Is He Qualified?

Brad from Infinite Monkeys gives us this insight.

Yep. And then there’s Kerry. Leave aside the fact that the out of the swift boat officers who served concurrently with Kerry, many more appear oppose him than support him. Leave aside the questions over his reenacting his exploits for his movie camera. Leave aside his injuries and citations. Leave aside his questionable testimony in 1971. Leave aside the fact that there certainly must have been honorable aspects to his service. Leave all that junk aside. It’s just sad that four months and twelve days’ of service 35 years ago are the campaign centerpiece of a man who has spent the most recent 19 years in the U.S. Senate.

Senator Kerry constantly reminds us of his service in Vietnam. Let me remind the readers of this site that there were 1.5 million other men and women that also served and sacrificed in Vietnam. To hear Mr. Kerry and his supporters talk, one would believe that he alone stemmed the tide of Communism in Southeast Asia.

I am a Vietnam era veteran and never served in combat. The closest I came to combat was caring for wounded at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego. So, I write the following with much caution and never-ending respect for those that have endured the crucible of combat. I am assuming that Mr. Kerry served honorably in combat. I acknowledge that he, along with all combat veterans, saw and did things that I will never see or do. However, four months in combat as a “junior” officer, does not give him a leg up in the race to determine who is most qualified to be Commander in Chief of our armed forces. Mr. Kerry’s service was “down in the weeds” at a tactical level. It, in no way, qualifies him to lead our nation at the strategic level.