Apparently, his journal isn’t consistent with the official story of one of his Purple Hearts. No biggie. He can just say he lied to his diary. After all, the press bought it during the Clinton administration (see Steiner, Josh).

No doubt this will be their strategy, since Drudge is reporting that, in desperation at what horrible (as in “incompetent”) liars both the candidate and his spokesmen to date are, the campaign wants to bring back the smooth Mike McCurry, whom the press all loved and were always willing–no, strike that–eager to believe.

I’m starting to think that “Unfit for Command” is likely to be viewed in the future as a much more reliable history of Kerry’s Vietnam activities than Brinkley’s hagiography.

[Thursday morning update]

Hugh Hewitt notes that Brinkley is AWOL:

As for historian Brinkley, he too is unavailable, even though the media wants him and such appearances could sell a lot of his books. His publisher must be wondering why Professor Brinkley is not accepting invitations to appear on cable or nationally-syndicated radio shows, which are the big wins for anyone peddling a book. (Believe me, I know about how books are sold these days, and Brinkley isn’t acting like any other author I have ever seen.) Going to the mattresses hasn’t worked for the past two weeks, and I don’t think it will work for the next two weeks. The story has legs until we get the run down on John Kerry, secret agent man in Cambodia.

Hugh also has some questions for the historian.

Apparently, his journal isn’t consistent with the official story of one of his Purple Hearts. No biggie. He can just say he lied to his diary. After all, the press bought it during the Clinton administration (see Steiner, Josh).

No doubt this will be their strategy, since Drudge is reporting that, in desperation at what horrible (as in “incompetent”) liars both the candidate and his spokesmen to date are, the campaign wants to bring back the smooth Mike McCurry, whom the press all loved and were always willing–no, strike that–eager to believe.

I’m starting to think that “Unfit for Command” is likely to be viewed in the future as a much more reliable history of Kerry’s Vietnam activities than Brinkley’s hagiography.

[Thursday morning update]

Hugh Hewitt notes that Brinkley is AWOL:

As for historian Brinkley, he too is unavailable, even though the media wants him and such appearances could sell a lot of his books. His publisher must be wondering why Professor Brinkley is not accepting invitations to appear on cable or nationally-syndicated radio shows, which are the big wins for anyone peddling a book. (Believe me, I know about how books are sold these days, and Brinkley isn’t acting like any other author I have ever seen.) Going to the mattresses hasn’t worked for the past two weeks, and I don’t think it will work for the next two weeks. The story has legs until we get the run down on John Kerry, secret agent man in Cambodia.

Hugh also has some questions for the historian.

One gets the impression from this particular bleat that, even in light of the anniversary, James Lileks isn’t impressed either with minstrels spouting politics, or politicians who (pretend to) take them seriously:

I like Bruckner, and the Pet Shop Boys. I like 1930s pop music, except for country. So? These details give a false sense of intimacy, and while that

If some 527 were to run some ads with quotes from this story, would Kerry benefit, or Bush?

If some 527 were to run some ads with quotes from this story, would Kerry benefit, or Bush?

If some 527 were to run some ads with quotes from this story, would Kerry benefit, or Bush?

Joe Scarborough just had a debate between John O’Neill and John Hurley. It’s the first time I’ve seen a fair debate between the two sides, with no interruptions for ad hominems allowed.

I think that O’Neill has prepared the battlefield very carefully. I also think that Senator Kerry is in big trouble–his self-aggrandizement and lies for the past three-plus decades are finally catching up with him. One almost wonders if the Clintons are orchestrating this to keep the path clear for Hillary in four years.

[Update on Tuesday afternoon (6:20 Eastern)]

Brit Hume is interviewing O’Neill one on one.

Of course, to be fair, probably few of them have any actual firearms experience, given their stance on guns…

The Kerry campaign, in response to charges that he’s soft on intelligence, says that he was Vice-Chair of the Intelligence Committee. This is an assertion easily proven false. Apparently whoever came up with this gem didn’t know the difference between their candidate and his former colleague, Senator Bob Kerrey.

You’d like to think that, given how much baggage from his past the Senator apparently carries, he’d hire competent people to defend his record. You’d also like to think that the people he’d hire to help run the country, if elected, would be more competent than those he’s hired to run his campaign.

Unfortunately, there’s sparse evidence on the ground that either of these hopes will be other than forlorn.

Of course, to be fair, probably few of them have any actual firearms experience, given their stance on guns…

The Kerry campaign, in response to charges that he’s soft on intelligence, says that he was Vice-Chair of the Intelligence Committee. This is an assertion easily proven false. Apparently whoever came up with this gem didn’t know the difference between their candidate and his former colleague, Senator Bob Kerrey.

You’d like to think that, given how much baggage from his past the Senator apparently carries, he’d hire competent people to defend his record. You’d also like to think that the people he’d hire to help run the country, if elected, would be more competent than those he’s hired to run his campaign.

Unfortunately, there’s sparse evidence on the ground that either of these hopes will be other than forlorn.

Of course, to be fair, probably few of them have any actual firearms experience, given their stance on guns…

The Kerry campaign, in response to charges that he’s soft on intelligence, says that he was Vice-Chair of the Intelligence Committee. This is an assertion easily proven false. Apparently whoever came up with this gem didn’t know the difference between their candidate and his former colleague, Senator Bob Kerrey.

You’d like to think that, given how much baggage from his past the Senator apparently carries, he’d hire competent people to defend his record. You’d also like to think that the people he’d hire to help run the country, if elected, would be more competent than those he’s hired to run his campaign.

Unfortunately, there’s sparse evidence on the ground that either of these hopes will be other than forlorn.