John Kerry, with his hat (click to enlarge).
In an article that does a better defense of John Kerry than he did for himself in the run-up to the 2004 election, KATE ZERNIKE of the NYTimes writes an account of the successful SBVT campaign against John Kerry that is notable in that it is nearly 100% devoid critism, or even specticism, of any of Kerry’s claims.
Neither does it address directly any of the SBVT’s charges against Kerry, nor does it bring up any of Kerry’s inconsistancies during his lame attempt to discredit the Swifties in the Summer/Fall of ’04. Its pretty much a ‘helper’ piece in Kerry’s new campaign to rehabilitate himself from the 2004 loss, deflect blame from his inadequacies as a candidate and pin them on ‘dirty tricksters’, and inoculate himself against the same charges should he make another run.
The story does reveal Kerry’s enduring tin ear concerning his ability to make himself sound ridiculous. The “magic hat” is mentioned:
John Kerry starts by showing the entry in a log he kept from 1969: “Feb 12: 0800 run to Cambodia.”
He moves on to the photographs: his boat leaving the base at Ha Tien, Vietnam; the harbor; the mountains fading frame by frame as the boat heads north; the special operations team the boat was ferrying across the border; the men reading maps and setting off flares.
“They gave me a hat,” Mr. Kerry says. “I have the hat to this day,” he declares, rising to pull it from his briefcase. “I have the hat.”