John Kerry's Silver Star

I haven't paid much attention to the circumstances surrounding the action that earned John Kerry his Silver Star for gallantry, since the salient fact to my mind is that, after serving with honor, he came home and stabbed his buddies in the back. But this post over at PowerLine piqued my curiosity:

In Mar '68, a lone VC fired an RPG at that Prick's boat, resulting in another miss. One of the crewmen answered this with about 50 rounds from a twin-mount 50 cal MG, wounding the VC, who jumped out of sight. That Prick beached the boat (dumb dumb dumb) where the VC had been, jumped ashore, found the wounded VC, killed him, and returned to the boat with the offending RPG launcher. For this "action," an infantry PFC wouldn't have gotten so much as a pat on the back, but that Prick ended up with a Silver Star!

Aside from some surprise that none of the usual suspects has started whining about the shooting of the wounded man, it does sound a little light on the "marked distinction" required. But it is the 3rd highest award so I wasn't expecting an Audie Murphy story. And like most things in life, the awarding of medals isn't always "fair," and sometimes the folks from prominent Boston families make out better than the rest of us.

But I was sufficiently curious to do a little Googling of other Silver Star recipients (there doesn't seem to be an archive of all of the citations). Here's one awarded posthumously for WWII to Paul Henry Carr, Gunner's Mate Third Class, United States Naval Reserve:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Gun Captain of a 5"/38 Mount on the USS Samuel B. ROBERTS, in action against enemy Japanese forces off Samar Island during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, October 25, 1944. With the power of the rammer lost and mechanical failures in the ammunition hoist, CARR manned his station steadfastly in the face of continuous close-range fire of enemy guns during an attack by a numerically superior Japanese surface force on the Samuel B. Roberts. By his outstanding technical skill and courageous initiative, CARR was instrumental in causing rapid and heavy fire from the gun to inflict damage upon an enemy heavy cruiser. Although mortally wounded by the premature detonation of a powder charge, fired by hand, CARR tried unassisted to load and ram the only projectile available to that mount after order to abandon ship had been given. His aggressive determination of duty reflected the highest credit upon CARR and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country."

And here's some for Vietnam (scroll down). I'll quote the one to Staff Sergeant Billy J. Brickey, United States Marine Corps:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as Squad Leader with Company I, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines in connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 22 July 1966, Staff Sergeant BRICKEY's squad was serving as point for a company column, moving down a wide streambed, when the point fire team was ambushed at close range from enemy positions along the steep banks of the streambed.

The fire team immediately sustained several casualties and was pinned down by heavy and accurate enemy automatic rifle fire. Maneuvering his remaining teams into positions to neutralize the enemy fire, Staff Sergeant BRICKEY left his place of relative safety to render aid to the wounded Marines. Continually and with complete disregard for his own safety, he crossed the exposed area under withering enemy fire to carry the wounded to safety.

During one of his rescue attempts, Staff Sergeant BRICKEY was wounded by enemy fire and suffered wounds in his right arm and hand. Selflessly, he continued to direct fire on the enemy and to care for the wounded until they had all been moved to a safe position. After routing the enemy, Staff Sergeant BRICKEY directed the remainder of his squad in clearing a zone for the medical evacuation helicopter.

His outstanding leadership and compassion for his fellow Marines inspired all who observed him and were instrumental in saving the lives of several of his companions. By his extraordinary courage, bold initiative, and selfless devotion to duty, Staff Sergeant BRICKEY upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

They do seem to be of a different caliber. But lest you think that Kerry's is exceptional, take a gander at this one awarded to Lyndon Baines Johnson:

"For gallantry in action in the vicinity of Port Moresby and Salamaua, New Guinea on June 9, 1942. While on a mission of obtaining information in the Southwest Pacific area, Lieutenant Commander Johnson, in order to obtain personal knowledge of combat conditions, volunteered as an observer on a hazardous aerial combat mission over hostile positions in New Guinea. As our planes neared the target area they were intercepted by eight hostile fighters. When, at this time, the plane in which Lieutenant Commander Johnson was an observer, developed mechanical trouble and was forced to turn back alone, presenting a favorable target to the enemy fighters, he evidenced marked coolness in spite of the hazards involved. His gallant action enabled him to obtain and return with valuable information."

