Don Bendell
In 1972, while driving a Pinto Runabout hatchback in Strongsville, Ohio, I was hit in the rear by a woman going 55mph in a Buick. For months afterwards, every time I stepped on my brakes, I would hunch up my shoulders, squint my eyes while looking intently in my rearview mirror, and would wait for the impact. As a Vietnam veteran, betrayed by Kerry, that is how I feel every time I see John F. Kerry appear on television. This campaign has been so nasty for so long, and Kerry drew “first blood,” so I feel it is time to dispel some myths in e-mails from Kerry supporters.
1.MYTH: According to many Kerry backers, the media is “fair” to George W. Bush. A small sampling: Tim Russert, VP of NBC News and moderator of MEET THE PRESS, was a senior advisor to ultra liberal governor Mario Cuomo and Senior Aide to the late-great, but very liberal SEN Patrick Daniel Moynihan. Chris Matthews of NBC news and host of HARDBALL was a speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter and senior aide to the late liberal Congressman Tip O'Neill, democratic Speaker of the House. NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, reportedly was on John F. Kerry’s long-list for possible VP running mates. Newswoman Diane Sawyer is married to producer/director Mike Nichols, longtime very close friend and staunch supporter of Bill Clinton. ABC News anchor, Peter Jennings was born and raised in Canada. Wonder where his political leanings are? Does this give you an idea what President George W. Bush has had to endure from the press constantly, and also explain why John F. Kerry is the TV media darling?
2. MYTH: Dubya was a draft-dodgin’ Air National Guardsmen who went AWOL in Alabama while Kerry heroically volunteered to serve in Vietnam. A few quotes from a letter from Air National Guard COL. William Campenni (retired) of Herndon, Va., who served as a pilot with President Bush in the Texas Air National Guard “If the 111th FIS and Lt. Bush did not go to Vietnam, blame President Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, not lowly Lt. Bush. They deliberately avoided use of the Guard and Reserves for domestic political calculations, knowing that a draftee only stirred up the concerns of one family, while a call-up got a whole community’s attention.” “Because of the training required, signing up for this duty meant up to 2� years of active duty for training alone, plus a high probability of mobilization.” “Our Texas ANG unit lost several planes right there in Houston during Lt. Bush’s tenure, with fatalities. Just strapping on one of those obsolescing F-102s was risking one’s life.” “Well, as for abandoning his assignment, this is untrue. Lt. Bush was excused for a period to take employment in Florida for a congressman and later in Alabama for a Senate campaign. Excusals for employment were common then and are now in the Air Guard, as pilots frequently are in career transitions …” “there is no instance of Lt. Bush disobeying lawful orders in reporting for a physical, as none would be given. Pilots are scheduled for their annual flight physicals in their birth month during that month’s weekend drill …” “Also, the formal drug testing program was not instituted by the Air Force until the 1980s and is done randomly by lot, not as a special part of a flight physical …”
Also, from a reference site regarding George W. Bush’s unit and his jet, the F102: “A total of 15 F-102 fighters were lost over Vietnam.” “Even in peacetime conditions, F-102 pilots risked their lives on every flight.” “pilots from the 147th FIG of the Texas ANG were routinely rotated to Vietnam for combat duty under a program called "Palace Alert” from 1968 to 1970" “As he was completing training and being certified as a qualified F-102 pilot, Bush’s squadron was a likely candidate to be rotated to Vietnam”
3. MYTH: This is just about oil and fat contracts for Bush and Cheney’s buddies, like Halliburton. Halliburton employs more than 100,000 people in over 120 countries working in five major operating groups. No matter who was in the White House, Halliburton would have been in Iraq. They know how to, and are equipped to run mess halls, put out oil well fires, run pipelines, etc. Bush had Ken Lay, Chairman of Enron prosecuted. Clinton had him stay in the White house a number of times and got a half million in contributions from Enron. The Bush detractors, with Kerry at the front fanning the flames, have tried to say that the War in Iraq had nothing to do with the War on Terrorism. Nothing could be further from the truth. As you know, on September 11, 2001, we lost more innocent Americans than we did at Pearl Harbor. It was indeed our wake-up call to the “Third Great Jihad” initiated by the Muslim extremist mullahs, which began in 1979. George W. Bush could have