Inside Politics

Medal or meddle?

Judicial Watch filed a request yesterday with the U.S. Navy and the Defense Department for an investigation into awards granted to Sen. John Kerry during his service with the U.S. Navy in Vietnam.

The District-based legal group also wants to look into Mr. Kerry’s anti-war activities, including “a meeting with North Vietnamese and Viet Cong delegations in Paris, while he was a member of the Naval Reserve.”

They note that “unresolved allegations against Kerry include: false official reports and statements; dishonorable conduct; aiding the enemy; dereliction of duty; misuse and abuse of U.S. government equipment and property; war crimes; and multiple violations of U.S. Navy regulations and directives, the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the U.S. Code.”

Meanwhile, multiple Washington Times readers have questioned Mr. Kerry’s military records posted at his Web site (www.johnkerry.com) — which they think have been amended for effect.

They note that although Mr. Kerry received citations signed by two admirals, duplicate citations were signed by Navy Secretary John Lehman a dozen years after Mr. Kerry served in Vietnam, with “words added that personally aggrandize Senator Kerry,” according to one observer — a retired Navy admiral.

Mr. Kerry also amended his discharge papers in March 2001, “burnishing his Vietnam Service medal by adding four bronze service stars,” noted another. “Why anyone would go through that effort to make meaningless changes is beyond me.”

Screen gems

Both parties have seized upon the military records of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry as fodder for argument. But the conservative Media Research Center (MRC) has found that ABC, CBS and NBC are siding with the Kerry cause.

The three networks devoted 75 stories on Democrats’ accusations that Mr. Bush had been “AWOL” during his service in the Alabama Air National Guard, but featured only nine stories on Mr. Kerry’s “embellished war record” and gave “no respect to Swift Boat vets for truth,” noted the MRC’s Richard Noyes yesterday.

“Back in February, the three broadcast networks were obsessed with the story of President Bush’s National Guard service. But in May, when John Kerry’s former Navy colleagues from Vietnam went to the National Press Club to charge that Kerry’s tales of heroism as a Swift Boat commander were highly exaggerated, those same networks acted as if their job was to bury the news, not report it,” Mr. Noyes said.

Hearken to Harkin

Sen. Tom Harkin referred to himself as a “fighter pilot” in a speech he made last year.

Story Continues →