August 16, 2004

Kerry vs. O'Neill, Round 1

C-SPAN has only grown more impressive in my eyes. They've done a great public service by broadcasting the John Kerry/John O'Neill debate on The Dick Cavett Show in 1971.

Unlike the yap fests we're stuck with on cable news channels, this was a real, serious discussion on the Vietnam War. Both Kerry and O'Neill were articulate and passionate about their views. Kerry looked like graduate student making precise points on his anti-war stance. O'Neill, while not looking as intellectual as Kerry, countered with well-informed arguments of his own. There were only one or two moments when both men talked over each other. Crossfire, this wasn't.

Kerry's Vietnam stories during his post-Vietnam and Senate years were far different in texture than his Dick Cavett debate. Kerry was ripping off details about conditions in Vietnam and Laos as well as quotes from officers who fought there. He sounded like he knew his stuff. Today, we're suppose to believe that Kerry's fudge on where he was in Christmas is understandable since the events were so long ago. For a man who was so confident in the details of the facts he presented in his 1971 debate it's hard to accept that his mind has changed so much in 30+ years.