Hate to go off topic, but regarding Unfit for Command, there were very few conclusions in the book unsupported by evidence either adduced by John O’Neill (who wrote the first half) from official records or Kerry’s biography/diaries; or presented as sworn testimony by eyewitnesses.

What Kerry’s defenders never seemed to get (and still don’t, I suppose) is that Unfit was written by a trial lawyer. It was written as a document specifically designed to withstand charges of libel and defamation (which it has, BTW). That means that ALL evidence is footnoted. Quotations are verbatim. Facts were cross-checked when possible with other facts and corroborating witnesses. It is not possible to say, “The SwiftVets were discredited.” There is simply too much evidence–much of it from Kerry’s own diaries and official biography–for this to be remotely plausible. In fact, despite the media’s belated efforts to assist the Kerry campaign very little in the book was in fact refuted.

I will now provide a very short summary, of just the first charge and the counterclaims by Kerry’s defenders.

1. Kerry’s first Purple Heart–which was claimed for an injury sustained during a nighttime training run with live ammo on a Boston Whaler–was unearned, as it was superficial and was self-inflicted. Counterclaim: the Lt. who provided the eyewitness account was not on the skimmer at the time. Second counterclaim: the medical corpsman quoted in the video, Van Odell, did not sign the injury form, his superior did. Facts: Kerry was unqualified to skipper a boat as a Lt.j.g., therefore it is highly unlikely the senior Lt. was not onboard, as the only other individual involved was also a j.g. Kerry also remembered the Lt. and called to him using his call sign decades later at a veterans event. (The sign was “Batman”.) Kerry’s wound was embarrassingly superficial (a minor piece of shrapnel). It was caused by a piece of shrapnel richocheting from a grenade he launched into the darkness after panicking when he thought the boat had encountered the enemy. The corpsman treated Kerry, but as was standard practice his superior signed the injury release. The treatment was a band-aid.

I could go through every single other point the book makes in similar fashion. Kerry plainly was a glory hound. He was trying to get out of Vietnam using the three “Purple Hearts” rule. He acted sometimes bravely and sometimes cowardly. He was not an exemplary leader, and was not well-regarded by his peers or superiors.

None of this disqualifies him from being president. But coupling this dubious behavior with his absolutely on-the-record, unquestioned lies about his former men-in-arms in the theatre is simply beyond the pale. I won’t even go into to his meeting with the North Vietnamese in Paris while he was still in the USNR. He really was (and is) a complete jerk and not fit to lead.