A Manchurian Candidate?

Nah, John Kerry’s band of brothers didn’t get their version of Kerry’s actions in Vietnam from Chinese agents conducting a gardening class. But there is a tenth Kerry boatmate, Stephen Gardner, whose recollection of Kerry resembles Frank Sinatra’s view of Laurence Harvey after the brain-washing wore off. Douglas Brinkley presents Gardner’s views in Time Magazine. Unfortunately, as Mickey Kaus points out, Brinkley has too much invested in his Tour of Duty tale of Kerry’s heroism to be a fair arbiter of Gardner’s credibility. Indeed, Brinkley attempts to discredit Gardner on the grounds that he hates Bill Clinton and listens to Rush Limbaugh. I agree with Kaus that “maybe Gardner’s not to be trusted, but I don’t trust Brinkley to be the one not to trust him.” I also agree with Gardner that “John Kerry is another