Swiftboaters On McCain Campaign

7:56 pm EST June 30th, 2008 | News | 14 Comments

Lying down with fleas, etc.

But one McCain supporter, retired Col. Bud Day, who was held prisoner with McCain in Vietnam, said the attacks on McCain were nothing like the swift boat attacks. He helped produce those attacks against Kerry, which were true, he said. The attacks against McCain are not, he added.

‘The swift boat, quote, attacks were simply a revelation of the truth,’ he said. ‘The similarity does not exist here because basically what the Swift Boat campaign was about was to lay out John Kerry’s record.’

And yes I know, Bud Day is a highly decorated veteran. That doesn’t mean he ain’t a liar and an enabler of one of the most dishonest campaigns in U.S. history.

Topic: 2008 Election, John McCain, Newsweek

« Bush Administration Legalism Keeps Losing The War On Terror
John McCain: He Is Magical! »

14 Responses to “Swiftboaters On McCain Campaign”

Scratch says:

June 30, 2008 at 8:30 pm

I checked out the Media Matters page that “debunks” the Swift Boat claims, and found it rather weak. Most of the “debunking” seems to revolve around semantics. For example, the “debunked” claim that Kerry “joined forces with Fonda’s anti-war efforts” devolves into an analysis of who appeared on stage when, and a remark that Kerry and Fonda “never even shook hands,”…though they did speak at the same anti-war event!

My favorite part, though, is this: “…A Swift Boat Vets attack ad released in September also claimed that Kerry “secretly met with enemy leaders in Paris.” But as MMFA and The Washington Post noted at the time, the meeting was not a secret. That, my friends, is comedy gold. Debunked, indeed.
Amused Observer says:

July 1, 2008 at 1:06 am

There is still a cool million out there for anyone that can disprove the Swiftboat claims. Look at the old Dick Cavett clips to see how far back in time Kerry’s war buddies hated his guts and thought he was a lying asshole.
Oliver Willis says:

July 1, 2008 at 9:25 am

The claims have been debunked (time and again) but T. Boone Pickens won’t pay up.
Quaker in a Basement says:

July 1, 2008 at 12:25 pm

Look at the old Dick Cavett clips to see how far back in time ~~Kerry’s war buddies~~ Nixon’s paid goons hated his guts

You’re welcome!
Scratch says:

July 1, 2008 at 12:54 pm

Oliver, is there an online resource of Swift Boat debunkery better than the stuff at Media Matters? That one fell a little short.
Amused Observer says:

July 2, 2008 at 12:55 am

Olliver,
Cites please?

Quaker,
John O’Neil is a Nixon Goon? What are you smoking?
Quaker in a Basement says:

July 2, 2008 at 6:12 pm

Lying down with fleas, etc.

You wake up with dogs?
Quaker in a Basement says:

July 2, 2008 at 6:18 pm

What am I smoking, AO? Some good stuff, man:

Archival records show that O’Neill, who has been making the rounds of the TV talk shows this month to promote his best-selling anti-Kerry book, “Unfit for Command,” was encouraged to go on television in 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon and his aide Charles W. Colson. Nixon regarded Kerry as the antiwar movement’s most effective and articulate spokesman, and the president was desperate to undercut the activist’s popular appeal.

“Let’s hear it from the O’Neills now,” Nixon told his 25-year-old protege, after warning him that the Cavett show’s producers “inevitably . . . have it stacked against you.” Colson later boasted to Nixon Chief of Staff H.R. “Bob” Haldeman that O’Neill “has agreed that he will appear anytime, anywhere that we program him,” according to White House records.

Wanna toke?
Quaker in a Basement says:

July 3, 2008 at 1:17 pm

AO? Hello?

It’s disappointing when they run away like that.
Amused Observer says:

July 3, 2008 at 1:35 pm

Quaker,
Not running away, just tending to life. I haven’t read the book you quoted, I was unaware that he agreed to go on the Cavett show because he was paid to do so by Dick Nixon. Considering he went on the warpath against Kerry some 30 years after the Cavett show it must have been a lot of money. Talk about bang for your buck. No wonder Colson boasting.

Are you sure that John O Neil wasn’t an individual with a strong sense of being wronged by John Kerry’s claims who was eager to get a platform for his views?
Quaker in a Basement says:

July 3, 2008 at 2:06 pm

Considering he went on the warpath against Kerry some 30 years after the Cavett show it must have been a lot of money.

My mistake. I thought you were talking about “far back in time”:

Look at the old Dick Cavett clips to see how far back in time Kerry’s war buddies hated his guts and thought he was a lying asshole.
Quaker in a Basement says:

July 3, 2008 at 2:07 pm

Are you sure that John O Neil wasn’t an individual with a strong sense of being wronged by John Kerry’s claims who was eager to get a platform for his views?

Read the article I linked. Judge for yourself. The article says he was recruited by Colson and encouraged by Nixon.
Amused Observer says:

July 3, 2008 at 7:07 pm

I caught the part in the article about how O Neal was pissed at Kerry for what he thought were slanders but somehow I missed the part about Nixon paying him. If he did pay him, like I said, Tricky Dick sure got a good long lasting value for his money.
Quaker in a Basement says:

July 3, 2008 at 7:15 pm

I suppose it’s possible O’Neill traveled on his own dime. But I doubt it:

White House records show that Nixon and his advisers were so concerned about Kerry they immediately began looking around for other Vietnam veterans who would counter his popular appeal. One they came up with was O’Neill, described by Colson in a memo as “a very attractive dedicated young man — short hair, very square, very patriotic.” Haldeman told Nixon that O’Neill (“a great little sharp-looking guy”) was not “as eloquent as Kerry” but was “more believable.”

O’Neill, who had returned from Vietnam in June 1970, belonged to a group called Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace, identified by Colson in a memo to Nixon as “an organization specifically set up to counter Kerry.” He started making the rounds of the TV studios, delighting the White House with his fiery denunciations of Kerry and support for Nixon’s Vietnamization policy.