Ed Rasimus wrote:

On 12 Jul 2004 13:41:05 GMT, (ArtKramr) wrote:

Kerry was and is a true decorated war hero.

Who by his own admission in sworn Senate testimony was personally
guilty of committing war crimes and atrocities as well as personally
observing them in his role as a commissioned officer yet not doing
anything to stop them.

I'm not convinced JFK would recognize a war crime if it was
giftwrapped and handed to him. He seems to think that use of an M2 is
a war crime.

That being said, I have no problem with his stance on being
against armed conflict. He's seen the elephant up close and personal,
and killed face to face. He was anti-war to begin with, enlisted
anyway and served with what appears to be significant leadership under
some pretty nasty combat. His initial PH, I don't know enough about to
comment on. His later actions, including the famed dismount from the
boat to engage a VC with an RPG seem pretty gutsy and straightforward.
The firsthand accounts from his boat crew on that day were on a major
news show recently (60 minutes ?). I saw no problems in judgement.
Whether his subsequent discharge hinged on the first PH, I don't know.
I wonder about how it compares to someone like Sgt. Kregg Jorgenson
who continued walking point after several PHs and being very badly
shot up...

Kerry's subsequent voting record, especially in the very tense
80s, is something I *do* question. He was against virtually every
major and necessary defense program, including those that turned out
to be excellent purchases (like - the M1 Abrahms tank, the Patriot
missile system, etc). His persistent lack of understanding the
principles of defense programs and infrastructure, and of strategy and
grand strategy is where I find my biggest differences with him.

It's fortunate that he has come down squarely on BOTH sides of
every issue - so I can tell he agrees with me and always has - but I
can't be confident he'll carry out the solutions to these same issues.


You're enamored of a new word, which you continue to use without
regard to its origins or even its meaning. You may continue to use it,
although since I've been a "conservative" since I first registered to
vote in 1963, I don't think there's anything particularly "neo" about
me.

A lot of people seem to use "neo" to indicate "similar to but
an extreme form of...". I think I like "paraconservative" better.