Why does John O'Neil hate Kerry so much?

[Poiuyt]

It's like a personal obsession the way he's been hounding him all these years. It reminds me of Les Miserables with Inspector Javert relentlessly pursuing Jean Valjean. Does anyone know what started this vendetta?

[Old and In the Way]

1. Jealousy. No other explanation.

[wurzel]

21. First thing that came to my mind. n/t

[Proud2BAmurkin]

2. Nixon sent O'Neill to destroy Kerry and Kerry kicked his ass

Kerry humiliated O'Neill on national TV.

[XanaDUer]

5. Yup.

JFK2 was calm, cool, and collected.

O'Neill was sweaty and bitter, like his Big Boss who sent him, Dick Nixon.

[K-W]

3. Alot of vietnam vetrans see him as a traitor.

For his work in protesting the war. He, and the others like him were VERY polarizing figures in the military. I cant speak for John O'Neil but it is true of alot of veterans, especially who were in command position and he was specifically targetting with attacks.

[Catherine Vincent]

6. That may be, but he needs to let that shit go!

And get the fuck over it!

[Tom Kitten]

9. And so they hate Kerry?

What exactly would it have taken in American resources, lives lost, etc., to actually conquer Vietnam? And for what purposes just to show the Russians and Chinese we weren't paper tigers? (as if Koream War meant nothing)...Since we had such inept leaders who didn't have a clue as to how to win, or even end it successfully, what is their point with hating Kerry with perhaps saving some of their lives?
I've never seen a "what if we had won the Vietnam War" scenario with all the benefits resulting if we had kept at it basically destroying the country and killing its people in order to win the war...

And this is just a personal aside...some nations and peoples it is better off for you just not to fuck with...especially on their home turf...The West (and their neighbors as well) have always been ignorant of or underestimated the Vietnamese people throughout history, who can be the nicest and most generous hosts if you are friends but the fiercest and wiliest enemies if you are their foe...In other words I think the Vietnam War was a colossal waste, a flawed agenda racheted up to a national security issue due to the Cold War...Vietnam did not want to be French, Russian, American, or Chinese and I think they proved that...

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. "Why does O'Neill HATE America?"

[JohnnyRingo]

7. Some Viet vets can't seem to get over the retreat and loss

They wanted a return ever since.

They wanted Kerry to find MIAs when he went back to 'Nam with McCain so we'd have an exuse to re-invade.

When they came back with only remains of some missing soldiers we normalized relations with Vietnam and put it behind us.

This ran completely against their hopes.

(I think it was Kerry that went back with McCain during the 80s or 90s)

[Roy]

8. Why does John O'Neil hate Kerry so much?

Because it pays well......

[Vickers]

17. Bingo.

RW money + no scruples + poor character + shame at being humiliated by kerry = john o'neill

[AP]

10. Money. It's always money with these people. Hunting of the President,

or any David Brock book should explain this adequately.

[nomatrix]

11. Stewart Nusbaumer says it best

The War Against Vietnam Veterans
By Stewart Nusbaumer

"Many World War II veterans have a problem with Vietnam veterans, always have. It’s not surprising that when returning home from Vietnam few of us joined traditional veterans groups such as the VFW and American Legion. We just didn’t get along. Maybe the older veterans blamed us for not winning the Vietnam War, or maybe they blamed themselves (subconsciously) for sending their children to a war that was not winnable. Maybe Vietnam veterans were oversensitive to their victory and our, well, not victory. I don't really know, but I do know Joe’s voice carried that old animosity when dismissing John Kerry’s Vietnam War record and defending George Bush’s less than stellar military record. It resonated with a past war that I thought was finished. It’s not."

-snip-

"The political Right wanted that war in Vietnam, but what it did not want was the truth about the war as told by the warriors who suffered in the war. And today this same Right will do anything to shut up these graying warriors who insist upon telling the truth."

-snip-

"But dismissing war heroes contradicts everything the Right supposedly stands for; hiding when the nation calls is exactly what the Republicans supposedly detest. This is why when the Left pointed out that Kerry served in war and Bush did not, and pointed out Cleland’s sacrifices and Bush’s escapism, the Republican Right went berserk. Nothing outrages liars more than truth."

