Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Fake War Hero Syndrome

It seems that there has been quite a bit of faking by quite a number of people over the years regarding Vietnam service. Anyone remember Joseph Ellis? He was Pulitzer Prize winning author of Founding Brothers and a renowned revolutionary war scholar on the faculty of Mt. Holyoke College when it was exposed that he had made up his Vietnam exploits (he was in fact teaching military history at West Point during Vietnam). Now, Instapundit has a roundup on the information on Senator Tom Harkin's lies about his service (you know, the Senator who just called Dick Cheney a "coward" ?). Seems Harkin never served in Vietnam at all, and was a pilot stationed in Japan during the war, and that he continuosly lied over and over again. Did I mention that Harkin is a Democrat? Did I mention that Harking supported Howard Dean? Did I mention that Howard Dean never served in Vietnam?

It turns out that there is an entire book that has looked at all the people who have faked, exaggerated, and/or creatively altered their Vietnam experiences. Many of them, like Ellis and Harkin are notable individuals. Ellis, besides losing his credibiity as an historian, was also suspended from his Mt. Holyoke academic position. In Harkin's case, when the truth eventually came out (and it seems he lied until the very end, changing his story until it was completely demolished by the facts), any chance he had of making a bid for the Presidency was completely eliminated.

Now we have these incredible allegations about John Kerry, and it seems that he, too, has exaggerated, faked, and outright lied about his 4-month tour of duty in Vietnam (go to Captain's Quarters; Power Line; and Roger Simon for frequent updates in this ongoing saga). The evidence is mounting that his frequent (over 50 times in public venues) reminisces of secret duty in Cambodia was a complete fabrication. It turns out that (in spite of what his website says) Mr. Kerry has NOT RELEASED ALL HIS RECORDS, which could make this whole mess go away if Mr. Kerry is speaking the truth. It turns out that there are now questions being raised about the validity of not only his Purple Hearts (were they self-inflicted in an attempt to get out of Vietnam as quickly as possible?) but also about some of the details of his Silver and Bronze Stars. Either Mr. Kerry is the most decorated Vietnam Vet in that 4-month interval he spent in Vietnam, or he is the most clever liar that served in that controversial war.

Even Democrats must concede that if these charges against Kerry are true in any way, shape or form, that their candidate is characterologically unfit for command. Which is what the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have been saying all along.

3 comments:

Jen said...

Harkin is an embarrassment to my state - and I don't just mean for this little tidbit. He is horrible on so many levels.

BTW - he also lies about being a farmer. Every election he poses on a tractor and pretends to farm. He may own land in Iowa, but he travels in a limo, not a combine.

Dr. Sanity said...

Getting away with a lie positively reinforces using lying to get ahead. That's why most people who lie keep on doing it until they are caught. What's amazing to me is the self-righteousness of Harkin and how similar his duty during Vietnam was to GWB's. Even now, he has no shame about the lies he told.

Dr. Sanity said...

Getting away with a lie positively reinforces using lying to get ahead. That's why most people who lie keep on doing it until they are caught. What's amazing to me is the self-righteousness of Harkin and how similar his duty during Vietnam was to GWB's. Even now, he has no shame about the lies he told.