I believe this translates as "he was an observer in a plane in a combat zone." Hmmm, maybe being well connected does help.

Bring it on!

Michael Grunwald in The New Republic - Is Kerry Really the most electable Democrat? Bring it on?

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry likes to say that, if he's the Democratic nominee and President Bush wants to make the election a referendum on national security, he has just three words to say: "Bring It On!" But what if Kerry becomes the nominee and Bush wants to make the election more than a referendum on national security? What would the Republicans bring on then?

In all likelihood, they would hammer Kerry for his opposition to mandatory minimum sentences for dealers who sell drugs to children and for voting against the death penalty for terrorists. They would mock his efforts to provide cash benefits to drug addicts and alcoholics, and his onetime opposition to a modest work requirement for welfare recipients. They would trash him for supporting more than half a trillion dollars in tax increases-including hikes in gas taxes and Social Security taxes on ordinary Americans-while accepting free housing and other goodies for himself from friendly influence-peddlers. They would even point out that, when Kerry served as lieutenant governor under one Michael S. Dukakis, Massachusetts famously furloughed more than 500 murderers and sex offenders under a program Kerry later defended as tough.

In fact, they already have.

In 1996, Republican Governor William Weld ran an aggressive campaign for Kerry's Massachusetts Senate seat, blasting him as a soft-on-crime, soft-on-welfare, crazed-on-taxes paleoliberal. He accused Kerry of siding with murderers and junkies over victims and taxpayers; he ran one ad with the slogan: "FREE RENT FOR KERRY, HIGHER TAXES FOR US."

It didn't quite work. Weld was the wrong guy, 1996 was the wrong year, and Massachusetts was the wrong state for a chest-thumping, red-meat, ditch-the-wuss conservative message. Kerry relentlessly linked Weld to the Republican bogeymen Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott, and Bob Dole, energizing his state's powerful labor unions and yellow-dog Democratic establishment, and he managed to escape with a seven-point victory in a state where Bill Clinton thrashed Dole by 34 points. But George W. Bush is not Bill Weld, 2004 is not 1996, and the United States most assuredly is not Massachusetts.

Yum!

Follow the money right to the gigolo

AP Links Kerry Nominations to Donations

At least three times in his Senate career, Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites) has recommended individuals for positions at federal home loan banks just before or after receiving political contributions from the nominees, records show.

Lurch says it's just an amazing coincidence, just like Kerry: Blocked Law, Donations Not Linked:

John Kerry said Thursday his intervention on a legislative matter that affected the nation's most expensive highway project had nothing to do with an insurer who benefited from his action and later gave him tens of thousands of dollars in donations.

I guess it's just another example of good things happening to good people.

Thanks, pal!

Kerry disses Guard

John Kerry slipped in a shiv Tuesday night when asked about President Bush's service record. He seemed to lump those who joined the National Guard with those who didn't serve - and that could backfire with Guard vets.

"I would defend the President's choice with respect to going into the Guard," said Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran. "I've never made any judgments about any choice somebody made about avoiding the draft, about going to Canada, going to jail, being a conscientious objector, going into the National Guard. Those are choices people make."

Good job, Lurch!

No word on where providing aid and comfort to the enemy and spreading scurrilous lies about fellow soldiers fits on Kerry's scale. Must be pretty high since he did it.

But I thought Leftoids loved to pay taxes?

Bush budget soaks S.F. for Hetch Hetchy: Rent would jump from $30,000 to $8 million a year

President Bush's new budget contains an unwelcome bombshell for San Francisco, a proposal to raise the rent the city pays for its Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park from $30,000 a year to a whopping $8 million.

The city's representatives in Congress pledged Tuesday to fight the proposed increase in the rent, which hasn't gone up in more than 70 years.

As expected, Pelosi and Feinstein started the howling.

But removing the dam and letting Hetch Hetchy Valley return to its natural state has been a big Green cause celebre since the days of John Muir. I say tax the evil exploiters and greedy ravagers of nature's beauty!

Preemptive strike alert!

Kerry Clan's Own Watergate

During Kerry's 1972 bid for Congress, his younger brother, Cameron Kerry, was arrested for "breaking into . . . the headquarters of a Kerry opponent," the New York Times reported on Sept. 19 of that year. Kerry's headquarters were in the same building in Lowell, Mass.

