Reflections on Historian Mary Hershberger's Piece on McCain's War Record, and a Q&A with the Author
by John W. Dean | October 17, 2008
— from FindLaw
Presidential candidate John McCain has made his military experience and record the centerpiece of his campaign for the presidency. Yet we know little more than what the McCain campaign has told us about that record. Rolling Stone offered an overview that raised a few questions, and the Los Angeles Times published a fleeting (albeit partially erroneous) glance that went beyond McCain's campaign literature. However, no serious and hard investigative examinations have been made to determine if McCain's claims about his "heroic" record are true.
Mainstream news organizations such as CBS, NBC and ABC News, the AP and major daily newspapers are probably concerned about embarking on such an inquiry because of what happened during 2004 presidential race: "Swift Boat" veterans from the Vietnam War circulated brutal, dishonest and disgusting smears, falsely attacking John Kerry's war record, largely because they were unhappy with his anti-war activities after he completed his military service. Kerry, it seems, thought the charges were so patently untrue and outrageous that he did not bother to respond to the charges. He also lost that election by a close margin which many attribute to his being "swift-boated."
Much of the mainstream news media was complicit in the attacks against Kerry by the Swift Boat veterans. They treated this bogus assault as news, not feeling it was their task to sort fact from fiction. After Kerry lost, many news organizations realized that they had been effectively manipulated and used by Kerry's opponents. So sleazy were the Swift Boat attacks, that now, in 2008, not only have news organization shied away from any such coverage, but journalists have also largely given John McCain a pass on his war record. They doubtless fear they will be seen as Swift Boaters in this year's contest if they even attempt to dig out the truth.
Fortunately, however,
a few historians who are familiar with McCain's true record - and the one-sided distortion of that record by his campaign - do not believe it serves democracy for them to remain silent. One such historian is Mary Hershberger, who has spent many years examining what did and did not occur in North Vietnam during and after the war with the United States. Her research caused her to read all of the published accounts of the American POWs' experiences, which shed light directly and indirectly on McCain's POW experience.The Questions Raised By Mary Hershberger About McCain's Record - and a Q&A with Her to Follow Up on Them
Mary recognized, as a result of her research, that John McCain's account was deeply flawed. A few of her observations, particularly regarding the often-overlooked parts of McCain's record, were recently published by Truthdig. I am familiar with Mary's work because I met her many years ago at a lunch with Jane Fonda, when Mary was working on her biography of Jane, which included Fonda's activities in Vietnam.
I am now calling attention to Mary's work because I know that she is a solid researcher, and she has raised troubling and fundamental questions about McCain's record.more...
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/17994
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
