The second Curt Weldon mailer that I received is a pure “Swift Boat” attack piece on Retired Navy Admiral Joe Sestak. Again, as you might recall, Weldon had avoided service during the Vietnam War, despite having a low draft number. Subsequent explanations from the Weldon camp, have been inconsistent at best, with his initially claiming that he received a college deferment, and then later that he received a medical deferment for poor eyesight. There has never been a clear answer given as to whether either of these is accurate.
The best part of this mailer is the frequent quotes from an August 9th, 2006 article in the Delaware County Times. A POLITCAL OPINION column from GOP columnist (and apologist) Gil Spencer.
This is not an article, not a researched piece, and not one where there is any need for due diligence and fact checking. It is the equivalent of asking the crazy cat lady or incoherent man on the train what their opinion is. Anyone who has read Spencer before knows that he is clearly biased, and should read the article with that in mind.
Here are the two quotes and the paragraphs that they are within, in order to give you some context:
But some who worked directly with Sestak for months and years tell a different story.
They paint a portrait of a brilliant man, driven by ambition, whose outward charm masks a penchant for being nasty.
They say, make no mistake about it, Sestak was "fired" from his job because he couldn’t get along with others, subordinates or fellow admirals.
One retired Navy captain who worked closely with Sestak, described him to me as "arrogant," "narcissistic" and "Machiavellian." Typical, to stand behind the words of an anonymous coward, one who may not even exist, and to use their words as proxy for the things Weldon wants to say. The simple fact that there is no name attached, no none to vouch for their legitimacy, means these claims cannot be seriously considered as anything else other than the well-tried Swift Boat tactics of elections past.
The other two sources quoted, Navy Times and Inside the Navy, similarly leaves you with the expectation that these are United States Military publications. They are, of course, not. Inside the Navy is an industry newsletter, available to subscribers only, while Navy Times is a weekly print and internet commercial news service. Again, consider the source.
Tags: curtweldon, delcotimes, Democrat, DNC, gilspencer, GOP, joesestak, Republican, RNC, swiftboat
