Centrisity

Smear Boaters not so Swift

No more links to these Liars, but an article in the Billings Gazette, tweaked my interest.

Some excerpts:

Swift boat veteran Bob Anderson of Columbus is ticked.

It bothers him that Sen. John Kerry's swift boat history has become such a political hot potato. But he's even more irritated that his name was included - without his permission - on a letter used to discredit Kerry.

So I continued reading the article, figuring 'Bob Anderson' was a pretty generic name. Maybe it was a different guy, there probably were several of them overseas.

Bob went on to recount an incident on the delta:

Anderson's boat was about the fourth boat back in a string of 10. He describes the scene as an Armageddon. Fellow swift boat sailor Bob Wedge was so badly wounded, Anderson doubted he would survive.

"That boat was like a slaughterhouse that day," he said. "He (Wedge) just about bled to death before we got a tourniquet on him and the chopper got him."

Wedge, who lost a leg, was flown home. Thirty-four years passed before the two met again. Now they find themselves on the same side of another conflict.

Wedge, 60, of Mesquite, Nev., said his name, too, was on the list - and he's mad.

Hmmmm . . . Bob Wedge, now that isn't an everyday name. But the plot thickens.

Anderson said he first learned about the situation last week when he received an e-mail from a third party. The e-mail, from a Tom Pyle, said Pyle had contacted a dozen men whose names showed up on the list. Of the dozen, three said they had not given permission, Anderson said.

"That leads me to believe that as many as 25 percent of the names are fictitious supporters of that group," he said.

So of the thousands of Swift Boaters in 'Nam, only about 300 signed the letter, and it looks like maybe a quarter of them never gave permission to use their names. And the Right continues to treat their words as gospel.

Who's Anderson going to vote for this year? He doesn't know, but he DOES know who he isn't going to vote for:

Anderson describes himself as an independent, saying he has voted both sides of the ticket when it comes to presidential races. Neither he nor Wedge, a registered Democrat, say they know who they will vote for this election.

"I don't know enough about Kerry to say whether I will vote for him," Anderson said. "I know enough about Bush that I won't vote for him."

Regardless of political loyalty, Anderson said he has a message he'd like to pass along.

"Don't believe everything you read. All it tells me is there is some politics going on there."

Flash