Posted 4:35 PM by steve

I know James Taranto must be tired, what with all the parties he's been going to, but for him to not jump all over Max Cleland's claim that the Swiftboat controversy has led to an increase in suicides of Vietnam vets.

What in the world is Cleland smoking? Does he have any substantiation to back up his charge?

Here are three reasons Cleland is full of it.

First, the suggestion that that Vietnam Vets, almost thirty years after the last combat any of them saw, are so emotionally scarred that they are sitting by their bedside with a gun to their mouth just looking for a reason to pull the trigger is not only ludicrous but a slander on these vets. Those vets who were susceptible to suicide have likely already killed themselves. According to Vietnam War Myths, the current rate of suicides among Vietnam Vets is actually lower than that of the general population.

Second, the SBVT controversy has only been raging for about a whopping month and a half. During that time, the controversy has mostly been ignored by the major media - which would certainly limit the exposure most vets would have had to the controversy (unless Cleland is suggesting that Vietnam vets don't have anything better to do with their day than sit around getting depressed by reading the blogs that have been covering the issue). Most of the major media coverage that took place was devoted to trashing the SBVTs, not to investigating and reporting on the charges the SBVTs had levied against Kerry (is Cleland suggesting that this is the cause of the suicides?). The television ads themselves have only appeared a limited number of times and in only a few television markets (although they have been available on-line, again for those vets with nothing better to do). The book has only been available for a short time.

Finally, statistics on suicides are not readily available in anything close to a real time basis. As far as I know, nobody at the Department of Veteran's Affairs is sitting at a desk taking calls from medical examiners around the country, compiling a list of Vietnam vets who have committed suicide in the past 24, 48, and 72 hour cycle and then distributing this information to the media and other interested parties. Even if there was a spike in suicides among Vietnam vets, as Cleland claims, there'd be no way he would know it at this time.

I'm not sure what is worse, that (1) Cleland has allowed himself to become such a pathetic figure, or (2) the media, and in this case, even the Washington Times, is giving him any more ink or airtime. He's moved from being a tragic figure to just plain tragedy...