gone after bin Laden in Pakistan without their permission. He could have gone after Somalia, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and so on. Instead, he went after the Taliban first, and now instead of women hiding their faces and even ankles, we have Afghani women competing in the Olympics. Next, he went after a brutal dictator, who literally ground up living, screaming people in meat grinders feet first, tortured, executed, and even gassed over 300,000 of his own citizens, but more importantly, when we attacked him in the first Gulf War, instead of shooting back at us, he lobbed Scud missiles into Israel. Had he done so this time, with nerve gas or one of the six SADM’s (Backpack Nuclear Bombs) he had purchased off the weapons blackmarket, we would have had World War III started. Not only have our soldiers helped rid the world of another rising Hitler, not only have our fighting men and women help free over 50,000,000 oppressed people, but now, thanks to our service men and women, a fledgling democracy is sprouting in the midst of the mideast, among brutal theocracies bent on killing Christians, Jews, Buddhists, atheists, anybody who is not a muslim, and that will do ten times more, effectively as well as diplomatically, than ever invading those countries. All we have to do is give some people a taste of freedom and let nature take its course. Just a few examples of the side benefits of our actions are that Muammar Qadaffi, head of Libya, a burgeoning nuclear power and one of the biggest state sponsors of terrorism; for decades, came crawling to us his tail between his legs, without us having one soldier set a foot in his country, North Korea; while saving face publicly, is privately negotiating an end to their nuclear program behind closed doors; and in just three short years, we have captured or killed over three-fourths of the leadership of al Queda. AND YES, IT IS ALSO ABOUT OIL.
When Jimmy Carter was President, we used to have to sit for hours in gas lines at every gas station waiting to get gas at the lowest prices we could find. Prices were through the ceiling. It was horrible. Would you enjoy paying $ 100 every time you gas up? That could have conceivably happened if Hussein stayed in office. Also, he most certainly did have weapons of mass destruction. They were smuggled into Syria and Iran before the war started. Every major country in the world verified their existence, including France and Russia who were trading with Iraq a great deal.
4. MYTH: Them Swift Boat Vets for the Truth are just lying about Kerry, because they are being paid by Republican fat cats, and they wasn’t in his damned boat! Their website www.swiftvets.com tells it all. Simply go there. Did a Texas Republican fat cat help finance buying their ad time? Probably. So what? How about George Soros spending over 12 million bucks so far to try to oust G. W. Bush from office? They are 250 highly-decorated men of honor, from all political parties, who rode in Swift Boats side-by-side with Kerry, slept and ate with him in the same building, and saw him in action the whole time he was there. Swift Boats were only 14 feet high and 50 feet long. They patrolled and fought in groups. These gentlemen did not have to serve on Kerry’s boat. They watched him in action all day long, everyday, from just a few yards away. Just today, the day I wrote this, one of the guys who was with Kerry on stage at the DNC and said he proudly served with Kerry, was exposed to be lying and was in fact medically evacuated out one day before Kerry reported for duty. How many of the men who have been appearing with Kerry and served on his boat are under his employ? And Ms. Susan Estrich, who should be understudy for Carol Channing’s role in HELLO DOLLY instead of sub-hosting for Alan Colmes, Rassman DID NOT serve on Kerry’s boat. He rode on it that day! God bless John McCain for trying hard to be a peacemaker, and I totally respect him as a war hero. He is also entitled to his opinion, but read UNFIT FOR COMMAND before you vote. It is filled with verifiable fact, not political smears.
5. MYTH: Dubya was a rich party boy who drank all the time and snorted coke. I have been a grateful recovering alcoholic for over 35 and half years, and have turned that disease into a strength to help many, many others over the years. So has George W. Bush. If alcoholism is a reason not to be in political office, let’s just go ahead and impeach over half of Congress, since many are currently “qualifying” for the AA program.
In my first of my nine Kerry editorials so far, I mentioned that my wife, Shirley, had rotator cuff surgery twice in a row, and now I have to have the same surgery. It is like watching Kerry “perform” on the stage; we keep getting re-wounded every time he appears.
