Kerry Gives up on Trying to Keep His Lies Straight
Remember how John Kerry has insisted all year long that he's released all his military records? Well, he had an attack of inadvertent candor with Tom Brokaw the other night:
Brokaw: Someone has analyzed the President's military aptitude tests and yours, and concluded that he has a higher IQ than you do.
Kerry: That's great. More power. I don't know how they've done it, because my record is not public. So I don't know where you're getting that from.
Captain Ed highlights two interviews earlier in the campaign where Kerry claimed entirely otherwise at first, then began to characteristically hedge:
Hardball, April 2004:
MATTHEWS: OK. You did that today, Senator. You went after, you put out a statement in your campaign, asking tough questions, documented questions—you had all the material there—about President Bush‘s — President Bush‘s participation.
KERRY: I have not—I don‘t—I haven‘t seen what went out.
MATTHEWS: What went out, it basically tracks what you did the other day on “Good Morning America.” And the question your staff put out, under your name, is, is Bush telling the truth, President Bush, when he said he had no special privileges or favoritism in jumping 150 places to get in the Air Guard in Texas? What do you think about that? Is that something you care about? You want to know the truth?
KERRY: He ought to answer that question.
MATTHEWS: Why?
KERRY: Because I‘ve answered the questions. I released all my military records. Mr. Gillespie thought it was important enough to go travel to another state, make a big speech, demand that I release my records. I did. Everything. All of it. Including my officer fitness reports.
The Don Imus Show, September 2004:
IMUS: A Freedom of Information Act request by The Washington Post regarding your military records produced six pages of information, while a spokesman for the Navy Personnel Command said there were at least 100 pages of information available, but he was not authorized to release them. Why can't we see this stuff?
KERRY: We've posted my military records that they sent to me, or were posted on my Web site. You can go to my Web site, and all my - you know, the documents are there.
IMUS: So is - everything's available?
KERRY: To the best of my knowledge. I think some of the medical stuff may still be out there. We're trying to get it.
So Senator Kerry has gone from "I've released all my records" to "I think I've released some to the best of my knowledge" to "I haven't realized squat."
Has the campaign worn down his ability to duck and dodge? Is a dawning realization of impending defeat causing him, consciously or subconsciously, to say, in essence, "Ah, to hell with it"? Or did Brokaw confronting him with the report of George W. Bush - GEORGE W. BUSH!!! - having a higher IQ trigger an involuntary vanity reflex that caused Kerry's ingrained narcissism to overpower his public relations discretion?
I don't think this will hurt Kerry at this late stage. His character defects were exposed and jumped up and down on by the SwiftVets back in August. That wiped out his post-convention lead and set the table for the President to vault ahead for good.
But it is a useful reminder of who and what John Kerry really is that voters can take with them, wherever they go, come next Tuesday.
Brokaw: Someone has analyzed the President's military aptitude tests and yours, and concluded that he has a higher IQ than you do.
Kerry: That's great. More power. I don't know how they've done it, because my record is not public. So I don't know where you're getting that from.
Captain Ed highlights two interviews earlier in the campaign where Kerry claimed entirely otherwise at first, then began to characteristically hedge:
Hardball, April 2004:
MATTHEWS: OK. You did that today, Senator. You went after, you put out a statement in your campaign, asking tough questions, documented questions—you had all the material there—about President Bush‘s — President Bush‘s participation.
KERRY: I have not—I don‘t—I haven‘t seen what went out.
MATTHEWS: What went out, it basically tracks what you did the other day on “Good Morning America.” And the question your staff put out, under your name, is, is Bush telling the truth, President Bush, when he said he had no special privileges or favoritism in jumping 150 places to get in the Air Guard in Texas? What do you think about that? Is that something you care about? You want to know the truth?
KERRY: He ought to answer that question.
MATTHEWS: Why?
KERRY: Because I‘ve answered the questions. I released all my military records. Mr. Gillespie thought it was important enough to go travel to another state, make a big speech, demand that I release my records. I did. Everything. All of it. Including my officer fitness reports.
The Don Imus Show, September 2004:
IMUS: A Freedom of Information Act request by The Washington Post regarding your military records produced six pages of information, while a spokesman for the Navy Personnel Command said there were at least 100 pages of information available, but he was not authorized to release them. Why can't we see this stuff?
KERRY: We've posted my military records that they sent to me, or were posted on my Web site. You can go to my Web site, and all my - you know, the documents are there.
IMUS: So is - everything's available?
KERRY: To the best of my knowledge. I think some of the medical stuff may still be out there. We're trying to get it.
So Senator Kerry has gone from "I've released all my records" to "I think I've released some to the best of my knowledge" to "I haven't realized squat."
Has the campaign worn down his ability to duck and dodge? Is a dawning realization of impending defeat causing him, consciously or subconsciously, to say, in essence, "Ah, to hell with it"? Or did Brokaw confronting him with the report of George W. Bush - GEORGE W. BUSH!!! - having a higher IQ trigger an involuntary vanity reflex that caused Kerry's ingrained narcissism to overpower his public relations discretion?
I don't think this will hurt Kerry at this late stage. His character defects were exposed and jumped up and down on by the SwiftVets back in August. That wiped out his post-convention lead and set the table for the President to vault ahead for good.
But it is a useful reminder of who and what John Kerry really is that voters can take with them, wherever they go, come next Tuesday.
posted by JASmius at 1:31 PM
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