Nutjobs Ranting About Politics.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
From Rick Brookhiser at The Corner:

• Alan Keyes's opinion of himself and the universe's opinion of him have fatally parted company.

Now hear this: Alan Keyes sings "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" for a Chicago TV station.

(spree: sights and sounds)

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
His whole point was based on the fact that HE - John Kerry, War Hero - was in a country he wasn't supposed to be in, being shot at by people who weren't supposed to be shooting at him, under the orders of a - in his estimation - bad President.

So, the Senate floor statement is a bald-faced lie to its core. The date/time is relevant to the entire feeling he was trying to convey.

Huh?

Look. This morning was the first that I've heard about this Cambodia story at all. I am willing to be persuaded, so Hank, Slave, Club, SECwhoeverthehellyouare -- this is your golden opportunity to win me over.

Please explain to me how if he fucked up the date -- but was later in Cambodia and got shot at by some Khmer Rouge and Charlie maggots -- how that fuckup on the time runs to the core of his credibility.

I'll admit that it seems to remove a bit of the heart-rending sadness of it all, not being shot at in Cambodia on Xmas. Akin, I'd suppose, to Sebby having to read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reicht while his German nanny forced him to watch Mickey Mouse.

Beyond that, though, I just don't understand how this detail really gets us beyond the range of those leetle inaccuracies of the beautiful "Reagan and the welfare queen" metaphors.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by baltassoc
The best refutation is that he was 55 miles from the Cambodian border? That's tantamount to corroboration of his story, not contradiction. 55 miles away he was stationed. In command of a vehicle capable of travelling twice that distance (and back) in a day. You don't have to be an America-hating conspiracy theorist to connect those dots.

No, its not. It is a much different thing to cross over the border. It's like the difference with the US being in Kuwait v. Iraq.

[SEC Issues]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I think I know where I was on Christmas Eve, 1968, but I sure don't remember it with any precision. BFD.

But you didn't go to the Senate claiming to have been working in a puppy-and-kitten shelter on Xmas Eve, saving them from a horrible death, and asking for funds for the shelter based on your experience.

I guess I just repeat: I think JFK messed up on this one - I suspect that he embellished what he told people back then, in order to serve a social philosophy he fervently believed in, and maybe it's time to bite a bullet and admit that, and then move on to discuss his Senate career and what he stands for - the stuff that counts. If he doesn't, this is just going to fester until November. I think he will win this election if he just talks about what he will do for the country if elected. He's way too wishy-washy about that.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I think I know where I was on Christmas Eve, 1968, but I sure don't remember it with any precision. BFD.

Do you think W remembers where he was?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

The headline on SFGate.com says that U.S. jets bombed a cemetary in Najaf. Does this mean the Powell Doctrine is back in favor?

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by SEC Issues
But you didn't go to the Senate claiming to have been working in a puppy-and-kitten shelter on Xmas Eve, saving them from a horrible death, and asking for funds for the shelter based on your experience.

I guess I just repeat: I think JFK messed up on this one - I suspect that he embellished what he told people back then, in order to serve a social philosophy he fervently believed in, and maybe it's time to bite a bullet and admit that, and then move on to discuss his Senate career and what he stands for - the stuff that counts. If he doesn't, this is just going to fester until November.

2. None of this is an issue if Kerry doesn't base his entire campaign on his VN experience .

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SEC Issues
But you didn't go to the Senate claiming to have been working in a puppy-and-kitten shelter on Xmas Eve, saving them from a horrible death, and asking for funds for the shelter based on your experience.

You're right. If I had worked in a puppy shelter on Xmas Eve, but the puppies had been saved from a horrible death two weeks later, and many years later I got the dates wrong, that would put the lie to my entire story, rendering me a fraud unfit to serve in public office.

Originally posted by sgtclub
None of this is an issue if Kerry doesn't base his entire campaign on his VN experience .

Because we know the conservative bloggers and GOP donors pushing this story wouldn't otherwise be looking for a way to label Kerry as a liar. I bet Regnery was going to throw away all those books until they heard Kerry's speech accepting the nomination.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by SEC Issues
This just gets worse and worse

Whoa, who was he addressing?

