Free Pass on Democratic Legends



After the speech, CBS's Pitts resumed serving up the humanizing Kerry spin: "Earlier, as the family was preparing to leave John Kerry's home in Boston, I'm told he whispered to his sister, remember the words of our mother on her deathbed when she said, 'John,' knowing he would run for President some day, 'remember, John, integrity, that's what matters.' Tonight, John Kerry tried to show that integrity." Who can confirm that story? Who cares?

In their natural predisposition to build up Democratic legends, reporters have passed on a bucket of these unconfirmed anecdotes during presidential campaigns: Al Gore's deathbed story of his sister Nancy Gore Hunger inspiring his war on tobacco, Bill Clinton's story about breaking down doors to stop his stepfather from beating his mother at 14, and now John Kerry's tales of Vietnam heroism.

These stories are not easily confirmable, and they are not on videotape. But God help he who would challenge - even just question - these legends. That critic is immediately offered a journalistic necklacing: denounced, pilloried, mocked, and ultimately banished from the political conversation. The challenge, even just the question, is ignored.

The John Kerry candidacy was built on an audacious rewrite of history. The man who roundly condemned the war effort, accusing his fellow soldiers of unspeakable acts of barbarism, would run as a hero of that war, surrounded by his "Band of Brothers." How could any self-respecting journalist covering this charade remain silent? Amazingly, most have.


Pitts claimed: "the press conference was set up by the same people who tried to discredit John McCain's reputation in Vietnam service when McCain faced George W. Bush for the Republican nomination in 2000." Unsurprisingly, that language echoed perfectly a Kerry press release from Campaign Manager Mary Beth Cahill: "This attack was organized by the same pro-Bush group that smeared John McCain in 2000."

Then Pitts connected the anti-Kerry veterans to a presumed nefarious "strategy" they had nothing to do with implementing: "It's the same strategy used to go after Georgia Senator Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam." Bingo: another favorite Kerry Democrat attack line.


Now, many months after Kerry began touting his Vietnam adventures as proof of his qualifications for the White House, the Swift Boat vets have released a book, and have made an ad full of Kerry's Vietnam comrades suggesting his stories are false. Are they right? If these soldiers - and there are over 200 of them - are telling the truth, Kerry is a national disgrace who shouldn't be allowed a visitor's pass to the White House, never mind the presidency.

