Sen. John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was torpedoed by critics of his Vietnam War record, said Friday he has personally accepted a Texas oilman’s offer to pay $1 million to anyone who can disprove even a single charge of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
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Kerry said he would donate any proceeds to the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
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In his letter to Pickens, the senator challenged the billionaire’s honor.
“I trust that you are a man of your word, having made a very public challenge at a major Washington dinner, and look forward to taking you up on this challenge,” Kerry wrote
In a letter to T. Boone Pickens, the Massachusetts Democrat wrote: “While I am prepared to show they lied on allegation after allegation, you have generously offered to pay one million dollars for just one thing that can be proven false. I am prepared to prove the lie beyond any reasonable doubt.”
The concept of honor has become somewhat antiquated. There was a time when “gentlemen” were overly concerned about their honor, and had a rather odd sense of what the word meant. In the early years of the Republic politics was, if anything, nastier than it is today, but there were certain matters that would leave them no choice but to spill each other’s blood in duels.
Nowadays, no one seems to care if they are, or are even perceived to be, honorable. Kerry is proposing the civilized equivalent of a duel, and is even giving T. Boone the advantage, but don’t hold your breath waiting for Pickens to pick up the guantlet. I think it’s fair to say that T. Boone will find a way to deflect Kerry.
Update: Well that was quick:
Rich Texas bastard T. Boone Pickens boasted that he would give $1 million to anyone who can disprove “even a single charge” leveled by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who he funded to the tune of $3 milion. Kerry offered to meet with Pickens and do so, with the million dollars going to veterans’ charities.
But now Pickens is reneging:Pickens, who provided $3 million to bankroll the group during Kerry’s race against President Bush, responded by saying he won’t consider giving Kerry the reward unless he surrenders his combat films, additional military records and wartime journal.
In other words, Pickens was full of bravado when he made the offer in a keynote address in front of a bunch of friendly right wingers at an American Spectator dinner, but when Kerry took him up on it, he was a bit too cowardly to back it up:
No honor. No surprise.
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