YOU GO JOHN!

Kerry is finally fighting back. Ahh, what a breath of fresh air. For Kerry to beat this group of a-holes, he must shed any likeness to Sen. Tom Daschle (sorry Tom), meaning there's no room or time for cool-headed, polite, take-the-high-road stuff. If most Americans responded to reason, logic, and intelligent discourse then reality TV shows, fascination with Scott Peterson, and stem cell research resistance would just not exist. But it does, so Kerry campaign take note.

Bush/Cheney have of course denied connections to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, but the NY Times reports today:

A series of interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and President Bush's chief political aide, Karl Rove.

Records show that the group received the bulk of its initial financing from two men with ties to the president and his family - one a longtime political associate of Mr. Rove's, the other a trustee of the foundation for Mr. Bush's father's presidential library. A Texas publicist who once helped prepare Mr. Bush's father for his debate when he was running for vice president provided them with strategic advice. And the group's television commercial was produced by the same team that made the devastating ad mocking Michael S. Dukakis in an oversized tank helmet when he and Mr. Bush's father faced off in the 1988 presidential election.

The strategy the veterans devised would ultimately paint John Kerry the war hero as John Kerry the "baby killer" and the fabricator of the events that resulted in his war medals. But on close examination, the accounts of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' prove to be riddled with inconsistencies. In many cases, material offered as proof by these veterans is undercut by official Navy records and the men's own statements.

Several of those now declaring Mr. Kerry "unfit" had lavished praise on him, some as recently as last year.


Look, because they have nothing to run on (tax breaks for the super wealthy? Medicare bill for big pharma companies? dismantling environmental regulations? lies about Iraq?), they have to use this pathetic spaghetti-against-the-wall tactic to hopefully gain traction anywhere they can.

Recall Drudge threw some pasta ala Kerry's supposed affair....? Nope, that didn't stick -- move on. It's what they did to McCain and Dukakis. Throw slime and keep throwing it until it sticks. For McCain, insinuations of his adopted child and his mental stability -- score!, and for Dukakis, the Willie Horton smear -- score!

Note above they were determined to cast Kerry as a "baby killer," obviously catering that smear specifically to their most strident and easily-fooled base: the Christian right. They know the relative IQ of their voters and they know just how to take advantage in an insidious, evil way (oh, I know, here I go being all elitist and all....).