Hilarious: White House accuses Bergdahl's fellow soldiers of "Swiftboating"!!!

[Quantum Windbag]

"Swiftboating", in case you've forgotten, is the practice used when a soldier tells a lie or comes up with dubious claims. People who don't like such duplicity, then consult all the soldiers who were around him during the incident(s) in question, and ask them publicly what they saw and what happened, thoroughly debunking the lies and dubious claims.

The term came from John Kerry's campaign for President a long time ago. He made several highly dubious claims about his own service in Vietnam, when he was a member of a team of patrol boats called the "Swift Boats". So a large number of his own shipmates, and others who were on nearby boats with Kerry, formed a group called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth", and to a man told a very different story, discrediting Kerry's version of events.

Democrats, naturally, have been ranting ever since that a hundred or more U.S. Navy sailors were all liars, while Kerry was alone in telling the truth.

Now, as more and more of Bowe Bergdahl's fellow soldiers come forward to tell the truth about Bergdahl's questionable "hero" status, the same Democrats are starting the same ranting. Some things never change.

--------------------------------------------

Report: White House Accuses Soldiers Who Served with Bergdahl of 'Swift Boating' | The Weekly Standard

Report: White House Accuses Soldiers Who Served with Bergdahl of 'Swift Boating'

9:24 AM, Jun 4, 2014• By MARK HEMINGWAY

Appearing on the Today Show this morning, Chuck Todd reports that, in response to allegations of possible desertion by Bowe Bergdahl, White House sources are accusing the soldiers that served with him of "swift boating." Prior to the allegations made by those who served with Bergdahl, National Security Advisor Susan Rice had said Bergdahl served with "Honor and distinction." From the transcript of the Today Show:

Every [White House] aide I've talked to said they expected there to be controversy involving the decision to release five members of the taliban from gitmo, and the fact that this would then escalate that debate, which has been simmering for a good five years, which is what to do with those detainees, how do you release them, where do you release them. They did not expect this backlash on bergdahl himself. I've had a few aides describe it to me as we didn't know that they were going to swift boat Bergdahl. And that's a reference to that political fight back in 2004 over john kerry's military service, so there's some fighting words there.

They are upset that the soldiers are telling the truth, what a surprise.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The story broke 2 days ago -- it all seems a little suspicious.

The story broke 2 years ago in Rolling Stone, which is hardly a right wing rag, but don't let facts get in the way of your delusions.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

1. Swift boating
The act of discrediting a political opponent by making exaggurated or outrightly false claims about his/her character and past actions.

Urban Dictionary: swift boating

Swift Boating is when critics tell the truth about someone’s military service when the truth is unhelpful to Democrats.

 

[Siete]

You don't even know what the term swift boating means you idiot. The swift boaters never served "with" Kerry in combat. They were only in the same general area or larger unit. All the sailors who actually served with him and the SF Soldier he rescued vouched for him.

The swift boaters were shown to be liars. Some even admitted such. Swift boating is defined as the use of lies to discredit someone unfairly and with outside financial support connected to a political agenda.
The swift boaters did irreparable harm to Vietnam veterans credibility. They particularly hurt the reputation of fellow sailors and swift boat veterans are often the subject of disrespectful comments thanks to a handful of vets who were easy to buy off. To be a swift boat type vet means a vet who turns on other vets for reward.

How about telling the truth about Bergdahl and clear everything up ? Seems like the reasonable thing to do.

How about I'm perfectly willing to wait until the United States Soldier gets his hearing by his military instead of the enemy. How about we support our troops unconditionally and enforce the promise we make to them to never leave one behind in enemy hands. How about if we don't turn on our beliefs, break our promises and make a mockery our codes of honor just to please some power elite scum bags who have convinced mass's of citizens to join them in the realm of scum bag behavior.

