In the spirit of the holiday, we thought we'd organize today's column
around
some things that we're thankful for. First on the list: John Kerry. When
he
lost the presidential race three years ago, we had mixed feelings. On the
one
hand, relief, for Kerry seemed ill-suited for such an im****tant job. (For
all
the complaints we hear these days about President Bush, we can't remember
anyone saying the country would be better off if only we'd elected Kerry.)
But
we also felt regret at the prospect of missing out on all the hilarity a
Kerry
presidency would have been sure to provide.
But as it turns out, Kerry is a comic perpetual motion machine. Even as
the
lowly junior senator from Massachusetts, he continues to make us laugh.
The
latest: A couple of weeks ago we attended The American Spectator's annual
dinner in Wa****ngton, where energy executive T. Boone Pickens issued a
challenge. Pickens said he would pay $1 million to anyone who could prove
that
any of the allegations the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth made about Kerry
were
false.
Earlier this week it was re****ted that Kerry was taking Pickens up on his
offer (we noted it Monday). Yesterday Spectator editor Bob Tyrrell sent
along
the correspondence between Kerry and Pickens (Pickens's reply comes first,
then Kerry's original letter), and it turns out there's a lot less to this
than meets the eye. Kerry merely asserts that "I am prepared to prove the
lie
beyond any reasonable doubt" and then demands the moolah:
I would request that your check be made payable to the Paralyzed
Veterans of America... My hope is that by sending this money
to such a dedicated organization--founded for veterans, by
veterans--some good can come out of the ugly smears and lies
of the orchestrated campaign you bankrolled in 204 in an
attempt to discredit my military record and the record of the
men who served alongside me on the Swift Boats of the Mekong
Delta.[This is in Vietnam, where the Swift Boat Veterans for
Truth allege that Kerry served.]
I would be more than happy to travel to Dallas with you in
a mutually agreed upon public forum, or would invite you to
join me in Massachusetts for a public dialogue and then
together we could visit the Paralyzed Veterans of America
in Norwood and see firsthand how we can put your money to
good work for our veterans.
Pickens wasn't born yesterday, however. He wrote back noting that Kerry
actually had to prove it. He asked Kerry to send "the journal you
maintained
during your service in Vietnam" and "your military record, specifically
your
service records for the years 1971-1978, and copies of all movies and
tapes
made during your service."
Well, Boone, good luck trying to get those military records. Kerry
promised to
release them 1,028 days ago, and an anxious nation (except for a few
select
re****ters) still holds its breath.
--
"You know, education--if you make the most of it, you study hard, you
do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do
well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." JFKerry
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