To: Skywatcher who wrote (47814 ) 2/16/2005 6:13:44 PM From: IQBAL LATIF Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 50167 Just a little salt on your liberal wounds Chris..gggg CPAC to Honor Swift Boat Vets The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth will be honored at this Friday's Conservative Political Action Conference for the key role they played in defeating Sen. John Kerry in last year's presidential race. "These guys could have just gone on with their lives, but they felt strongly that John Kerry's record was being misrepresented," Richard Lessner, executive director of the American Conservative Union, which sponsors the event, told Fox News. "We thought this sort of example of citizens stepping forward under adverse conditions should be recognized," Lessner added. "They are impressive." Former Georgia Sen. Zell Miller will present the "Courage Under Fire" award to Adm. Roy Hoffman (Ret.), founder and chairman of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, at CPAC's annual Ronald Reagan banquet in Washington, D.C. After the Democratic Convention last year, where Kerry highlighted his Vietnam War record amid insinuations by his supporters that President Bush's service in the National Guard amounted to draft dodging, the Swiftvets' own firsthand accounts of Kerry's conduct turned the race around. A series of television commercials beginning in mid-August questioned Kerry's Purple Heart awards and charged that he couldn't be trusted. After the group's book, "Unfit for Command," topped the New York Times best-seller list for five weeks in a row, the Massachusetts Democrat never regained his momentum. When Democrats complained that the White House had actually orchestrated the Swiftvet attacks, the Kerry campaign went to court seeking to have the ads blocked. Ironically, had the effort succeeded, Kerry would likely be president today.