+1


however, making a dent in right wing scum-baggery is next to impossible.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

You don't even know what the term swift boating means you idiot. The swift boaters never served "with" Kerry in combat. They were only in the same general area or larger unit. All the sailors who actually served with him and the SF Soldier he rescued vouched for him.

The swift boaters were shown to be liars. Some even admitted such. Swift boating is defined as the use of lies to discredit someone unfairly and with outside financial support connected to a political agenda.
The swift boaters did irreparable harm to Vietnam veterans credibility. They particularly hurt the reputation of fellow sailors and swift boat veterans are often the subject of disrespectful comments thanks to a handful of vets who were easy to buy off. To be a swift boat type vet means a vet who turns on other vets for reward.

How about telling the truth about Bergdahl and clear everything up ? Seems like the reasonable thing to do.

How about I'm perfectly willing to wait until the United States Soldier gets his hearing by his military instead of the enemy. How about we support our troops unconditionally and enforce the promise we make to them to never leave one behind in enemy hands. How about if we don't turn on our beliefs, break our promises and make a mockery our codes of honor just to please some power elite scum bags who have convinced mass's of citizens to join them in the realm of scum bag behavior.

How about we not pretend that trading high level, and dangerous, enemies for a soldier who walked away from his post is a good idea?

By the way, this is what Obama said about them.

President Obama admitted Tuesday that the five terrorists he traded for US Army POW Bowe Bergdahl could “absolutely” take up arms against America again — as reports said the Taliban commanders were roaming free in *Qatar and could return to Afghanistan as early as next year.
“Is there the possibility of some of them trying to return to activities that are detrimental to us? Absolutely,” Obama said during a news conference in Poland.
“That’s been true of all the prisoners that were released from Guantánamo. There’s a certain recidivism rate that takes place.”

Obama: Released terrorists could ?absolutely? return to battle | New York Post

 

[Quantum Windbag]

How about telling the truth about Bergdahl and clear everything up ? Seems like the reasonable thing to do.

How about I'm perfectly willing to wait until the United States Soldier gets his hearing by his military instead of the enemy. How about we support our troops unconditionally and enforce the promise we make to them to never leave one behind in enemy hands. How about if we don't turn on our beliefs, break our promises and make a mockery our codes of honor just to please some power elite scum bags who have convinced mass's of citizens to join them in the realm of scum bag behavior.

That's sort of the pt. The guy may very well be a deserter, but how can you really know without questioning him? And how can you question him until you physically have him and know he's not under some duress? Do we really leave an American soldier on the battlefield if there's an option?

As for the 5 Taliban .... they never attacked the US. In fact, the US attacked their country. Our justification was they gave aid and comfort to al queda. But, al queda moved into the mountains where no govt has control. The 5 Taliban may be guilty of crimes against their own Afghanis, and probably are, but the only reason we held them was to deny the Taliban command and control of their fighters while our guys occupied Afghanistan. Assuming we intend to (finally) gtfo of that goatcrap pos country in a year, we should turn them loose anyway.

What's surprising to me is how poorly Obama managed the PR of this. He thought the military would have his back. The military has had two potus's who subjected them to multiple combat tours with a failure to define a military mission and call for nation building. I'm disappointed we haven't seen a generation of military leaders come out of this debacle, as we had in Vietnam. But, to expect anything but a simmering hostility and distrust by the military to politicians seems naïve.

You guys are really hing up on this new meme that the Taliban are good guys, aren't you? Did you notice that the guys that were released weren't actually Taliban? Doesn't that make your arguments look a little silly?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

You don't even know what the term swift boating means you idiot. The swift boaters never served "with" Kerry in combat. They were only in the same general area or larger unit. All the sailors who actually served with him and the SF Soldier he rescued vouched for him.

The swift boaters were shown to be liars. Some even admitted such. Swift boating is defined as the use of lies to discredit someone unfairly and with outside financial support connected to a political agenda.
The swift boaters did irreparable harm to Vietnam veterans credibility. They particularly hurt the reputation of fellow sailors and swift boat veterans are often the subject of disrespectful comments thanks to a handful of vets who were easy to buy off. To be a swift boat type vet means a vet who turns on other vets for reward.

