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.