(COUNTER)F(E)IT TO BE TIED

I just saw Carl Bernstein (of Watergate fame) on Hannity and Colmes.  Bernstein is one of the icons of investigative journalism and his opinion was asked regarding the "Memogate" fiasco.  Bernstein referred to the scandal as a "sideshow" and said that President Bush's Air National Guard service in the early 1970's is the real story here. 

 

So it's a sideshow, is it?  A major news organization, headed by a respected (by others in the media, if not by me personally) journalist, does a story that could have a profound impact on a presidential election (in the middle of a war, no less!), and uses forged documents to prove their case.  How in the hell is this a sideshow?  CBS and Dan Rather engaged in (either willfully or negligently) a fraud perpetrated on the American people.  Bernstein's attitude, which mirrors CBS' attitude, is that no explanation is owed to the American people.  We all have a duty to pretend it never happened and to tune in to 60 Minutes next week and willingly ingest whatever they decide to spoon-feed to us.

 

I'm sorry Mr. Bernstein, but I'm not buying it, and neither are a lot of other Americans.  "Buying it" sums the situation up quite well. actually.  You people (the news media) are a business.  Your credibility is essential in order to stay in business.  Without it, no one will buy what you're selling.  To make an analogy, think of yourselves as cookies vendors.  Last week, Dan Rather and Company sold their customers a bag labeled "chocolate chip cookies".  As it turns out, the actual contents of the bag consisted of 100% pure bovine manure (bullshit, for those of you with Ivy League educations).  It's pure arrogance to deny your customers an explanation, and even more arrogant to expect them to buy another bag next week.

 

I have a feeling that Dan and his crew are going to keep on hawking more bags of (C)BS like nothing happened.  I don't know about you, but I'm not buying.

SEPTEMBER 11th
Saturday marks the third anniversary of the attacks on the US by Al Qaida. Many have referred to 9/11 as America's wakeup call. Sometimes I fear that we have fallen back to sleep. I make it a point to periodically look at pictures of the attack and its aftermath to remind myself of what happened and what we are still facing.



Here are some videos of the WTC attacks (most of these files will take a while to download if you have a slower internet connection):
1
2
3
4
5
6
CNN cameraman describing what he saw that day.

We owe it to the people who died that day, the people who have died in the War on Terrorism, our children, and our children's children to never forget what happened on September 11, 2001.

MORE ON MEMOGATE
The CBS 60 Minutes memo story continued today. The mainstream media appears to be picking up the story with a vengeance. In spite of this, Dan Rather is standing behind the authenticity of the documents.

I dug into my old military paperwork today and found my original DD Form 214. The document, issued at the US Army's hi-tech National Training Center in 1990, showed my last duty assignment as the 177th FSB. The "th" after the 177 was NOT in superscript. I sincerely doubt that the Texas Air National Guard had more advanced typewriters in the early 1970s than the Army had at NTC in 1990. I am becoming increasingly convinced that these documents, at least some of them, are forgeries.

In the long run, the real implication of this story does not involve the election. I don't think that the authenticity of the documents is going to change voters minds either way (although former democratic pollster Pat Caddell thinks that this scandal may cost Kerry the election). The real potential damage here is to the credibility of CBS. This scandal may drive more people to seek out alternative sources of information. The MSM's monopoly on the flow of information is coming to an end, and they can't handle it.

LIKE A SNOWBALL ROLLING DOWN A HILL
The 60 Minutes memo story has spread like wildfire on the internet. At last count, there were 193 trackbacks to the post on Powerline. After I read the post this morning, I sent a tip to Drudge via his website. I'm certain that I'm not the only one who did that today. By mid-afternoon, he had the story linked on his site. On the Fox News Channel, the story was featured on Special Report with Brit Hume (it was actually the last story discussed by the panel at the end of the show).

Now ABC News has picked up on the story. They are reporting that the son the the late Jerry Killian, the officer who wrote the memos, doubts their authenticity.

Gary Killian, who served in the Guard with his father and retired as a captain in 1991, said one of the memos, signed by his father, appeared legitimate. But he doubted his father would have written another, unsigned memo which said there was pressure to "sugar coat" Bush's performance review.

"It just wouldn't happen," he said. "The only thing that can happen when you keep secret files like that are bad things. ... No officer in his right mind would write a memo like that."

CBS is sticking by their story that the documents are legitimate. Not that that is a surprise. Credibility is essential for any news organization to stay in business (and it IS a business). If it turns out that the documents are forgeries (some experts have already weighed in saying that there is a good chance they are forgeries), CBS will find itself on the receiving end of the type of savaging that they are used to dishing out. Look for the other broadcast networks to pile on as well. In the fierce competition for a dwindling number of viewers, ABC and NBC will not pass up this opportunity to grab some of CBS' business. It's sure to make for an interesting show.

FORGERIES?
The Big Trunk at Powerlineblog is reporting that the memos regarding President Bush's Air National Guard service that were featured on 60 Minutes last night might be forgeries. This makes for some very interesting reading. If true, this would be a new low in American politics. You can see the whole story here.

