozling the country, you would give him a chance. And with your interminable smear attack against President Bush, you'd be just as like likely to get him elected.

Martin, do they show FOX news in Spain? I told the Madridman that my cable service provider doesn't broadcast it, but I was wrong. I do have it, but I watch so little TV I can only tell you honestly, believe it or not, that I hardly ever watch it. Don't put yourself out for my sake by researching your spin. We both know there's enough misinformation out there to support both side of our arguments. How boring could this possibly be. And, bottom line, it might as well be Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin, or Satan himself running against President Bush, the Democrats wouldn't care. They're not voting for anyone, they are voting against Bush. Can't wait for the next election when the female version of Uncle Joe is a contender.

gazpacho, please give us your review of the book once you get and read it. Thanks!

Saludos, MadridMan

Madridman,

I sure will, and thanks for defending? fairly, my right to my point of view. I certainly intend to give you a book review, but the book, according to Barnes & Nobles, doesn't ship until September.

In reality though, no matter if the book was the Gospel truth and irreprochable, it really wouldn't matter. Democrats this year are simply voting against Bush, a two-year-old child could see the character flaws in Mr. Heinz.

But I'm looking forward to see what a few seasoned old geezers, (Vets), have to say about the Democratic candidate. Will it be as slanted as "Paranoid 911?" That's what I really want to find out. Heck, I know the whole Swiftboat Veteran group is sponsored by a millionaire with a Republican agenda. I'm sure Martin will deluge us with a list of sources to prove as much, which is so unnecessary. If I'm not provoked, I will not add another reply until I have at least read the book.....Promise.

This will be a promise I won't have to uphold.

Sorry, one more thing. I'm still looking for a brief synopsis of Fahrenheit 911. There are a lot of snippets and outcries about the movie on the thread topic, but how did it evolve? Was it a narrative? A cartoon?

So far I got the part about Osama's family leaving the day of the incident, military people complaining about being in Iraq, and their wives, understandably upset. Oh, and President Bush playing golf while the tragedy unfolds. Does this pretty much describe the movie?

Hey Gazpacho, I am both a "seasoned old geezer," and a vet, a disabled vet at that (USN, USMC)! You are going to LOVE the post I am researching in reply to your Swift Boat Veterans post! By the way, if you review my responses to you, I have NEVER disputed your right to your opinion, in fact I quoted Thomas Paine on your right to say what you please. Just for the record.

Personally I would love to see Clinton back in office. Or his wife. Maybe then we would have a multi-trillion dollar surplus instead of a half-trillion dollar deficit!

Hi All,

Just got my copy. Report to Follow. The front cover nearly made me fall off my chair. Must be a horror story..

Easy reading,

I read well over a third of "Unfit for Command" last night. Let me start off with my opinion of the book so far, and let me also start off with some objective observations.

First off, there is not a politician ever born, who is not a lying, sleazy, incompetent, self-serving hypocrite like the book portrays John Kerry to be. None. Not even the ones I support. Secondly, since I've been in the military too, and not too happy with a lot of things I was expected to do, I find the author over-critical of his portrayal of John Kerry's stint in Viet Nam. That is to say, I don't care if a person was actually in a combat zone in Viet Nam, was out of harm's way in Viet Nam, was in another country supporting the war in Viet Nam, or was even assigned to a U.S. base in support of Viet Nam, they still served the country admirably, during the Viet Nam era. But, then again, if I wasn't actually in a combat zone, and tried to pretend that I was, I could see why those who were would be quite upset with me.

In the introduction there are three main points about John Kerry. First, he showboated in front of the press during a 2003 Swift Boat Veterans reunion, and then left before a memorial service for their dead comrades commenced. Second, during an event widely ignored by the media, eighteen signers of an open letter to John Kerry, protesting his "misrepresentation of his service in Viet Nam" and "his claims of atrocites committed as a matter of policy by his unit", including his former commander and other Swift Boat Veterans, "rose one by one to the microphone and stated before the cameras why they opposed Kerry."

