Friday, August 13, 2004
Many Anti-Kerry Slurs Come From A Familiar And Shameless Place...
Pure and simple, Ted Sampley is a disgusting human being. If that sounds like an overstatement, allow me to explain myself.
Mr. Sampley started Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry in order to smear Sen. Kerry and call into question his service in the Vietnam War. Recently, these actions have shown the attackers to be nothing more than partisan hacks (see: John O'Neill). However, in Sampley's case, something far more disturbing seems to be at work.
During the 2000 GOP primary, Mr. Sampley repeatedly slandered Sen. John McCain, going so far as to accuse him of being "brainwashed" his Vietnamese captors during his 5 years as a prisoner of war. He even referred to McCain as the "Manchurian Candidate".
Horrible...
Senator McCain has since spoken out very strongly against Sampley:
"I strongly caution reporters who may be contacted by or are interested in Mr. Ted Sampley and the various organizations he claims to represent, and his opinions on the subject of Senator Kerry, or any subject for that matter, to investigate thoroughly Mr. Sampley's background and history of spreading outrageous slander and other disreputable behavior before inadvertently lending him or his allegations any credibility."
"I am well familiar with Mr. Sampley, and I know him to be one of the most despicable people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter. I consider him a fraud who preys on the hopes of family members of missing servicemen for his own profit. He is dishonorable, an enemy of the truth, and despite his claims, he does not speak for or represent the views of all but a few veterans. The many veterans I know would think it a disgrace to be considered a comrade or supporter of Ted Sampley."
What many people may not know is that Mr. Sampley has had another target on his radar screen in the past: George H. W. Bush, the 41st President.
Bush honorably fulfilled his duty in World War II, but apparently, this was not sufficient for Mr. Sampley.
In an article printed in 1997, Sampley wrote the following:
Former President George Bush, who bailed out of a crippled Navy Avenger bomber 53 years ago, jumped again in March of this year. His World War II jump is historic. It made Bush the only president to ever bail out of an airplane and the only president whose crew mates were sent careening into the ocean because their pilot had abandoned the aircraft.
Disgusting...
What is almost as disgusting is the inability, or rather the outright lack of interest of most of the Republican party and particularly, President George W. Bush, to condemn the attacks by Mr. Sampley and the rest of the anti-Kerry machine.
A president with any integrity would at the very least condemn the words and actions of Ted Sampley, a man who had so cruelly slandered his own father.
It's too bad we don't currently have a president with that kind of integrity...
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