KERRY LIED THEN, AND KERRY LIES NOW

In his widely broadcast non-apology on the Don Imus program, Jean-Francois Kerry had this to say about his shameful, over-the-top slander of brave and decent Americans in 1971:

But I’m not going to stand back from the reality here, which is they’re trying to change the subject. It’s their campaign of smear and fear. They’re going at—and, incidentally, when you say I’ve done something in the past. I’ve told the truth in the past. I’ve never done anything except tell the truth. And I’m not going to take anybody’s comment to suggest that somehow my telling the truth was a mistake.

The American people rely on the truth. And when I came back from Southeast Asia, I told the truth. And I’m proud that I stood up and told the truth then, and I’ve told the truth about Iraq every single step of the way.

He didn't speak the truth in 1971. The "Winter Soldier Investigation," of which he is evidently proud even today, did not produce evidence of a single verifiable war crime. Moreover, his 1972, comments, mentioned in an earlier Astute Bloggers post, were also false -- then and now:

"I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown," Kerry wrote. "We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply 'doing its job.'"

The United States Army in Vietnam was not "an army of the poor and the black and the brown." Such inequities were not "present during Vietnam." The statistics are available.

* 88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian, 10.6% (275,000) were black; 1% listed as others.
* 86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Hispanics); 12.5% (7,241) were black; 1.2% belonged to other races.* 170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam; 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there.
* 86.8% of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were Caucasian; 12.1% (5,711)were black; 1.1% belonged to other races

* 14.6% (1.530) of non-combat deaths were among blacks.
* 34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.
* Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.
* Religion of Dead: Protestant--64.4%; Catholic--28.9%; other/none--6.7%.

* Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds.
* Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial or technical occupations.
* 79% of the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when they entered the military service. (63% of Korean War vets and only 45% of WWII vets had completed high school upon separation).

Kerry's disparaging remarks were false in 1971 and 1972, and false now. No wonder he's joined Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in hiding from the public.