But the third point, states all I have to know about Mr. Heinz. There is a photo, in a Vietnam museum that proudly displays people from other countries whom the Vietnamese communists consider a hero, of guess who?
http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=20040531140357545

This pretty much confirms my opinion of John and indeed, the current Democratic party. If you supporters of John, really want to support someone who during a time of war, "provided aid and comfort to the enemy", there's nothing more I can say than SHAME ON YOU.

As I've said, I have read just over a third of the book and will continue this narrative. The book is easy to read and in parts quite comical in it's protrayal of Kerry. John was anti-Viet Nam before he ever joined the Naval Reserves, by the way, not the Navy. He was a disgruntled whiner and a very incompetent sailor according to the book. His recklessness at times was fatal to at least one South Vietnamese and put his comrades in danger. The recounting of the stories about how he received his Purple Hearts, is quite entertaining, if not downright comical. And, quite peculiar for a "war hero", he refuse to sign papers that would shoot down the rather humiliating account of his "action in Viet Nam."

I know a book is more time consuming than a movie, but for those of you on this board that claim to be "objective" a good read to counter another disgruntled bag-of-winds movie.

Gazpacho, you were very fortunate to get the book.
I ordered a copy for my husband, who is a Vietnam veteran, a former medic with the Air Force, and wanted to read it,and I am still waiting.

Apparently, Regnery, the publisher, is the culprit in this melodrama. They did not print enough copies, so suppliers like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Ingram, Books-AMillion, etc., are just plain out of luck, they have to wait until the publisher prints more. Sadly, many irate customers have begun blaming the bookstores inability to stock the book as a "political" conspiracy meant to censor the book! Utterly ridiculous, these stores want to make money!!!

I totally agree with your observations about those politicians seeking absolute power. Power corrupts completely.

By the way, what I cannot comprehend is why did Mr.Kerry, who is indubitably an intelligent and astute polititian, and one who has a sizeable length of public service, as a Senator and in other public offices, choose to "stage" his VietNam experience at the convention?

When I tuned in to Mr. Kerry's address, I wanted to get to know Mr. Kerry. But, with the exception of the first few minutes, the main focus was almost like his entire history was about VietNam, an event that took place over thirty years ago!!! A very painfil event, with too many unresolved issues for all of us.

One would think, that Mr. Kerry would take a page from a successful Democrat, like President Clinton, who also repudiated the Viet Nam War, and ignore those areas that are still painful in the heart of many Americans. His advisers should have told him to devote his energies to the domestic issues, of which there are many to debate.

There are major domestic concerns that have been ignored, this would have been an excellent opportunity for Mr. Kerry to make his views public in a totally friendly environment, with millions of undecided voters watching.

Instead, he now has revived the old wounds of thousands of Viet Nam veterans. Many of whom were reviled because of their service to their country by the anti-war movement establishment, of which Mr. Kerry admittedly participated.

Worse, he has given a carte blanche opportunity to his Viet Nam era enemies to revile him: The Swift Boat veterans.

This is no way to get the votes from the undecided in the battleground states. No way to win friends and influence people, who want to get to know you.

My 2 cents worth!

Well, I look forward to your book review, Gazpacho.

Booklady,

You are very right. John Kerry is intelligent and politically astute and I will never say anything to the contrary. He told people while he was in Viet Nam, that he was going to be the next president. Now, for anyone to come as close as he has and yet might be, he is an amazingly brilliant man. I liken him to Hitler, no not his political views Madridman, his political astuteness. Could you even imagine figuring out a way to take control of a country?

I'm almost finished with the first part which covers Kerry's military exploits. The second part of the book deals with his post-war activity.

Now, please answer this for me if you can. Are the people who can look at the photo of John Kerry with the Vietnamese communist and not have their adrenaline flow like mine is just thinking about it:

a.) total dolts that can't comprehend the implication of this picture?

b.) people who really hate the U.S. that much that they wouldn't mind seeing the same picture, only this time J.K. shaking the hand of Bin Laden instead of head of the communist in Viet Nam?

or c.) such political prostitutes that they can be indifferent to such an act of treason?

d.) all of the above

It's a difficult choice to find which is scarier. God help our country. I wish I could do as Martin de Madrid, but instead of leaving the world, maybe leave this dimension.

