john kerry and cambodia

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

I'll bet Bush can't remember where he was most weekend nights in his 20's because he was high off his ass.  

And if you think I'm trolling...my statement has about as much relevance to this campaign as what you all are blabbering about Cambodia.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

The fact is that Kerry volunteered to fight in Vietnam.  He's just trying to establish a prima facie case that he is willing to get tough on our enemies when need be, and willing to sacrifice for his country.  On this point, the details of what he did in Vietman, or what Bush or anyone else did during that time period, are irrelevant.

Whether or not he was dishonest in the details of his service is a different point entirely.   Does the bravery of Kerry's service depend on whether or not he was in Cambodia?  Kerry is using Vietman to demonstrate that he is courageous, not that he is honest.

Also, the people in the swiftboard ad claim that Kerry's time in Vietnam makes him "unfit for command"....would they believe he was more fit for command if he didn't mention his Vietnam service during the campaign?

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

So now we have yet another approach defense of Kerry's adventures in southeast asia.

According to this approach we shouldn't look at "...the details of what he did..."

Also, the questions about whether Kerry actually spent christmas in cambodia in  1968 as he alledged is not simply whether he was lying, but wheather he really believes that story.

Although its nice to see NickG tacity admitting that Kerry is less than honest about his adventures in southeast asia, I'm more concerned with whether Kerry is delusional than with his 'dishonesty' or 'courage' (or lack thereof).

I have no idea whether Kerry is being honest or not about each detail of his service...clearly there are conflicting reports, and none of the parties are particularly neutral arbiters.  

I'm just saying that just because Kerry has made his courage and sacrifice for his country a theme of his campaign, that doesn't make every detail of his time in Vietnam a relevant campaign issue.  

Kerry is trying to establish the basic credentials for a commander in chief.   I think he's done that merely by volunteering to serve.  I assume he took his boat where he was commanded to take it: on which particular days he happened to recieve enemy fire is purely coincidental.