After reading the post at Powerline, go to the CBS News website and look at the PDF file copies of the memos. Very interesting.

OLD EUROPE
Blackfive has an excellent post about Europeans. Apparently they hate us because of the war in Iraq. HA!!! I spent two years in Germany in the 80's and I can tell you this for sure; they hated us then, too. I think the war has just given them a new excuse. Ya gotta luv 'em.

BEATING A DEAD HORSE
The Dems are getting desperate. After several unsuccessful attempts to get traction from the bogus Air National Guard "AWOL" issue, they are taking another shot at it (again). These guys are taking the concept of never learning from your mistakes to a new level.

DNC bag-man Terry McAuliffe is criticizing President Bush for serving in the Air National Guard rather than going to Vietnam.

"We know that John Kerry was in Vietnam," said Democratic Party chief Terry McAuliffe in a conference call with reporters. "My question, Mr. President, is where were you, Sir?"

The implication, of course, is that President Bush failed to serve his country in the armed forces. The last time I checked, the Air National Guard is part of the military. In essence, McAuliffe's statement implies that members of the ANG aren't "real" military personnel. This urinates on the service of many thousands of men and women who have served in the ANG. To add insult to injury, I've seen no evidence that McAuliffe ever served in the military in any capacity. Furthermore, McAuliffe is the lap dog of a politician who really did dodge the draft. He gave his unwavering support to said politician in a political race against a decorated combat veteran.

I know you have to be a hypocrite to be a left winger these days, but McAuliffe takes it to the extreme. To paraphrase the Dixie Chicks: Just so you know, I'm ashamed that Terry McAuliffe is from New York.

ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
Our illustrious news media is reporting that the number of military deaths in the Iraq campaign has topped 1,000. No doubt someone will try to spin this number to suit their political ambitions. The number will climb higher still before we are done in Iraq. Such is the nature of war.

Consider these numbers:

-At the battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, 7,058 soldiers were killed (3,155 Union, 3,903 Confederate). When the wounded and missing numbers are added, the total goes over 50,000.

-During the invasion of Okinawa, over 12,000 US military personnel were killed.

-In the second week of October 1943, the Eighth Air Force lost over 1,000 crewman in bombing raids over Europe.

-About 2,500 American troops died during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day (an exact number has not yet been determined).

-In the year 1968, about 14,000 US troops died in Vietnam.

As Robert E. Lee once said, "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."

To learn more about the brave men and women who have given their lives in the war on terrorism, visit the Fallen Heroes Memorial.

OUR FRIENDS THE FRENCH
Just for fun, go to Google and type "French military victories", then hit the I'm Feeling Lucky button.

This picture (and other hilarious stuff) available at Flash Bunny.

AWOL
Baldilocks has a very informative post on her site concerning the media-manufactured controversy over President Bush's service in the Air National Guard. This is a topic that aggravates me to no end. I've blogged about this issue before. The mainstream media seems to love this story so much, they can't stop reporting on it. They do not, however, love it enough to do any actual research on how the Guard and Reserves work. Baldilocks' site would be a good place to start that research. If you go there and read her post on the subject, I promise that you'll know more about Guard and Reserve service than the entire staff of the New York Times combined.

REASON ENOUGH TO VOTE FOR JOHN KERRY?
I'll leave it for you to decide.

MOORE (OR LESS)
I didn't see this exchange myself, but if it really happened this way, I'd have paid money to see it.

Hat tip: Kate

CONVENTION, DAY 4
Thankfully, my predictions about an increase in serious protester incidents did not come true. Did it have anything to do with the City of New York dragging its feet on releasing those who had been arrested? I guess we'll never know for sure, but I'm willing to bet that in the long run, these fines were a bargain.

The President's acceptance speech was, in my opinion, a home run. If there was one theme he hammered home, it was his decisiveness. This contrasts with his opponents waffling on the issues, especially the war.

Senator Kerry held a midnight rally in Springfiled, OH to give his response to the convention. I can't recall this ever haveing been done before. It looked like a move of desperation to me.

A shot was fired into Republican headquarters in Huntington, WV last night during President Bush's speech. So much for polite discourse. I guess the Democrats have given up on gun control, or at least made an exception in this case.

CONVENTION, DAY 3
The number of protesters arrested in NYC yesterday was down from the day before. Down a lot, in fact (think VERY high double digit percentage). This was probably due, in large part, to the fact that many of the hardcore troublemakers were still in jail (so much for the "incarceration doesn't prevent crime" theory). Look for things to get a little crazy this evening. Many of the protesters/vandals/thugs/punks who have been arrested will doubtless make bail or otherwise be released in time for one more "adventure". Also, the President is scheduled to speak tonight; further motivation for the most radical of the radicals to "exercise their first ammendment rights" in as disruptive and destructive a manner as possible.

