« The conspiracy theory meltdown at the Times (cont.) | The Balkans backfire »
September 17, 2005

Kerry's sleep disorder (cont.)

By

Reader Tom Maguire emails us with a link to Tim Russert questioning John F. Kerry on his nmightmares, as well as other mentions of his sleep problems which have appeared in the press:

MR. RUSSERT:  Your wife said recently——a few years ago——that you had bad nightmares, which were very frightening, about Vietnam.  Do you still have nightmares?

SEN. KERRY:  No, I don't.  I don't, but I did for a period of time.  You know, movement or sounds might jostle you into a kind of awareness.  I don't know a lot of people who were in combat who haven't had them, but, no, I don't anymore, I'm glad to say.  I don't even have nightmares about George Bush and this election, Tim.

Mickey Kaus linked to a New Yorker story by Philip Gourevitch, which also mentioned Kerry's nightmares

"No other Vietnam War hero has ever been nominated for President, nor has any other former antiwar leader, and, while Kerry presents himself as a unifying figure, he embodies a conflict that is still surprisingly raw.
"He'll often thrash around in the night," the filmmaker George Butler, who is one of Kerry's oldest friends, told me. "He smashed up a lamp in my house in New Hampshire, in the bedroom where he was staying. Most Vietnam veterans go through this." [Emph. added]"

Mickey added:

"Yikes! And are the flashbacks worse at night or in the day, Senator? "