Kristof: Washing Away the Mud

[kskiska]

What I found most dispiriting over the last month of politicking was the sight of two senior statesmen in the Republican Party - yes, I mean you, George H. W. Bush and Bob Dole - climbing on the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth bandwagon in its campaign to turn Mr. Kerry from war hero to craven braggart.

Both former President Bush and Mr. Dole are honorable. And Mr. Bush has personal knowledge of such smears. The bomber Mr. Bush piloted was shot down in 1944. He bailed out, but the two others in the plane, Ted White and John Delaney, were killed.

Then in the 1988 campaign, a tail-gunner on another plane on the same bombing mission accused Mr. Bush of having been a coward and causing Mr. White's and Mr. Delaney's deaths. A couple of others on the mission backed this accusation, claiming that Mr. Bush could have tried a water landing rather than consigning the others to their deaths.

The accusations were rebutted by other witnesses, however, and journalists mostly shied away from them. Michael Dukakis dismissed the story, and few voters knew about the smear.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/22/opinion/22kris.html?ex=1096516800&en=7b7f687760767bb7&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1

[alittlelark]

1. Thank you Kristof.

[pacalo]

2. Excellent points. I wish the tv news reporters were as circumspective

as a lot of newspaper writers.

[izzie]

4. Did you doctor that picture? No one would wear boots like that?

What is it with this President and his wearing funny stuff? He is like a kid that got into the attic.

[punpirate]

3. And in this...

... Mr. Kristof indelicately shied away from the reasons for the Swift Boat Liars charges, which were to deflect attention from Bush's own abject failures as an officer, a gentleman and a soldier.

[RamboLiberal]

5. Love Children, Drug Dealing, Mistresses - Kristof giving us rumors?

The news media also need to think through this issue, for we're being manipulated. I remember rumors about Mr. Bush in the 2000 campaign that were well known among journalists, but they never saw the light of print because we could not substantiate them. Every major candidate draws scurrilous charges, but responsible journalists - quite rightly - refuse to report unsubstantiated accusations of things like love children, drug dealing or mistresses. As CBS has found, to its chagrin, extraordinary charges require extraordinary proof.

So is Mr. Kristof giving us the rumors they knew about W. in the 2000 election? H'mmmmmm

[nyhuskyfan]

6. He misrepresents Michael Moore, though...

I don;t think F9/11 implied that we went to war in Afghanistan solely for the pipeline. I interpreted it to mean that once we went to war there, we made damn sure we were going to profit from it. I would bet every penny I own that in the one month between Sept. 11 and the start of military action, that this administration was spending ample time discussing that pipeline and how to get that project started.

And that's exactly what happened. While we were bribing Afghanis to go look for Bin Laden in Tora Bora, we were simultaneously putting shovels in the ground to lead to the Caspian Sea.

[KoKo]

7. Kristoff's one of those guys who gives with one hand and takes away with

the other. I find his articles really off putting. He does explantion of Dems point of view yet seems to justify attacks against them.

The Michael Moore jab was OTT along with comparing this to Poppy. He trashes both sides which makes him look like a winner but in the end he doesn't take a side and distorts the truth in not doing so. :shrug:

[sadiesworld]

9. I agree with you about Kristoff.

Did you note this portion of the piece:

"If they're intellectually consistent, Democrats will speak out not only against the Swift Boat Veterans but also against Kerry's demagoguery on trade, like his suggestion that outsourcing is the result of Bush's economic policies. Trade demagoguery may not be as felonious as an assault on a war hero's character, but it harms America by undermining support for free trade."

Kristoff is just another bucket boy for the neo-libs/DLC-lovers at the NYT.

(Obviously, I'm a bit late in responding here...but the knee-jerk approval for Kristoff and his ilk is wearing thin)

[Raster]

8. Mud...

"Conservatives should stop slavering over Dan Rather's scalp, and liberals should stop pretending that noble ends justify fake-evidence means. Both should focus on the lesson of the early 70's: from third-rate burglaries to fourth-rate forgeries, nobody gets away with trying to corrupt American elections.

Really? What about Florida 2000??

[MissMarple]

10. He does seem to miss a major point.

I'm just hoping some measure of truth will out.

[The Zanti Regent]

11. Kristoff is your typical lying neoconstipated ass

Bob Somerby has tracked this 5th columnist for years in the Daily Howler.

Kristoff is like your typical racist neoconstipated asshole, his loyalty is with Likud, not America.