By the way, you'll be happy to know that the National Lawyer's Guild has observers posted at the various demonstrations to ensure that the rights of the protesters are respected. They can be identified by the distinctive lime green hats they wear. I saw one of these observers on the news last night. She was watching as a protester severely beat a police officer. The officer, Detective William Sample, suffered a concussion and bruises on his face and chest. Jamal Holiday, the 20 year old jackass who assaulted him, was arrested Tuesday night at another protest. Apparently, the Lawyer's Guild's concern for civil rights doesn't extend to the rights of police officers.

PROTESTERS
By midnight tonight the NYPD will probably have arrested about 2,000 protesters since the start of the Republican National Convention. I've been reading about some of these groups on the net. One group, the Ruckus Society has set up a text alert system in order to gather protesters quickly in a particular location. Some of these groups are pretty well organized for "anarchists". Isn't being organized antithetical to the anarchist's philosophy? More evidence that you have to be a hypocrite to be an extreme leftist.

On a side note, a former Ruckus Society member named Zack Exley is the Director of Online Communications for the Kerry/Edwards campaign. Exley has also worked for Moveon.org. You can learn more about Ruckus and Mr. Exley in this excellent column by Lowell Ponte.

BACK IN UNIFORM
I haven't had time to post lately, as I've been on active duty in support of the Republican National Convention in NYC. Fortunately I didn't have to leave home since I'm working at the ops center at HQ. I'm on an overnight shift, which is exhausting due to the reverse schedule. Everyone I work with is pretty cool though, which makes it all more bearable. Even the general is easy going. I made his A-list by being the only one in the room who knew who said "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice". I shot further up the list by knowing who referred to "the nattering nabobs of negativism". Who says that being good at trivial pursuit is worthless?

THE NEW SOLDIER
Ed at Monkeywatch informs me that John Kerry's antiwar book (a picture of the cover is linked in my previous post) is available online. You can read it here. Spread the word. This is something the voting public needs to see.

HERO OR GOAT?
Apparently the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth have hit a nerve. The Kerry campaign has sprung into action as Kerry's support from veterans has fallen in recent weeks. He has even enlisted the assistance of former Senator Max Cleland in stopping the Swiftvet ads (poor Cleland has become nothing more than a pathetic mascot for the Democratic party).

The debate over Kerry's medals and whether he deserved them are a moot point, in my opinion. Medal Inflation has been going on for years. The sad truth is that an officer will often receive a higher award for the same deed as an enlsited person. This is nothing new, and there is no end in sight (this is less likely when the chain of command is populated by high quality officers). This debate clouds the real issue at work here.



The real issue at here is Kerry's conduct after he returned from Vietnam. When he returned, Kerry turned on his fellow veterans, calling them war criminals. In 1971, he told the following story to the Washington Star newspaper:

"We established an American presence in most cases by showing the flag and firing at sampans and villages along the banks. Those were our instructions, but they seemed so out of line that we finally began to go ashore, against our orders, and investigate the villages that were supposed to be our targets. We discovered we were butchering a lot of innocent people, and morale became so low among the officers on those 'swift boats' that we were called back to Saigon for special instructions from Gen. Abrams. He told us we were doing the right thing. He said our efforts would help win the war in the long run. That's when I realized I could never remain silent about the realities of the war in Vietnam."

Following his "Winter Soldier Investigation", he told the following story to Congress in 1971:

They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

These statements made life harder for his fellow veterans, giving the antiwar crowd an excuse for their mistreatment of returning veterans. Even worse, the propaganda victory that Kerry gave to the North Vietnamese and Vietcong undoubtedly encouraged them to fight harder, costing more military and civilian lives.

Whether the Swiftvets' allegations are true or not, John Kerry has already shown America he is unfit for command. If he was telling the truth in 1971, and I don't believe that he was, he is a war criminal. If he was lying, he is a traitor. Either way, he is hardly Commander-in-Chief material.

PROBLEM SOLVED
I finally resolved my font issues. Unfortunately, it required that I delete all of the posts I have made since I first attempted posting by email. I lost about a half dozen posts. Oh well, sh*t happens. I guess that I was lucky that I've been lazy about posting lately. I guess posting by email was a bust.

BACK TO THE GRIND
After 2 weeks of lying around, it was time to go back to work. I had drill last weekend, so I got to wear the green cammo uniform (they still look weird after a few months of the desert uniforms). I went back to my civilian job today to find a pile of work waiting for me. My supervisor is on vacation this week, so at least I won't have him looking over my shoulder while I get caught up.

Vacation was good. We went to Virginia Beach. This was the third time there for us. We did the usual tourist/beach stuff. We also
-went to an aquarium
-heard some ghost stories
-solved a murder at a mystery dinner theater
-rode roller coasters at Busch Gardens

On the way back we stopped in Pennsylvania for a couple days to ride more roller coasters at Hershey Park (The Great Bear is a trip).

I also got some reading done. I read three novels and a book of short stories. All were by Donald Westlake. There's nothing like good crime fiction to take your mind off the routine.

Speaking of crime, there were a number of developments in the world of politics while I was on vacation. It'll take me awhile to catch up, but I trust the archives of my favorite bloggers will be useful in getting up to speed.