Salon: A Soldier for Peace (Kerry)

[kskiska]

The John Kerry I knew during the Vietnam War was far from the radical portrayed by the Bush campaign. He was a courageous truth-teller -- and, caught in a new inferno, the country could use him again.

By Fred Branfman
Since the Bush team routinely practices character assassination on a scale not seen since Richard Nixon, it seems safe to predict that it will soon resume its effort to smear John Kerry for his courageous opposition to the war in Vietnam. In fact, Republicans are striving mightily to exploit talks the young antiwar leader had with delegations from both sides of the war in Paris in 1970 as proof of his traitorous ways. The media, as eager as ever to accommodate the GOP attack dogs, is apparently putting the story in play.

This follows the tempest stirred up by conservative groups earlier this year over a photo of Kerry and Jane Fonda at a Vietnam antiwar rally. Though they did attend the same event, the photo -- which showed them in close proximity -- was doctored. And in truth, Kerry and "Hanoi Jane," as the right wing demonized the antiwar movie star, had almost nothing to do with each other during the war.

President Bush is bound to attack Kerry's 1970s peace activism not only because he wants to distract attention from his own deepening quagmire in Iraq but also because he is at such a distinct character disadvantage on Vietnam. As a young man, Kerry displayed raw physical courage and won a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts by fighting in a war he doubted, because he thought it was his patriotic duty to do so. Bush, on the other hand, avoided fighting in a war he supported. Bush forces must therefore try to replace the image of John Kerry as war hero with images of John Kerry as scruffy war protester.

While conservatives at the time sought to portray Kerry's opposition to the war as political opportunism, the opposite was true. Opposing the Nixon administration at the time was politically dangerous, as demonstrated both by Vice President Spiro Agnew's crude personal attacks against Kerry and by the fact that the young activist lost his 1972 campaign for a congressional seat largely because of his antiwar positions. Kerry demonstrated the highest form of patriotism by risking his political future for the national good.

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/04/13/peacesoldier/index.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. i just read Kerry's whole speech in from of Congress

from those days. Well thought out and eloquent. http://hnn.us/articles/3631.html

And the Kennedy's speech writer, Walinsky, that some say wrote it for him has said he "helped some.... but it was Kerry's"

(http://www.iht.com/articles/119685.html

[Old and In the Way]

2. How many people can be on both sides of an issue, honorably?

John Kerry could. I fully give the VVAW a lot of the credit in changing the culture's attitude to the VietNam War. Their credibility, because they fought, made them a unique force in changing people's minds. I think VietNam was a far more devisive war because this was a different country in the late 60's. You'd have to have lived through the era to understand that, I think.