The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest
Vol: 35 Issue: 25 - Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Media Gives In, Sort Of
by Jack Kinsella

"A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a
naughty tongue." (Proverbs 17:4)

Last week, I noted Brent Bozell's observation that, from May 4 until my
column, the Big Three networks had run a total of 75 stories about Bush's
service in the Texas National Guard and only seven about the controversy
surrounding Senator Kerry's Vietnam service.

In a column this week, Bozell noted; "A Nexis search reveals a list of
some of the national outlets that had never relayed a quote of these words
before the second Swift Vet ad was released: CBS, NBC, National Public
Radio, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, the Los Angeles Times and
USA Today.

Here are the major newspapers who've captured this testimony exactly once
: The Washington Post and The New York Times, buried inside their papers
on Saturdays in late February.

ABC repeated one snippet of the paragraph, the "Genghis Khan" snippet, in
four stories surrounding the anniversary of the testimony in April. Kerry
said then: "I'm sorry that they're offended by that, but that's what
happened." "

Tony Blankley, editor of the Washington Times, noted; "It was only after a
CBS poll showed that Kerry had lost a net 14 percent of the veteran's vote
to Bush -- without aid of major media coverage or substantial national
advertising -- that the major media outlets began to lumber, resentfully,
in the vague direction of the story."

In an op-ed piece in the London (that's in England) Telegraph, Mark Steyn
described a Pat Oliphant cartoon that appeared in the Washington Post
depicting the Swiftees as Bush-backing deadbeats sitting round a bar; "I
never seen Kerry do nothing hee-roic," says one loser. "Damn right," says
another. "You and me was right there in latrine maintenance. We orta
know."

Steyn notes; "The redneck spelling's a nice touch, ain't it? I wonder
which of the anti-Kerry campaign's 254 Swift vets, including 17 of
Lieutenant Kerry's 23 fellow officers, Oliphant thinks were in latrine
maintenance.

Maybe he's got in mind fellows like Paul Galanti, who appears in the
latest anti-Kerry ad and whose plane went down over North Vietnam in 1966.
He was held in the "Hanoi Hilton" Viet Cong POW camp until 1973.

That's seven years getting tortured by the gooks, only to be mocked by
some lame-o cartoonist as a redneck latrine operator."

Then Steyn delivers his knockout punch: "I said a couple of weeks back
that John Kerry was too strange to be President, and a week or two earlier
that he was too stuck-up to be President. Since I'm on an alliterative
roll, let me add that he's too stupid to be President. What sort of idiot
would make the centrepiece of his presidential campaign four months of
proud service in a war he's best known for opposing?"

"I wouldn't stand for Parliament on a family values platform because I
know someone's bound to bring up the 123 gay porn movies I had a bit part
in back in Amsterdam in the 1970s."

Assessment:

It appears the cat has finally clawed its way out of the bag, despite the
liberals' quiet attempt to beat it to death before it did.

Fox News reported on Monday that the Kerry campaign has conceded that it
is possible that Kerry's first Purple Heart was awarded for an
unintentionally self-inflicted wound, just like the Swiftees alleged.

That concession came only a few days after the Kerry campaign also
conceded that John Kerry wasn't in Cambodia on Christmas Eve, 1968,
either.  Just like the Swiftees alleged.

So now the mainstream liberal networks, stung by charges they ARE liberal
networks, have leapt into the fray, investigating, not the allegations
against Kerry, but the possible connections between any of the SWIFT Boat
Veterans and the Bush administration.

The Kerry damage control strategy continues to be to suggest that the Bush
campaign is behind the ads -- now look at the mainstream media's
investigative focus.

It isn't about whether or not John Kerry was being truthful.  Instead, it
is concrete evidence that the Big Three Networks take their marching
orders from the Kerry campaign as faithfully as Moveon.org does.

For example, the Kerry campaign's admission that John Kerry wasn't in
Cambodia on Christmas Eve, 1968, was explained away by supporters as
having 'occurred thirty-five years ago' --  now it is the new liberal
mantra.

Every talking head defending Kerry, when asked about the Cambodia lie,
does the same thing.  Their eyes glaze over, they take on a blank stare,
and begin to repeat mindlessly, 'it was thirty-five years ago. . .' before
getting back on point . .   'The ads should be withdrawn'.

I've yet to hear an explanation from either the Kerry camp or the media
for why the Swiftees should be silenced that doesn't, in the end, boil
down to 'because Senator Kerry doesn't like them.'

Now, to the point.  Despite the media's best efforts, the story is out.

Kerry even helped, saying in a recent speech that maybe America shouldn't
judge him on his Vietnam service alone, but also judge him on his anti-war
activities as well.

Kerry reasoned that because he both fought in the Vietnam War and fought
against it, it proves he is a man of integrity.  Even though he may not
have deserved the Purple Heart as alleged, and despite the fact he never
went to Cambodia.  After all, it was more than thirty-five years ago.

On the other hand, Kerry assures veterans, they shouldn't hold his antiwar
testimony to Congress against him, even if it did give aid and comfort to
Hanoi.  After all, he explains, it was more than thirty-five years ago.

Despite the Kerry doublespeak, Kerry still enjoys the support of about
half of America's voting public.  A Google search of "Kerry" and "Swift"
returns more major media reports attacking the reputations of the Swift
boat veterans than there are questioning why 254 Swift vets, including 17
of Lieutenant Kerry's 23 fellow officers and his whole chain of command --
including a retired admiral, would risk their personal reputations -- just
to lie about John Kerry.

According to 2nd Thessalonians, the antichrist will come to power amid a
supernaturally-permitted 'strong delusion' that Paul says they wanted to
believe anyway, because the lie was more in keeping with their chosen
worldview than the truth.

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth,
but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2nd Thessalonians 2:11-12)

Not a single Kerry defender has indicated any doubt whatever that John
Kerry is telling the truth, even after his campaign tacitly admitted he
was a serial liar about both Cambodia and the circumstances of his first
Purple Heart.

The truth is what they want to believe -- evidence notwithstanding --
because it is more in keeping with their chosen worldview.

A strong delusion, indeed.