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Does an Important Message Justify Deception (John Kerry's Camodia Tale)

Is deception on the part of leaders acceptable when it is used to motivate an important message or an agenda? Sen. John Kerry testified before a 1986 Senate committee hearing during a debate on U.S. policy toward Central America,

I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians and have the president of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared — seared — in me.

This story was part of his message and was chosen by Sen. Kerry for the potential contribution it would make to government policy. As it turns out, this tale is untrue and on Aug. 11, Kerry’s campaign spokesman, Michael Meehan, said Sen. Kerry’s boat was in the "watery borders between Vietnam and Cambodia" on Christmas eve, and later headed north to the Cambodian border. Whether or not this is true is also questionable. At best, Sen. Kerry told a modified version of his experience to enhance a message that he was attempting to motivate in a manner that was deceptive. Although his story was not completely fabricated, the essential elements of it were not true (illegally fighting the enemy on Christmas Eve by order of the U.S. government). Interestingly, Sen. Kerry also received a Purple Heart for an incident that occurred nine days prior to writing in his diary that he had never been under enemy fire (full story).

Other presidents (read Pres. Clinton), when caught in lies, have turned the tables on critics by asserting that partisanship or a vast right-wing conspiracy motivated the "antagonism". It was also claimed by former President Clinton that he was scrutinized more than any other president, that such "attacks" interfered with his job, and that it was the principles that he stood for that were truly being attacked. "I'm going to do my job. I'm going to follow the law. That's what I wish everyone else would do," he said.

Such a cavalier attitude toward the truth should be revelational. Michael Barone, states, "Kerry’s Christmas-in-Cambodia statements, made over many years, seem to be the kind of resume padding that routinely disqualifies political appointees and damages political candidates. His repeated tellings of this story seem more than a little weird, and usually we don’t want people who do weird things to be president."

As I look at this issue, Sen. Kerry's inability to admit obvious error is just as troubling as his use of deception to motivate his political message.

Posted by tim at August 17, 2004 5:54 AM

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