Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Editors and reporters still being led around by their noses
There has been an unbearable amount of coverage of the Swift Boat hoohah this past week, and none of it has shed one bit of light on John Kerry's fitness for anything. It's just an irrelevancy, albeit one that, no matter how it plays out, is to George Bush's benefit. By concentrating on Kerry's Vietnam record, the Bushistas win no matter what, just by deflecting attention from their own abysmal record at everything they've turned their hands to. Part of the problem, of course, is that the Kerry campaign walked right into this, by so emphasizing Kerry's military service in the run-up to and during the Democratic convention, culminating is Kerry's acceptance-speech-opening salute to the delegates. Instead of defining Kerry the longtime Senator, the most vivid picture they left us with was of Lt. Kerry, war hero. It was like a gold-engraved invitation to Karl Rove.
The facts that Kerry volunteered for 2 tours in Vietnam, that he received 5 combat decorations, are disputed by no one, not even John O'Neill and Larry Thurlow. That George Bush has a much less stellar military record is also not in doubt. What we know less about is what Senator Kerry's positions are. For that matter, we're not getting a whole lot about Bush's plans for a second term, either. It's all Saigon, all the time. And, not to put too fine a point on it, the whole thing is bullshit. No respectable news outlet should waste one more inch of copy on it.
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Hey, sorry about the silence of the last week - until I'm independently wealthy, gainful employment will trump idle opinion-mongering any day.
The facts that Kerry volunteered for 2 tours in Vietnam, that he received 5 combat decorations, are disputed by no one, not even John O'Neill and Larry Thurlow. That George Bush has a much less stellar military record is also not in doubt. What we know less about is what Senator Kerry's positions are. For that matter, we're not getting a whole lot about Bush's plans for a second term, either. It's all Saigon, all the time. And, not to put too fine a point on it, the whole thing is bullshit. No respectable news outlet should waste one more inch of copy on it.
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Hey, sorry about the silence of the last week - until I'm independently wealthy, gainful employment will trump idle opinion-mongering any day.
