T. Boone Chickens And The Swift Boat Liars

Last week T. Boone Pickens offered to pay one million dollars to anyone who could disprove even a single claim from the Swift Boat Liars. I wish I had heard that as it sounds like easy money. Of course if you believe Pickens would actually make good on his offer there’s some email with business offers from some Nigerians which I’d like to forward on to you.

On Friday I posted John Kerry’s letter accepting this challenge. Pickens quickly reneged and has issued the following statement:

Dear Senator Kerry:

So glad to hear from you regarding the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth political ad campaign, and an offer I made public at an American Spectator dinner in Washington, D.C. last week. I am intrigued by your letter, and am certainly open to your challenge.

My concern at the Spectator Dinner was, and continues to be, that you and other political figures were and are maligning the Swift Boat Veterans, and I want to prevent this important part of American history from being unfairly portrayed.

In order to disprove the accuracy of the Swift Boat ads, I will ultimately need you to provide the following:

1) The journal you maintained during your service in Vietnam.
2) Your military record, specifically your service records for the years
1971-1978, and copies of all movies and tapes made during your
service.

When you have done so, if you can then prove anything in the ads was materially untrue, I will gladly award $1 million. As you know, I have been a long and proud supporter of the American military and veterans’ causes. I now challenge you to make this commitment: If you cannot prove anything in the Swift Boat ads to be untrue, that you will make a $1 million gift to the charity I am choosing — the Medal of Honor Foundation.

There goes the chances of anyone other than Kerry to even attempt to collect as nobody would have access to the material requested even if there is other evidence disproving the claims of the Swift Boat Liars. Kerry’s military record has previously been posted on line (from the years he was actually in the Navy), but it is quite a change in condition to expect someone to give their personal journal to someone who has clearly demonstrated the motivation to twist whatever information is available. Besides, from their history it is clear that no amount of evidence will get them to admit that they are lying as they have no interest in the truth. It is hardly necessary to let them poke around in Kerry’s personal records to disprove a bunch of obvious lies.

Pickens also changes the wager from disproving any claims made to disproving what was in the ads. While this could still be done, it is strange that all the false claims published in their book are suddenly no longer under consideration.

Moving the goal post has been common for the defenders of the Swift Boat Liars. First they claimed Kerry could end the attacks by releasing his military records. The military records were released and posted on line and that didn’t shut them up. Then they demanded that Kerry sign a Form 180 to have his records released. Kerry did so and journalists reviewing the records verified that these were the same as the records posted on line. Naturally conservatives then said this was not enough, and many even outright lie and say Kerry never released his records. We see this tactic once again from Pickens. They are determined to spread their lies and there is absolutely nothing which they will accept as evidence to disprove their false claims. Even before reviewing the facts surrounding Kerry’s medals, the conduct of Kerry’s accusers in this matter is enough to discredit them.

1 Comment

  1. 1
    J says:

    What a jerk. Jesus Himself could offer testimony that disproved even one of the claims the Swift Boat liars made, and this Pickens jerk would be trying to weasel out of his bet.

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