Was he pointing his feminine little fingers at Ronald Reagan when he said that in faux anger? Tell me there's videotape!

God help him if there is videotape of him animatedly lecturing RR about his fake Apocalyptic experiences. Particularly video of such nonsense in the 1980's, when Kerry and co. were raising white flags almost as quickly as Reagan could knock them down.

Hello

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by sgtclub
No, its not. It is a much different thing to cross over the border. It's like the difference with the US being in Kuwait v. Iraq.

You misunderstand my point. IF there was a covert operation in Cambodia, and if Kerry was sent into Cambodia, it would be consistent with these facts. Government records wouldn't show that he was stationed in Cambodia; they would show something else. Like, for instance, that he was somewhere near enough to Cambodia that it could be a staging area for actions in Cambodia, but far enough away to maintain plausible deniability.

Now, if the evidence showed that he was stationed at the time in Saigon, or Japan, or Lubbock, it would be different.

At the risk of proving too much, I'll also note that I doubt that there was a large "Welcome to Cambodia - Have a great day!" sign at the border.

Originally posted by sgtclub
None of this is an issue if Kerry doesn't base his entire campaign on his VN experience .

Completely agree with you on this one. And I said it the morning after the convention.

To that end, I haven't really noticed Kerry talking much about Vietnam since the convention. It's been the conservative reaction to the convention that's been keeping this alive. I see this dying about the same time as the Republican convention heats up.

[The Larry Davis Experience]

Originally posted by SEC Issues
But you didn't go to the Senate claiming to have been working in a puppy-and-kitten shelter on Xmas Eve, saving them from a horrible death, and asking for funds for the shelter based on your experience.

This all reminds me of the WKRP when Bailey Quarters made up the story about the sick kid and Les Nessman read it on the air without her permission.

I guess I just repeat: I think JFK messed up on this one - I suspect that he embellished what he told people back then, in order to serve a social philosophy he fervently believed in, and maybe it's time to bite a bullet and admit that, and then move on to discuss his Senate career and what he stands for - the stuff that counts. If he doesn't, this is just going to fester until November. I think he will win this election if he just talks about what he will do for the country if elected. He's way too wishy-washy about that.

Not to get all Jon Stewart on you guys, but methinks every single day Kerry is making several interminable speeches on what he wants to do policywise and our intrepid media gives those statements .0001% the coverage of the Swiftvets stuff (and I guess now this Cambodia stuff, although I like Gatti had not seen anything about this elsewhere previously).

I understand the lawyerly "he opened the door" outlook in parsing through Kerry's service record, but until someone explains to me the story behind GWB being suspended from the flight line for six months of his already-truncated Nat Guard tour because he skipped a physical, you'll have to excuse me while I focus my attention elsewhere.

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Now hear this: Alan Keyes sings "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" for a Chicago TV station.

(spree: sights and sounds)

His version of "Getting to Know You" on WGN was better.

In other news, Ty --

Scientists say the T-Rex was the "James Dean of Dinosaurs". Lived fast and died young...

Link

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Huh?

Look. This morning was the first that I've heard about this Cambodia story at all. I am willing to be persuaded, so Hank, Slave, Club, SECwhoeverthehellyouare -- this is your golden opportunity to win me over.

Who would I want to try and convince you of anything?
If you don't get it by now- good. you are one of the weak-brained. i might try and convince Atticus or Ty and Larry of stuff, by you or Panda or GGG or sidd- you are simply tolerated for the slow pitch arguments you toss up that any one of us can slam.

fighting guys like you is how you build up a boxer to be 30-1 and ready for a championship fight even if he's really a stiff.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
You're right. If I had worked in a puppy shelter on Xmas Eve, but the puppies had been saved from a horrible death two weeks later, and many years later I got the dates wrong, that would put the lie to my entire story, rendering me a fraud unfit to serve in public office.

well wait. are you saying you did work in the puppy shelter, or that you're sure you did?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
well wait. are you saying you did work in the puppy shelter, or that you're sure you did?

OK, so it turns out that I was bringing in Special Forces guys to attack the puppy shelter. Big diff.