Oh man, Dionne is usually better than this. What a lame job. Worthy of a fisking:
Bush claims that his highest priority is uniting the country in the war against terrorism. A president who would be a uniter and not a divider knows that cheap-shot politics can only further rend our nation and weaken his own ability to lead.
How many months have we had of "Bush Lied!" "Bush is a Traitor!" "Bush is Evil!" "The War was for Ooooiiiillll!" "The terror alerts are for politics!" If the Democrats think they haven't landed any cheap shots, then they are truly out of it.
We see here a fascinating and ugly development in the politics of annihilation. A supposedly outside group raises money from close Bush supporters, staffs itself with political operatives close to Bush and the Republicans, and then puts up several hundred thousand dollars worth of television ads
Change "Republican" to "Democrat" and change "several hundred thousand dollars" to "tens of millions of dollars" and this statement has been true for many months. Where were your objections then? And if you think political ties are close between the Swiftvets and the Bush campaign, you haven't looked at the revolving door between Moveon.org and the Kerry campaign.
Suddenly, questions about Kerry's service that were asked and answered months ago become big news again.
They were? When? Where? Links, please? Kerry service record has been treated with respectful awe by the press. Nobody asked any awkward questions about how he collected 3 PHs so fast without going to the hospital once or how come he didn't finish his tour.
To their credit, several news organizations -- the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and The Post among them -- have run reports exposing the distortions, inconsistencies and fabrications of the anti-Kerry crowd
When the major media decided to "sully their lily-white hands" as Steyn put it, they came up with very little - Thurlow's Bronze Star citation, Rood's testimony - though they hastened to proclaim what they found as great gotchas. Mostly they repeated DNC talking points, such as 'no one from Kerry's boat supports this' which was a) false, and b) invalidates Rood's testimony if accepted.
Alas, this is the classic course a smear campaign takes. A group throws up accusations that, when subjected to scrutiny, prove to be full of holes
Classic smear campaigns are not supported by the signed affidavits of 250 respectable veterans, many of whom were eyewitnesses to the events described. Classic smear campaigns are done from shadows by anonymous voices and paid political hacks.
Since the Swiftvets didn't organize until Kerry looked like the Democratic nominee, and aren't being paid, common sense would suggest that they are not so much pro-Bush as anti-Kerry. And guess what? That is what they say themselves. Ask them their motives, and you will hear: "We're still mad about Kerry's 1971 testimony where he called us war criminals" It takes a whole lotta overlooking to miss that motive.
The media have to do more than "he said/he said" reporting. If the charges don't hold up, they don't hold up
By all means, let's have the media get off its duff and do some investigating. So far, the only thing that hasn't held up is Christmas in Cambodia. BTW, while asking for the media to do its job, why don't you ask for Senator Kerry to file a form 180 so that the the media can do its job?
If all the stories about what Kerry did in Vietnam are not balanced by serious scrutiny of Bush in the Vietnam years
Bush isn't running on his Vietnam years, Bush is running on his Presidential years. We know Bush was a partying sort in the Vietnam years, but he never claimed to be a hero. Kerry, on ther other hand...
Surely our nation's editors and producers don't want to send a signal that all you have to do to set the media's agenda is spend a half-million bucks on television ads
If a measely half-million ad buy could do the trick, Moveon.org would have already sealed the election for Kerry. Could there be another reason that the Swiftvet ads are proving more effective than the Moveon.org ads? Just maybe?
McCain was right, and when he returns to the United States from a trip to Europe this week, he should stand up for that principle by suspending his campaigning for Bush's reelection until the smears against Kerry's Vietnam record stop
Raise your hand if you see John McCain calling on the Swiftvets to stop running ads about Kerry's 1971 testimony. Where was he, when Kerry compared the US Army to the Mongols? Senatorial courtesy goes just so far.
But Dionne is right about one thing: everything isn't politics. That's what he doesn't understand about the Swiftvets. This isn't politics for them. |
