Kerry in Cambodia – Instapundit in 2004

Following up on yesterday’s post: What the Swift Boat Vets Actually Said.

I thought you might be interested to have a look at something University of Tennessee School of Law Professor and Instapundit blogger Glenn Reynolds posted on Aug. 8, 2004. It helped torpedo Kerry’s Christmas in Cambodia tale and lend credence to the Swift Vets.

Reynolds began:

TOM MAGUIRE has already posted John Kerry's speech claiming to have been in Cambodia on Christmas day, 1968. But because this is a question of importance, and because some people might doubt the veracity of quotations pasted in from NEXIS, I thought I'd go to the law library and check it myself in hardcopy. (The law library was closed and the copiers were off, but I have a key, and -- let this be another lesson to bloggers everywhere -- a digital camera).

Reynolds then pasted in his photo shot of the relevant part of Kerry’s Christmas in Cambodia speech as published in the Congressional Record.

Reynolds continued:

Here's a link to a larger version showing the exact page citation and context.

The evidence that Kerry wasn't in Cambodia seems pretty strong (see Tom Maguire's post, along with this letter) which makes Kerry's claim all the more difficult to understand.

It's possible, of course, that there's an innocent explanation for this, even if I can't quite think of one. Maybe Kerry was on a double-secret mission to Cambodia, such that everyone involved continues to deny it today. Except, inexplicably, for Kerry. . . . Or maybe his memory failed him -- though there's that "seared--seared--in" language to contend with when considering that hypothesis. Or he could just have been bragging. Your call.

Personally, I remain more interested in what Kerry would do regarding the current war, but since he invites us to judge him on his Vietnam record, evidence that he might not be telling the truth about that record is obviously relevant. …

There’s more to Reynolds’ post. It’s all here.