Apparently, J.D. Vance is going around trying to tie Tim Walz with a Swift Boat Veterans-type charge, like the one that was so damaging to John Kerry in 2004. That is just baloney. This blog did not start until 2006, but I have written about the Swift Boat Veterans before (here and here). They were good people making a valid point about John Kerry returning from Vietnam and “slandering” (in the words of The Wall Street Journal) his fellow veterans as war criminals, and worse, in testimony before Congress.
John Kerry’s testimony against our forces in Vietnam was false and self-serving. To then, 30 years later, try to use his service as part of his political campaign for president was wrong and he served to be called out on it.
The Wall Street Journal appropriately and fairly dismisses Vance’s claims. I find it hard to believe that J.D. Vance really believes what he is saying. I understand that vice presidential candidates are often “attack dogs,” going after the other side, but there still has to be standards – and the attack has to be effective. These claims are neither.
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FURTHER COMMENT (8/12/24 9:00 am): Let me update this post. I have read the various posts about Tim Walz and his time in the National Guard at the “Power Line” blog, especially the point about the timing of Governor Walz’s retirement from the Guard. I don’t know who is right and who is wrong. But even giving the benefit of the doubt to the arguments in “Power Line”, the claims against Governor Walz aren’t even close to what John Kerry did when he came home from Vietnam and went before the Senate Foreign Relations committee to charge his fellow veterans and service members, up and down the chain of command, with war crimes (see the links above). The Swift Boat Veterans raised an important and serious issue with respect to John Kerry. The claims about Governor Walz’s time in the National Guard aren’t even close to what John Kerry did. There are legitimate issues to raise about Harris and Walz. Republicans need to focus on those.
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FURTHER COMMENT (8/12/24 9:00 am): Let me update this post. I have read the various posts about Tim Walz and his time in the National Guard at the “Power Line” blog, especially the point about the timing of Governor Walz’s retirement from the Guard. I don’t know who is right and who is wrong. But even giving the benefit of the doubt to the arguments in “Power Line”, the claims against Governor Walz aren’t even close to what John Kerry did when he came home from Vietnam and went before the Senate Foreign Relations committee to charge his fellow veterans and service members, up and down the chain of command, with war crimes (see the links above). The Swift Boat Veterans raised an important and serious issue with respect to John Kerry. The claims about Governor Walz’s time in the National Guard aren’t even close to what John Kerry did. There are legitimate issues to raise about Harris and Walz. Republicans need to focus on those.
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