Cameron Kerry and another campaign worker pleaded not guilty to charges of "breaking and entering with the intent to commit grand larceny."

John Kerry characterized the break-in as a preemptive strike and told the Times the two men "entered the building after receiving an anonymous telephone threat . . . that the telephone lines at his [own] headquarters were to be sabotaged."

That intelligence seems a tad dubious. No word on whether they found any weapons of phone line destruction.

Home movies alert!

Saddam in 'Terror Tape'

New footage has been released purporting to show Saddam Hussein paying large sums of money to a terrorist group.
...
The footage given to Sky News was reportedly looted from one of Saddam's palaces.

Unlike "Osama" these days, they could apparently afford a video camera. Whether or not the tape is legit, ole Saddy was famous for paying a reward for suicide bombers in Israel. What more do you need?

Speaking of which, there was another of those pesky work related accidents today - Palestinian Militant Killed in Gaza Blast:

A leader of the Hamas militant group's military wing has been killed in an explosion at a Gaza Strip refugee camp, according to AFP.

Hamas officials identified the militant leader as 36-year-old Abdel Naser Abu Shuka.

Witnesses reportedly spotted Israeli helicopters hovering over the camp shortly after the blast, although the Israeli military has denied operating in the area.

An Israeli military source said the army suspected that Abu Shuka died in an accident while preparing an explosive.

Bummer! No Saddy bucks and no raisins either.

But no worries about a fun shortage in the Middle East, because Allah has a graphic illustration of

"it seemed as if Arab youth would some day be getting their spiritual advice from Snoop Dogg instead of an austere Islamic cleric"

Damn scary! Speaking of Allah, the big fella is getting sloppy over Howie's sad straits. Me too, sniff!

That's our boy!

Howie Carr has more fun with Lurch - The Real Kerry:

ONE of the surest ways to get the phones ringing on any Massachusetts talk-radio show is to ask people to call in and tell their John Kerry stories. The phone lines are soon filled, and most of the stories have a common theme: our junior senator pulling rank on one of his constituents, breaking in line, demanding to pay less (or nothing) or ducking out before the bill arrives.

The tales often have one other common thread. Most end with Sen. Kerry inquiring of the lesser mortal: "Do you know who I am?"

And now he's running for president as a populist.

Lots of good anecdotes - here's a sample:

At the risk of engaging in ethnic stereotyping, Yankees have a reputation for, shall we say, frugality. And Kerry tosses around quarters like they were manhole covers. In 1993, for instance, living on a senator's salary of about $100,000, he managed to give a total of $135 to charity.

Yet that same year, he was somehow able to scrape together $8,600 for a brand-new, imported Italian motorcycle, a Ducati Paso 907 IE. He kept it for years, until he decided to run for president, at which time he traded it in for a Harley-Davidson like the one he rode onto "The Tonight Show" set a couple of months ago as Jay Leno applauded his fellow Bay Stater.

Of course, in 1993 he was between his first and second heiresses - a time he now calls "the wandering years," although an equally apt description might be "the freeloading years."

For some of the time, he was, for all practical purposes, homeless. His friends allowed him into a real-estate deal in which he flipped a condo for quick resale, netting a $21,000 profit on a cash investment of exactly nothing. For months he rode around in a new car supplied by a shady local Buick dealer. When the dealer's ties to a congressman who was later indicted for racketeering were exposed, Kerry quickly explained that the non-payment was a mere oversight, and wrote out a check.

In the Senate, his record of his constituent services has been lackluster, and most of his colleagues, despite their public support, are hard-pressed to list an accomplishment. Just last fall, a Boston TV reporter ambushed three congressmen with the question, name something John Kerry has accomplished in Congress. After a few nervous giggles, two could think of nothing, and a third mentioned a baseball field, and then misidentified Kerry as "Sen. Kennedy."

Some people think Kerry is pond scum who never missed an opportunity to support this country's enemies. While that's certainly true, I tend to think he's a self-aggrandizing parasite who would do anything to get and keep his place at the public trough.

Everyone's doing it!

