Salon: Another Swift Lie

[kskiska]

Swift Boat Veteran John O'Neill has been trying to discredit John Kerry for three decades. He'd be more believable if he'd stop telling bald-faced lies on national TV.

(snip)

O'Neill's credibility is best illustrated by a damning incident just three months ago. On April 20, O'Neill appeared on CNN's "Wolf Blitzer Reports," accusing Kerry of lying in his congressional testimony in 1971. But what TV viewers weren't aware of was that O'Neill was lying to the public from the first moment he appeared on CNN.

Prior to appearing on the show, he had assured Blitzer's producers that he had given no interviews in recent years, had not spoken publicly about Kerry and that this was therefore his first interview of the year.

Based on O'Neill's assurances, CNN had trumpeted the interview accordingly. Blitzer shamelessly hyped O'Neill's appearance during the earlier parts of his one-hour show. "A veteran who once publicly debated John Kerry speaks out for the first time in several years!" And: "I'll talk live with Vietnam veteran John O'Neill, his first television interview in years. This will be a CNN exclusive!" Plus: "Today, John O'Neill is an attorney. This year, he has not given any interviews until now."

And then O'Neill appeared.

Blitzer: "Why have you decided you want to speak out against John Kerry right now?"

O'Neill: "I have no choice, Wolf. I would far rather be home or on the other side of a TV camera than being on television. I haven't been on television in many, many years."

The trouble is, O'Neill had given an extensive interview for a TV show that had aired nationally on Sunday, March 28. The interview was prominently featured in C-Span's signature political show, "The Road to the White House." It followed a broadcast by C-Span of the entire original "Dick Cavett Show," featuring Kerry and O'Neill. Also interviewed for the new sequence was Cavett.

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http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/08/06/kerry_smear/index.html