-snip-

"For some people, winning in politics is more important than common decency, more important than genuine patriotism, more important than truth -- even more important than the words of their God. Liberals need to understand this and must realize that attacking the opposition’s policies is not enough, not today. They must go after the Republicans' hypocrisy and immorality. Attack the Right-wing ruthlessness that is now slashing our political culture as it denigrates the reputation of good Americans."

http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=648

As a veteran who lost a leg in Vietnam, he should know.

[0007]

14. Great link to Intervention Magazine

Don't forget to vote while checking out this great article.

Who will win the presidential election?

George Bush 14.14 % (782)

John Kerry 85.86 % (4748)

Total votes: 5530
We allow one vote per day

[RetroLounge]

19. Another from ther same site

http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=837

RL

[allalone]

12. oh please

look at him

[gulliver]

13. It's all O'Neill has in life probably.

If O'Neill hadn't been a lifelong attacker of John Kerry, who would he have been? Nobody.

It's funny how O'Neill refused to answer Carville's question on how long he (O'Neill) knew Jerome Corsi, O'Neill's co-"author" who spouted the anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic filth. Maybe these two pieces of dog shit go back a ways.

[slojim240]

15. Must be penis envy. Like Rush hates Clinton.

Must have seen JK in his skivies.

[PATRICK]

16. Well, report on his financial career

then. I doubt it is all hawk idealism after all these decades. Furthermore Nusbaumer is betraying ignorance of his own in not reading up how the American Legion and VFW have been as set up and perverted as the NRA by the same elites that fear soldiers like Kerry very much. After WWI, a pointless slaughterhouse, some rich elite junior officers set up these organizations to deflect and turn veteran anger to inbred honor concerns that in fact would end up promoting war and conservative concerns. Look at the make up of membership and especially leadership of these groups through the years as proof. The fact that WWII temporarily put them in loyal camp of the Democrats in charge of victory was an exception that hid the long term twist of these groups.

This effect has been successfully applied to the general population where a narrow definition of patriotism hides the truth with devastating results.

[TomNickell]

18. Fist fights in the nursing homes!

I don't know specifics about O'Neil's motivations.

But, one day there will be fist fights in nursing homes over Vietnam. It will always be a vastly emotional topic for those of a certain age.

[flpoljunkie]

20. I remember reading that Kerry's crewmates felt that he cared about them,

respected them, listened to them and took care of them--which made him loved by them and resented by his fellow officers who did not enjoy the same rapport and respect from their crewmen--because they did not treat their men in the way John Kerry treated his crewmates--in short they were, and are, envious of his leadership.

[H2O Man]

22. Johnny Got His Gun.......

O'Neil has a very rigid personality type. When he returned from Vietnam, he had to make "sense" of his experience. John does not have the flexibility to go beyond the very few categories his mind had before he went to war .... the black vs white, good vs bad, and patriotism vs enemies.

He heard John Kerry questioning American involvement in Vietnam, and it didn't fit neatly into any of his rigid mental files. Deep down, he knew Kerry was telling the truth, and so he had to bury that truth very deep, or it would shatter his rigid world. So he labled Kerry an "enemy."

The high-point of John's life was when his hero, Richard Nixon, knighted him and set him on the track to a holy war against Kerry. The only person that John may have loved more than Nixon was J. Edgar Hoover. But the result was the same: John began his noble crusade to defend America from a threat even scarier than Uncle Ho -- John Kerry.

For a brief moment, Mr. O'Neil was almost famous. He was the man defending the flag against Kerry. He was on the Dick Cavett show. He believed that his doing Nixon's bidding would open doors for him. But the Nixon administration was opening other doors, and got caught. John O'Neil became an footnote in an ugly chapter in American history.

Thirty years later, John O'Neil is again called upon by the Nixon administration left-overs. And he felt it was not only his opportunity to serve Mr. Nixon again, but he also believed it was his chance to reclaim the position that Kerry denied him.

Is there anything more pathetic than a personwho has not changed a bit in over 30 years?