News of the Day III

[Donnie D]

Can someone explain what "Swift Boating" means? I know it came from the Kerry-Bush election but I was about 11 at the time so I can't say I was paying attention to what was going on.

John Kerry is a decorated Vietnam war veteran. He received the Bronze and Silver Stars and 2 Purple Hearts.

A group of people, only 1 of which served with Kerry, took out numerous political ads questioning his bravery and said that he was not entitled to the medals. All of Kerry’s shipmates, with the exception of 1 backed Kerry’s story. The circumstances regarding the awarding of the medals were investigated and it was determined that the proper procedure was followed.

The attacks by the “swift boat” veterans were savage. They called Kerry a coward, a traitor and said that he abandoned his men. He entered the election ahead, but the ads resulted in him falling into a hole from which he never recovered. Ironic because he ran against a guy who entered the national guard to avoid service.

Swift boating is a term that has come to mean a slanderous attack on someone that is totally false and most often used to question ones patriotism and competence to hold office.

I have no doubt that Biden is not as spry as he once was. But this attack by Fox News and Trump that he is 1 step away from entering an institution for dementia is absurd. They are pouncing of any errors that Biden makes as proof of his dementia, even though, as the daily show demonstrated, you could do the same to any of us if you followed us around for a year with a camera.

[pete]

Can someone explain what "Swift Boating" means? I know it came from the Kerry-Bush election but I was about 11 at the time so I can't say I was paying attention to what was going on.

Shadowy right wing media figures, notably Jerome Corsi who was also a figure in the Wikileaks saga with Roger Stone, paid off a handful of John Kerry’s ex-swift boat unit’s officers (some of whom had actually campaigned for Kerry in his Senate campaigns just a few years earlier) to claim John Kerry lied about the incidents in Vietnam that led to him being awarded the Silver Star and his first Purple Heart. Notably, 9 of the 10 living sailors who served on Kerry’s boat under his command when the incidents happened stood by their former skipper. This led to a cottage industry of right wing conspiracy theories about Kerry’s war record that reached peak stupid when Michelle Malkin went on Chris Matthews’ show and, without a shred of evidence, claimed that Kerry shot himself to get his third Purple Heart to get discharged.

You’ll be shocked to hear DubDub was all in on the smearing of a decorated military veteran.

Remember this when Republicans try to use servicemen and women like a prop.

Also, FYI, serving on the swift boats in ‘Nam was one of the most dangerous types of duty in the war. It was like being a ball turret gunner on a bomber in WWII. You statistically were meat if you got that assignment. So, to put it succinctly, Kerry was no punk, which is why he had credibility when he returned home and became an anti-war activist.

Swift boating Kerry in 2004 is why I will go to my grave with a grudge against the Republican Party.

[Donnie D]

https://youtu.be/wXKxLkTo4do

Hopefully that works.

[Donnie D]

Trump on resurgence of virus as cases are spiking in several states: “We are putting out that life because it’s a bad life that we’re talking about.”

But Biden’s nuts.

[Puckhead]

Shadowy right wing media figures, notably Jerome Corsi who was also a figure in the Wikileaks saga with Roger Stone, paid off a handful of John Kerry’s ex-swift boat unit’s officers (some of whom had actually campaigned for Kerry in his Senate campaigns just a few years earlier) to claim John Kerry lied about the incidents in Vietnam that led to him being awarded the Silver Star and his first Purple Heart. Notably, 9 of the 10 living sailors who served on Kerry’s boat under his command when the incidents happened stood by their former skipper. This led to a cottage industry of right wing conspiracy theories about Kerry’s war record that reached peak stupid when Michelle Malkin went on Chris Matthews’ show and, without a shred of evidence, claimed that Kerry shot himself to get his third Purple Heart to get discharged.

You’ll be shocked to hear DubDub was all in on the smearing of a decorated military veteran.

Remember this when Republicans try to use servicemen and women like a prop.

Also, FYI, serving on the swift boats in ‘Nam was one of the most dangerous types of duty in the war. It was like being a ball turret gunner on a bomber in WWII. You statistically were meat if you got that assignment. So, to put it succinctly, Kerry was no punk, which is why he had credibility when he returned home and became an anti-war activist.

Swift boating Kerry in 2004 is why I will go to my grave with a grudge against the Republican Party.

Amen. As regards an R grudge, I'd also add Trump's "birther" BS, echoed by several R's including Meadows. That steaming piece of crap resulted in numerous death threats to the Obama family during his tenure. McCain was the ONLY R to confront this, and of course he was "not a war hero because he was captured". There is no scale to measure the vileness and evil in Trump and the current Republican party.

[pete]

Indictment: "[Ghislaine] Maxwell assisted, facilitated and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims...

"The victims were as young as 14."

https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1278688936248958978?s=20

A more cynical person might draw the inference that the strange decision of Bill Barr to try, and fail, to replace the head of SDNY with a Trump flunky might have something to do with this indictment that came down just days later.

I imagine LightningTDI is probably sitting in his flat in Mytischi sobbing over his framed picture of Alan Dershowitz as we speak.

[Donnie D]

I was just going to post the same thing.

Barr is reportedly flying to New York as I type.

[pete]

I was just going to post the same thing.

Barr is reportedly flying to New York as I type.

Berman will testify in a closed doors session of the House Judiciary Committee next Thursday.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/geoffrey-berman-us-attorney-testifying-house-judiciary-committee/

[Donnie D]

Which one worries Trump more:

Coronavirus
Epstein
Russia 2

[pete]

Which one worries Trump more:

Coronavirus
Epstein
Russia 2

Really difficult for me to discern what exposure, if any, he may have in this Epstein thing. I'm suspicious about what I'm seeing online that is real and what is disinformation intended to manipulate people. I will say this: Maxwell's name has come up a ton over the past year so for her to be indicted does lend some credence to what's been rumored.

[Donnie D]

My guess is the Coronavirus resonates The most with people that already won’t vote for him but Russia 2 is impacting and turning off his base.

But if he has been raping little girls, that has to scare him the most.

[pete]

He clearly doesn't care about coronavirus. He got bored of it the second they told him to stop doing the daily briefings and his whole approach since has been to ignore it and hope it goes away. If you're ranking those three it's the least important to him by a mile.

[pete]

I realize it's not as good as the esteemed legal counsel you could get from Dub Dub Esquire, Attorney at Armchair, but...

+ YouTube Video

[pete]

The Economist's election forecast modeler says...

Our forecast model says that this map is actually a likelier outcome of the election than Trump winning

https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1278441360685699073?s=20

This map does look familiar. Things that make you go hmmm.

[Puckhead]

That GRAND for door #3 pays off handsomely.