This page was last updated on August 31, 2004.

A clumsy letter with manufactured quotes and hypocrisy.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“If President Bush isn’t condemning the ‘Vets for ‘Twisted Truth’ ad, what does it tell us about the character of this man?”

[RWC] Let’s talk about character.  Both President Bush and VP Cheney have always called Kerry’s service admirable and something of which to be proud.  On the other hand, both John Kerry and his wife personally questioned Bush’s National Guard service, likening it to running to Canada to evade the draft.  Oddly, Kerry defended Bill Clinton when it was learned Clinton ran off to England to evade the draft.  What’s that about character?

Why should President Bush condemn the ad by Swift Boat Vets for Truth?  As of this writing, no one has been able to refute successfully the SBVT claims.  All we have is the Kerry campaign whining, “Please Mr. Bush, make them stop.”  If Mr. Kerry can’t even defend himself against campaign ads, how can we expect him to defend our country?  Did you hear President Bush ask John Kerry to make the anti-Bush 527s stop their ads?  No.

Perhaps Mr. Hurlbert can tell us why 20 vets who support Kerry are more credible than 250+ vets who oppose him.  Perhaps Mr. Hurlbert can explain why the Kerry campaign “defense” consists solely of calling the SBVT liars.  In the heat of SBVT challenges, it’s the Kerry campaign that has had to backtrack on some Kerry claims, such as the “Christmas in Cambodia” fabrication.

On a side note, can you imagine the image of a President telling 250+ Vietnam combat veterans to “shut up?”  John Kerry is accustomed to trashing Vietnam vets from his “antiwar” days; President Bush is not.

“He seems to lie with ease, which makes me believe this president lied about why we needed to rush to war right away without thought of more allies at a time when America had its smallest active military.”

[RWC] The claim of lies rolls off the tongues of Bush bashers easily, yet they can never successfully document a lie.  On the other hand, Kerry has been caught in lies yet that’s not a problem for folks like Mr. Hurlbert.

What rush?  Was it a rush after 12+ years of Iraq defying UN resolutions?  Was 12+ months of planning a rush?  What period of time would not have qualified as a “rush?”

How many more allies did we need?  Wasn’t 40+ enough?  Also, keep in mind relatively few countries can provide military assistance comparable to that of the United States.  Would two have been enough as long as they were France and Germany?

“Bush is really gung-ho about ‘his war,’ as he has called it.  He is so gung-ho I wonder where he was during Vietnam.  I believe that he was in the National Guard looking for a way out of it.”

[RWC] For what it’s worth, I performed a Google search and found no references to President Bush ever saying, “This is my war.”  If he did make this statement, we need to know the context so we can know what he meant.

So serving in the National Guard is not serving the country?  If that is Mr. Hurlbert’s opinion, what did he think of Bill Clinton?  Did Mr. Hurlbert vote for Clinton when Clinton ran against WWII combat vets George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole?  If so, Mr. Hurlbert is a partisan hypocrite.

“But yet he is very brave when it comes to cheering our few but brave soldiers on; he was, after all, a cheerleader in college.  In his four years as president of this great country, he is remembered by these great words:

[RWC] I believe you’ll find George Bush was a cheerleader in high school, not college.  The picture most folks use to show Bush was a college cheerleader clearly shows Bush wearing a Phillips Academy – his high school – sweatshirt.  Darn those niggling facts.  In any case, so what?

“1. ‘You are with us or you are against us!’”

[RWC] In an address to a joint session of Congress shortly after 9/11, President Bush said, “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”¹  He was correct.

“2. ‘This is my war.’”

[RWC] As I wrote above, I could not find this quote.

“3. ‘Weapons of mass distraction’ (I think that probably means ‘oil.’)”

[RWC] Mr. Hurlbert apparently likes to make up quotes for Mr. Bush.  I also get a kick out of the “war for oil” idiocy.  This is the same claim made by the Workers World Party.

“And we can’t forget:

“4. ‘Mission impossible, I mean accomplished.’

“Accomplished?  What Bush has accomplished so far is to make more enemies in the world that hate Americans and what we stand for and to wear down our brave military force.  This is the wrong message to the world.  The sooner we get this arrogant, self-centered, self-serving president out of office, the better off America will be.”

[RWC] From the day the banner was displayed on the USS Abraham Lincoln, the message has been intentionally misrepresented.  The message was for the servicemen and servicewomen who prosecuted operation Iraqi Freedom.  Indeed, they accomplished their mission.  Anyone who paid attention to President Bush’s speech in front of that banner on the Lincoln would remember Mr. Bush said, “We have difficult work to do in Iraq.  We’re bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous.”²

“More enemies in the world that hate Americans?”  Another anti-Bush myth.  Our true allies before 9/11 remain our allies.  Only the fair weather “friends” have fallen by the wayside, and good riddance.  We have at least two fewer enemies, Afghanistan and Iraq, and a lot more dead terrorists than we would have otherwise.

To the anti-Bush crowd, the word “arrogant” has taken on a new definition.  Now, the President is “arrogant” if he acts in the best interests of the United States without the approval of France and Germany, two countries we had to defend for nearly 45 years until we defeated the Soviet Union.

1. Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People; President George W. Bush; September 20, 2001.

2. Speech by President Bush on the USS Abraham Lincoln; President George W. Bush; May 1, 2003.

© 2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.