A family member told me recently he was going to vote for, in his opinion, "the lesser of two evils".

Enjoy the book, gazpacho.

Madridman, remember there are three candidates, let us not forget Nader! There really should be further choices, like, NONE OF THE ABOVE!!!

Gazpacho, I would not agree with you in comparing Mr. Kerry to Adolph Hitler. Hitler was a politically insane, evil genius. Neither Mr. Kerry or President Bush are in that category, or even close. They are both very wealthy, smart,and astute business men!

If Mr. Kerry had been as astute as Adolph, he would have stayed away from the Viet Nam debacle.

You're right Booklady,

The comparison I honestly meant, was only Kerry's political astuteness. He is not evil and insane like Adolph Hitler. Really reminds me of Stalin actually..... just kidding, just kidding. I have to admire his intelligence and political astuteness. They say that Clinton was very intelligent, although I never picked up on it.

Do you mean to say that Kerry has actually done anything in his life besides politics and living off rich women? This I haven't heard. That's what I like about President Bush. If he can successfully run a business, he has a much better chance of being able to run a country. The analogy goes for his family life too.

I've heard that the book has sold over 550,000 copies. Not bad.

By golly, you're right again Booklady,

Senator Kerry is quite an astute businessman. Very, very astute. Seems that Senator Kerry chaired the Senate Select Committe on POW/MIA affairs. "In 1993, the commission concluded amid great controversy that there was no "compelling" evidence that any POWs in Vietnam remained alive."

"this...gave Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party the pretext they needed to begin reopening trade that could help keep the Marxist Vietnamese dictatorship afloat. Those given first place in line for such trade opportunities, of course, were the biggest contributors to Democrats such as Senator Kerry and Bill Clinton."

"In December 1992, Vietnam signed its first huge commercial deal, worth at least $905 million, to develop a deep-sea commercial port at Vung Tau to accommodate all the trade that was to come. At the time, the chief executive officer of this company was C. Stewart Forbes."

And C. Stewart Forbes is Kerry's cousin. So, yes, in his own sleazy way, Kerry is a very, very astute business man.

Oh yeah, tell me "it's only about oil", or George Bush's and Dick Cheney's ties to business, you hypocrites.

I just finished the book. The book as mentioned before has two sections. The first probably written by the co-author John E. O'Neill and the second part by the co-author Jerome R. Corsi, Ph. D. The first part of the book, is about John Kerry's service. It is mostly comical and entertaining and very easy to read. But the second part, his post-war activities is not as easy reading and just plain scary.

If you believe the second part, Senator Kerry is a communist. I use to think this was a joke, but no joke, he's a communist. He was spokesperson for a group called Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). This is his political platform. So you see, Booklady, he can't help to bring up Vietnam. That's what he's all about but in his own way. This group's purpose was to demonstrate that the entire U.S. government was involved in systematical atrocities against the Vietnamese because we, the U.S., are all racist. (sound kind of familiar?) The group sent members to Paris, some of these trips financed by the Communist Party of the U.S.A. (CPUSA), to talk peace with members of the Vietnamese communist during the Vietnamese War. John Kerry went to Paris at least once himself. John was very astute though. When the group's (VVAW's) discussion started turning toward taking violent measures against the U.S., such as assassinating pro-War senators, John stepped down as executive of the group. But he never resigned.

According to POWs, Kerry's testimony, given in front of the Fulbright Committee, was used to obtain similar confessions of atrocities from them. One POW's parents tried to get release of their son through VVAW and their testimony was used to try and extract a confession from him.

A lesser of two evils.....

