The Posse reluctantly returns to the election campaign to note this New York Sun bombshell: Kerry may have had a dishonorable discharge from the Navy.
Furthermore, this was changed only after the intervention of then-President Jimmy Carter.
The Posse predicts the immediate spin will be that Kerry was victimized by the Nixon administration and that Carter was only setting things right.
But this spin then begs the following response:
1. Why conceal this? Being a Nixon enemy is a point of pride, not shame.
2. Why has he refused to release all his records? Surely the scurrilous charges should be exposed for all to see.
3. Was Kerry given preferential treatment in this change to his discharge status? Not everyone can have the president personally intervene.
In short, Kerry may have done exactly what he accuses Bush of doing: failing to fulfill his committment and using powerful political influence to cover it up.
Oh, the irony.
Captain Ed is, as one would expect, all over this.
If the senator does not sign the 180 to release his records, we will never get the truth out in to the disinfecting sunlight.
Posted by: TouchDown | October 13, 2004 at 01:01 PM
My take on Mr. Lipscomb's article, trackbacked above, includes quotes from and links to the relevant statutes (which are otherwise kind of hard to locate because they were superseded in a 1994 reorganization of Title 10 of the U.S. Code).
Posted by: Beldar | October 13, 2004 at 01:31 PM