e-Claire

Sides Aching

The highly regarded ABC Nightline news program chose, last night, to investigate John Kerry's Silver Star. So they went to Viet Nam and found Viet Cong soldiers in that little village who, of course, still live there and, of course, remember that one battle with John Kerry 34 years ago. And, with that government minder there over,... over-listening their every word, of course, told the story exactly the way it happened. Each poignant moment to be captured by ABC news footage... [ready to buy that oceanfront property in Tempe yet?] Afterward, they interviewed that contentious John O'Neill of the Swift Vets in order to take him down a peg or two, at which point Mr O'Neill proceeded to bitchslap Mr Koppel around the stage for the next ten minutes or so.

O'Neill (:37): May I-may I say Ted, that's-that's a real shame. It's a shame that you focused only on the one minor accomplishment of John Kerry and refuse to ever cover the sampan incident, where the small family was killed, the two times he fled that are described in the book, and the like . . Koppel: Mr. . . Mr. O'Neill O'Neill: . . or the time where he visited the North Vietnamese. Koppel (:55): Mr. O'Neill . . uh . . maybe we're going to be able to do something more. This was the place that we were brought to. O'Neill: I-I invite you to, sir. Koppel: This is the place we found. Let me go, just for this evening, and ask you . . O'Neill: It's the third time you've covered it. ... O'Neill (2:00): Your report is unreliable. Koppel: Well! it . . a . . O'Neill: You went to a country where all the elections are 100% elections. And you relied on . . uh . . people that were enemies of the United States, in a closed society, instead of getting the information that was easily available from us and from the record. And as a result, you've produced a report that is truly pathetic. Koppel: Mr. O'Neill! O'Neill: That's the truth, Ted, and not worthy of you. Koppel (2:19): Mr. O'Neill . . uh . . I don't think you can complain about not having received enough coverage, over these past few months. You've received a ton of it. O'Neill: Not on Nightline, Ted. Koppel: My . . my . . my question has to do with what eyewitnesses to the event . . I mean, you can-you can impugn them anyway you want to. And I have-I have no way of vouching for their motives or their interest in either supporting John Kerry or doing damage to . . uh . . a group that, like your own, that I'm sure they've never heard of. O'Neill (2:47): That's the problem, Ted. ... Koppel: Uh . . but why . . why . . is it that you are so reluctant to at least address the substance of what they say? In other words, you make it clear in your . . O'Neill: I'm thrilled to address the substance, Ted. Koppel: Then . . then . . O'Neill: Let's go right to the substance. Koppel: Let's get to it. O'Niell (3:01): This is the book, Ted, [holds up cover of Kranish, et al, book] published by the Boston Globe. This is their autobiography of John Kerry, with his assistance. [opens to page and shows it to camera] Ted, in their autobiography, they describe on page 101 a single teenager in a loincloth, Ted. They weren't trying to make it up. This is-this is . . uh . . [briefly shows cover] John Kerry's own approved biography, Tour of Duty. On page 290 . . uh . . six of that book [holds page open to camera] John Kerry says, boy, he's glad there was only a single person there and not more. ... Koppel: ...just do me a favor. Stop picking up books ... ... O'Neill (9:50): Ted, John Kerry says, "I could not help wondering what would have happened if, instead of one Viet Cong with the B-40, what if there had been three, or five, or ten? He knew the answer, of course." So John Kerry's story is that there was one, Ted. And that was the same story that the Boston Globe reporters had. You've been had, Ted. You've been had in a Communist country.

O'Neill's statement about the interview. ABC's side of things:

"Nightline" traveled to Vietnam and found a number of witnesses who have never been heard from before, and who have no particular ax to grind for or against Kerry. Only one of them, in fact, even knew who Kerry is ...

...fairly well read for a "Vietnamese peasant".

The Vietnamese government initially rejected "Nightline's" request to visit the village, saying it did not want to somehow influence the U.S. presidential election. Once "Nightline" explained that the intention was to simply find out what the Vietnamese people remember and think of what happened there, permission was granted.

1. I was flipping through channels and caught part of Ted Koppel’s investigation in Vietnam, watched what the villagers had to say and thought: “Oh my God, those old Swift Boat guys are so busted in their lies!” Then I watched John O’Neill—who’s been making a killing with some book that, apparently, tells a bunch of lies about John Kerry—and saw the poor man completely fall apart in front of the camera. And by the way, what is the deal with this old guy and his obsession with John Kerry and what Kerry did or did not do 35 years ago, and why is he not asking George W. Bush what he was up to 35 years ago, that is, if Bush remembers (wink,wink). Anyway, Koppel totally exposed John O’Neill as a liar, although he was kind enough not to call him that, but the implication was clear—and poor O’Neill, all sweaty and flustered, whined and cried and waved a bunch of books on camera and accused Koppel of listening to some no-good Commies instead of his Swit Boat comrades for “truth”, or something like that - in other words, O’Neill was pretty pathetic.  I almost felt sorry for him, but then I remember how he’s and been telling, and actually profiting from, all those lies about a war hero. But then again, I’ve learned that John O’Neill’s big hero back in the 70s was Richard “I-am-not-a-crook” Nixon - not exactly our national role model for truth and honesty.

   Posted by  on  10/16/04  at  11:41 PM

2. Jeanie—10! 

   You’ve got a future as a satire writer!

   Posted by Claire  on  10/17/04  at  02:52 AM

<< Back to main