Now Madridman,

I have to turn the table on you and ask, if all of the charges brought up in this book are lies, why isn't anyone in the Kerry campaign suing the authors of this book for libel? Instead, Kerry has his lawyers going after stations that broadcast the Swift Boat Veteran's for Truth commercials. These a very serious charges. And, if Kerry is as big a war hero as his campaign would lead you to believe, why hasn't he released his military records? You should seek answers to these questions before you decide that Kerry is the lesser of two evils.

Thanks, Gazpacho. Now I cannot wait to read the book.

Just thought I'd add my two cents here. I find it very sad that so far the main topic of conversation on Bush and Kerry is about Vietnam. I gotta be honest here, I don't give a sh*t about Vietnam. I'm far more interested in what either of these two will do going forward. Just because Kerry served in Vietnam does not make him a shoo in for president. If that were the case then Bob Dole (a WWII) vet would have blown Bill Clinton out of the water. This doesn't mean I don't respect thos ewho served there, it just doesn't automatically qualify them for the presidency.

I'd like to hear both candidates addressing some substantive issues soon. Although I think the vast majority of people have already decided who they're gonna vote for, it'd be nice to hear some actual debating on the issues.

I'm off to Madrid in 21 days.

Me too.

I think that at the Republican convention last night, the Republicans made it clear that no matter how the libs and media demonize and belittle our president, he is going to hold his course against terrorism. That's sounds good to me.

As for the other candidate, we still have 60 more days and plenty of times for him to flip-flop.

I would like to see some domestic issues discussed though.

I agree, social security would be a good start.

The real question is not the swiftboat adds or Kerry's Vietnam service. The question that the media seems unwilling to ask is "why isn't Kerry running on his Senate record?" As a Vietnam Vet (rescue helicopter pilot - USAF) I add my voice to the "I don't care crowd" in terms of what he did or didn't do. I need to find my second DFC, I think it says "hostile fire" but honest there wasn't any. One of, if not "the" worst Secretaries of Defense (McNamarra) in US history was in office, and for a lot of reasons, there were "reporting inconsisitencies" throughout the military at the time.

His after Vietnam activities were offensive, but he could convince me that it was a long time ago, and he has "changed" somehow. But his Senate record? Why isn't that the centerpiece of his campaign? Is it because he has voted against every pro-military and pro-intelligence bill he could? Or?

ernie

Ebatancort,

The media whores aren't providing hardly any information about Kerry at all. They know better. It just kills me how they rollover and let the Dems have their way with them every election time. I finally heard a good reason that a lot of people are Dems than Republicans. Conservatism requires an intellectual capacity to understand. Now, I feel the libs are equally intelligent but they just choose to ignore reason.

I know what you mean about medals and ribbons in the military. I was often encouraged, even harrassed into submitting myself for awards, but I never did. I figured if my boss didn't care enough to write it himself, then it wasn't genuine and sincere and therefore meant nothing to me anyway. The few awards I did recieve were written by others. I really don't care about his decorations, I'm more concerned about the way he conducted himself while serving and afterwards.

I think Zel Miller covered John Kerry's record in the Senate quite accurately last night. And I don't believe Zel's a Republican How does is feel to be a spit ball party?

Hola Gazpacho,

Zell Miller says he will die a democrat! What a man. He was fantastic. I hope that Zell Miller will run in 2008,and I hope that he will once again capture the conservative democrats I will certainly vote for him. Someone that stands for common sense. I have to agree with Zell, Bush is the man for the times.

BTW, I still have not received my copy of the book. Hope it does not get lost with Hurricane Frances heading our way!

Booklady,

I would vote for Zell too. It's too bad for someone like the Madridman that the Democratic party chose such debris as Clinton and Kerry. Even though my experiences with Democrats, during my adult, voting, life, has been so miserable, I would certainly vote for a Democrat that had morals and principals. I guess, as Zell Miller would agree, I'm just wasting my time hoping.

For once Gazpacho and I are in agreement! It would be better for all if canidates could focus on what matters: how they will lead the country. Unfortunately, Mr. Bush has broken an incredible number of the promises he made in the 2000 campaign (nation building, environment, compassion, etc. etc.).