How about telling the truth about Bergdahl and clear everything up ? Seems like the reasonable thing to do.

finding the truth about him would be the first step to doing that. But, after sending soldiers into combat tour after combat tour through two incompetent potus's, I don't blame them at all if they didn't want to risk their necks for the guy ... who prolly is a deserter.

How many tours did this guy do again?

 

[BlindBoo]

1. Swift boating
The act of discrediting a political opponent by making exaggurated or outrightly false claims about his/her character and past actions.

Urban Dictionary: swift boating

Swift Boating is when critics tell the truth about someone’s military service when the truth is unhelpful to Democrats.

Yep in opposite world that's true. In this world however those vets were not in a position to determine one way or the other on what Kerry did

"SBVT asserted that Kerry was "unfit to serve" as President based upon his alleged "willful distortion of the conduct" of American servicemen during that war, and his alleged "withholding and/or distortion of material facts" as to his own conduct during that war.[2] This claim caused tremendous controversy during the election, particularly because these veterans, most of whom had not been in a place to assess Kerry, challenged the legitimacy of each of the combat medals awarded to Kerry even though most[3] of the Vietnam veterans who served alongside Kerry or under his command disputed the criticisms and supported Kerry's version of events and his presidential aspirations.

The group's tactics are considered an example of a successful political smear campaign"

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Smear campaign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[CaféAuLait]

The story broke 2 days ago -- it all seems a little suspicious.

But in 2012 the same reporter who outed General McChrystal wrote the same things and the facts all pointed towards desertion, sending uniforms home, stating he was going to walk away and he hated being an American.


Bowe Bergdahl: America's Last Prisoner of War by Michael Hastings | Politics News | Rolling Stone

 

[Siete]

time will heal the wounds of speculation one way or the other

 

[peach174]

The story broke 2 days ago -- it all seems a little suspicious.

This Story broke 2 days ago?
This story has been around since the kid got captured in June of 2009.
Way back in July of 2009 we all were talking about him possible being a deserter.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

1. Swift boating
The act of discrediting a political opponent by making exaggurated or outrightly false claims about his/her character and past actions.

Urban Dictionary: swift boating

Swift Boating is when critics tell the truth about someone’s military service when the truth is unhelpful to Democrats.

Yep in opposite world that's true. In this world however those vets were not in a position to determine one way or the other on what Kerry did

"SBVT asserted that Kerry was "unfit to serve" as President based upon his alleged "willful distortion of the conduct" of American servicemen during that war, and his alleged "withholding and/or distortion of material facts" as to his own conduct during that war.[2] This claim caused tremendous controversy during the election, particularly because these veterans, most of whom had not been in a place to assess Kerry, challenged the legitimacy of each of the combat medals awarded to Kerry even though most[3] of the Vietnam veterans who served alongside Kerry or under his command disputed the criticisms and supported Kerry's version of events and his presidential aspirations.

The group's tactics are considered an example of a successful political smear campaign"

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Smear campaign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kerry lied about what he saw in Vietnam, a bunch of vets took exception to him calling them baby killers, and you are claiming that proves they smeared him.

Gotta love the logic.

 

[CaféAuLait]

The story broke 2 days ago -- it all seems a little suspicious.

This Story broke 2 days ago?
This story has been around since the kid got captured in June of 2009.
Way back in July of 2009 we all were talking about him possible being a deserter.

Its strange how all that is forgotten. The Rolling Stone article, by Hastings was embraced by the left in 2012 because it showed that war can drive a soldier to go AWOL and now its all lies. LOL

Bowe Bergdahl: America's Last Prisoner of War by Michael Hastings | Politics News | Rolling Stone

 

[BlindBoo]

Swift Boating is when critics tell the truth about someone’s military service when the truth is unhelpful to Democrats.