Europe aiming to put astronauts on Mars

The European Space Agency has embarked on an ambitious space plan that includes sending astronauts to Mars in 2033.

The ultimate goal of sending people to Mars is similar to the initiative outlined by US President George W Bush in January, but ESA's programme, called Aurora, is far more detailed.

The Chinese have yet to be heard from.

Obligatory Election Post

I was going to skip commenting on yesterday's primaries because "everybody's doing it", but here are a few laughs.

Rev. spins after flop

COLUMBIA, S.C. - As the Rev. Al Sharpton delivered his "victory speech" at the Sheraton Hotel here, he shared the ballroom with members of the South Carolina Funeral Directors Association.

It was a good fit. Undertakers are used to insincere speeches.

"Nobody would have predicted that I would finish ahead of [Howard] Dean, [Wesley] Clark, [Joseph] Lieberman and [Dennis] Kucinich," Sharpton said after tallying 9.6% of the state's vote. "I'm a first-tier candidate."

John Ellis - He's Alive

Watching Chris Matthews of MSNBC slather all over Senator John Edwards tonight was embarrassing on any number of levels, but it was a useful reminder to Ellisblog that one must never underestimate the power of the national news media when it seeks a desired outcome.

"Is it just a matter of having people see how good you are, Senator Edwards" asked Mr. Matthews of his somewhat startled guest. "Yes, I think that's right" said Sen. Edwards by way of reply. You really can't make this stuff up.

Bwahaha! Chris Matthews is a legend in his own mind.

And so it was proclaimed this evening that we now have a two-man race between Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards for the Democratic presidential nomination. It is hardly clear that this is so. The facts would seem to argue otherwise. But never mind about that, dittoheads. The Show must go on and the media will produce it.

Ain't we got fun!

Leftoid tears in The Problem With Kerry: He’s so -- zzzzzzzzzzz ... plus a rather unflattering snap of the gigolo.

And Howie Carr in the ($ subscription required) Boston Herald - It's Deja Duke all over again, but Long Jawn ain't tanking yet

You know, since 1988, M. Stanley Dukakis has become a standing joke, George McGovern in a tank. He's relegated to the Fritz Mondale-Jimmy Carter super-loser category. But remember, the Duke was 17 points ahead of Bush I after the Democratic convention.

If the Duke had been of sound mind, and Al Gore hadn't invented Willie Horton in the New York primary, the Duke might well have become the 41st president.

It was scary there for a while, but all's well that ends well, and 1988 ended magnificently. Only now, 16 years later, it's deja vu, although this time it's the Duke's lieutenant governor who's rolling toward . . . Boston.

Which is, of course, the Republicans' secret weapon. The Democratic convention is going to take place right here, and if yesterday's urine-drenched chug-a-lug party on City Hall Plaza is any indication, Mumbles and his gang of knuckleheads are far from ready for prime time.

Yesterday was a dry run convention, and it quickly became a wet run. And think of how much tougher July's rioters will be than yesterday's drunk teenagers. If Seattle couldn't handle the anarchists and wackos who descended on the WTO conference a couple of years back, then how possibly can Mumbles?

How odd it is that George Bush's best friend in the coming campaign may be Mumbles Menino, the mayor who said yesterday he couldn't put porta-potties on City Hall Plaza because they might be used ``as weapons.''

Who knew the Incredible Hulk was lumbering downtown to start a riot?

Sounds like I missed a party!

What does Karl Rove propose to throw at Kerry? The fact that his car didn't have a Massachusetts inspection sticker for seven years? That when it comes to charity, he tosses around quarters like manhole covers? That he owns a 42-foot Hinckley powerboat named the Scaramouche? That until he started running for president Kerry preferred an imported Italian motorcycle to his present Harley?

The old Arthur Finkelstein-type ``wedge'' issues just don't work anymore, which brings us back to all those ``fans'' on City Hall Plaza yesterday. Many of the guys were relieving themselves on the Plaza when they weren't videotaping the girls flashing their breasts, a la Janet Jackson.

They've spent way more time in mosh pits than precincts, and that's your 2004 electorate, folks. You can't call Kerry a card-carrying member of the ACLU because 1) he's too cheap to pay the annual dues, and 2) most of these voters have no clue what the ACLU is.

Hmm, we'll think of something.