Posted on Aug 10, 2024
A brief history of swift boating, from John Kerry to Tim Walz
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In questioning Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s military record, Republicans are dusting off a political playbook they last used successfully exactly 20 years ago.
There’s even a name for it: swift boating.
The term — which has since made its way into dictionaries — refers to an unfair or untrue political attack. It gets its name from a Vietnam War veterans’ group’s smear campaign against John Kerry during his 2004 presidential bid. LTC Eugene Chu Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Maj Kim Patterson Maj (Join to see) LTC (Join to see) Capt Dwayne Conyers Capt Walter Miller CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana MSgt Neil Greenfield MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy MSgt Arthur Stewart MSG Stan Hutchison MSgt Steve Sweeney MSgt Michael Bischoff SSgt Richard Kensinger SFC Jo Ann Klawitter 1SG (Join to see) SGT Charlie Lee SP5 Dennis Loberger CPL LaForest Gray
There’s even a name for it: swift boating.
The term — which has since made its way into dictionaries — refers to an unfair or untrue political attack. It gets its name from a Vietnam War veterans’ group’s smear campaign against John Kerry during his 2004 presidential bid. LTC Eugene Chu Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Maj Kim Patterson Maj (Join to see) LTC (Join to see) Capt Dwayne Conyers Capt Walter Miller CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana MSgt Neil Greenfield MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy MSgt Arthur Stewart MSG Stan Hutchison MSgt Steve Sweeney MSgt Michael Bischoff SSgt Richard Kensinger SFC Jo Ann Klawitter 1SG (Join to see) SGT Charlie Lee SP5 Dennis Loberger CPL LaForest Gray
A brief history of swift boating, from John Kerry to Tim Walz
Posted from npr.orgPosted in these groups: 
Political Opinions
Political Opinions
Posted 4 mo ago
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At the end of the day folks like Price, McGreal, and Frazer are going to believe what they want to believe. They aren't interested in facts. They will take the statements of two CSM's in a paid letter over CSM Eustice and Soldiers who served alongside and under Walz because of their dedication to MAGA.
ABC News spoke to Joseph Eustice, a retired command sergeant major who served with Walz, and he told the news organization this week that “he remembers Walz struggling with the timing of wanting to serve as a lawmaker but also avoiding asking for a deferment so he could do so.”
“He had a window of time,” Eustice told ABC News. “He had to decide. And in his deciding, we were not on notice to be deployed. There were rumors. There were lots of rumors, and we didn’t know where we were going until it was later that, early summer, I believe.”
Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz, also recalled Walz agonizing over the decision.
“It was a very long conversation behind closed doors,” Bonnifield told the Washington Post this week. “He was trying to decide where he could do better for soldiers, for veterans, for the country. He weighed that for a long time.”
In 2018, Bonnifield told MPR News that Walz worried in early 2005, “Would the soldier look down on him because he didn’t go with us? Would the common soldier say, ‘Hey, he didn’t go with us, he’s trying to skip out on a deployment?’ And he wasn’t. He talked with us for quite a while on that subject. He weighed that decision to run for Congress very heavy. He loved the military, he loved the guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with.”
https://www.factcheck.org/2024/08/attacks-on-walzs-military-record/
ABC News spoke to Joseph Eustice, a retired command sergeant major who served with Walz, and he told the news organization this week that “he remembers Walz struggling with the timing of wanting to serve as a lawmaker but also avoiding asking for a deferment so he could do so.”
“He had a window of time,” Eustice told ABC News. “He had to decide. And in his deciding, we were not on notice to be deployed. There were rumors. There were lots of rumors, and we didn’t know where we were going until it was later that, early summer, I believe.”
Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz, also recalled Walz agonizing over the decision.
“It was a very long conversation behind closed doors,” Bonnifield told the Washington Post this week. “He was trying to decide where he could do better for soldiers, for veterans, for the country. He weighed that for a long time.”
In 2018, Bonnifield told MPR News that Walz worried in early 2005, “Would the soldier look down on him because he didn’t go with us? Would the common soldier say, ‘Hey, he didn’t go with us, he’s trying to skip out on a deployment?’ And he wasn’t. He talked with us for quite a while on that subject. He weighed that decision to run for Congress very heavy. He loved the military, he loved the guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with.”
https://www.factcheck.org/2024/08/attacks-on-walzs-military-record/
Attacks on Walz's Military Record - FactCheck.org
In introducing her pick for vice presidential running mate, Kamala Harris has prominently touted Tim Walz's 24 years of service in the Army National Guard. Now, however, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance and the Trump campaign are attacking Walz on his military record, accusing the Minnesota governor of "stolen valor."
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