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August 26, 2004
Passive Aggressive
Republican politicians and journalists, who are beginning to feel just a little dirty about the slimy Swift Boat Veterans for truth campaign (that is working) have evolved in their analysis of the whole episode to accusing Kerry of being passive aggressive -- or something. Basically, they have no good defense for the ugliness of the smears so they say "Well, Kerry brought it upon himself when he decided to talk about his Vietnam record."
Nope. Wrong. Look, when a candidate makes an issue out of something he does not give his opponents a free pass to just start lying and making b.s. up about that something. Keep in mind that the same Republicans making that claim feel that George W. Bush's own military service record is either off-limits or not in need of any investigation -- despite the fact that Bush in his autobiography uses his experiences in the reserves to bolster his standing with the public.
The truth about the Swift Boat evidence is sad and short. Many Vietnam veterans resent John Kerry for testifying against the war when he returned from combat. About 50 or 60 resent him so much for this that they're willing to say anything and everything that a couple of rich Republican donors tell them to about John Kerry. They will make things up, say they were someplace that they obviously weren't, turn on a dime and change their recollection of an event 30 years after it happened, whatever it takes.
And the whole point of this operation and others like it ultimately isn't just to defeat John Kerry, it's a hope that the frustration that I and others like me feel just turns to cynicism and we just throw our hands up in the air and say forget it, I'm not going to follow this stuff anymore, I'm not voting, and I don't care.
And who benefits from cynicism? I'll give you a hint. Our nation was attacked by a handful of terrorists, and the President decided that the best way to deal with that was to occupy a country that was at best tangentially connected to that attack. That country is a mess, nearly 1,000 American soldiers have died -- most of them from ambushes and guerrila warfare and there is no end in sight.
What's the bigger issue? What John Kerry said to a Senate committe in 1971 or what's going to happen to Iraq? One is a non-issue and one is gravely important. And Republicans know they can't win if you actually make that choice -- so they're trying desperately to get you to just not make any choice. I think it will probably work, but please don't fall for it.
Posted by Chris at August 26, 2004 10:07 AM
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