Yep in opposite world that's true. In this world however those vets were not in a position to determine one way or the other on what Kerry did

"SBVT asserted that Kerry was "unfit to serve" as President based upon his alleged "willful distortion of the conduct" of American servicemen during that war, and his alleged "withholding and/or distortion of material facts" as to his own conduct during that war.[2] This claim caused tremendous controversy during the election, particularly because these veterans, most of whom had not been in a place to assess Kerry, challenged the legitimacy of each of the combat medals awarded to Kerry even though most[3] of the Vietnam veterans who served alongside Kerry or under his command disputed the criticisms and supported Kerry's version of events and his presidential aspirations.

The group's tactics are considered an example of a successful political smear campaign"

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Smear campaign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kerry lied about what he saw in Vietnam, a bunch of vets took exception to him calling them baby killers, and you are claiming that proves they smeared him.

Gotta love the logic.

No, actually the claim is that most of those swiftboaters were not in a position to observe Kerry's actions in Vietnam.

There is no doubt a bunch of Vets didn't much like his testimony. Doesn't make what they said about him true either. Nor does it prove that swiftboating is anything other than a PR smear campaign.

https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~ebolt/history398/johnkerrytestimony.html

 

[bripat9643]

1. Swift boating
The act of discrediting a political opponent by making exaggurated or outrightly false claims about his/her character and past actions.

Urban Dictionary: swift boating

Liberal dictionary:
=============================
swiftboating - telling the truth about a liberal.

 

[bripat9643]

1. Swift boating
The act of discrediting a political opponent by making exaggurated or outrightly false claims about his/her character and past actions.

Urban Dictionary: swift boating

The Urban Dictionary? Are you fucking serious? Kerry's political opponents didnt swift boat him, Kerry's fellow soldiers did. The people who were THERE.

Please then list the crewmates who actually serves with Kerry who were members of the Swiftboaters.

You mean the guys on the boat 15 feet away couldn't determine what was happening on Kerry's boat?

 

[Peach]

Are democrats going to claim that the 14 men who died as a result of Bergdahl's desertion didn't really die? Maybe Susan Rice will say the deaths were faked as part of a republican plot.

Naw, It's W's fault

It was 6, now 14. No question, INVESTIGATE.

 

[Peach]

time will heal the wounds of speculation one way or the other

I hope so. This goes from good news to a "scandal" within 1 day.

 

[HenryBHough]

Ah, but how could any of those who were with Kerry during his playtime knew what was deep in his heart?

(/sarcasm)

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Yep in opposite world that's true. In this world however those vets were not in a position to determine one way or the other on what Kerry did

"SBVT asserted that Kerry was "unfit to serve" as President based upon his alleged "willful distortion of the conduct" of American servicemen during that war, and his alleged "withholding and/or distortion of material facts" as to his own conduct during that war.[2] This claim caused tremendous controversy during the election, particularly because these veterans, most of whom had not been in a place to assess Kerry, challenged the legitimacy of each of the combat medals awarded to Kerry even though most[3] of the Vietnam veterans who served alongside Kerry or under his command disputed the criticisms and supported Kerry's version of events and his presidential aspirations.

The group's tactics are considered an example of a successful political smear campaign"

Swift Vets and POWs for Truth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Smear campaign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kerry lied about what he saw in Vietnam, a bunch of vets took exception to him calling them baby killers, and you are claiming that proves they smeared him.

Gotta love the logic.

No, actually the claim is that most of those swiftboaters were not in a position to observe Kerry's actions in Vietnam.

There is no doubt a bunch of Vets didn't much like his testimony. Doesn't make what they said about him true either. Nor does it prove that swiftboating is anything other than a PR smear campaign.

https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~ebolt/history398/johnkerrytestimony.html

Funny, I don't recall mentioning what he did in 'Nam.