Stinging from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's effective campaign against John Kerry, liberals rushed to find their own Vietnam issue to use against George W. Bush. The fact that Bush didn't serve and Kerry did wasn't enough. So someone came up--literally--with something they could use to go on the offense.

It seems fairly clear that the documents CBS's 60 Minutes used to smear Bush are forgeries. They contain superscript, smart quotes, and times new roman font--three features of microsoft word not widely available on typewriters in the 1970s. The colonel named in the letter as trying to "sugarcoat" Bush's poor record was honorably discharged from the National Guard more than a year earlier. The alleged memo writer's wife, son, and numerous experts believe the memos are phony. Despite all of the evidence, Dan Rather doesn't believe that the documents that show Bush in a negative light are fakes. Perhaps more accurately, Dan Rather doesn't want to believe they're fake.

at least CBS has documentation. SBVT can't even back up what thier saying with hard evidence. The doctor in the ad who claims he treated kerry for a wound wasn't even on his medical records.

I'm sure that Dan Rather truly believed that the documents were real even when it was pointed out to him that they were most certainly fakes.

Liberals live in their own little worlds and are typically enabled by other liberals which make them so out of touch with reality it's scary.

A similar sentiment follows this false document fiasco where author Kitty Kelley will be a guest of that stalwart journalist Matt Lauer this week. She will continue to hawk her book about those bad and evil Bushes even though many of the claims in the book are less than honest.

Doesn't matter that one of her “bombshell” issues that claims that GW snorted coke at Camp David is in dispute. The "proof" offered by Jeb Bush’s ex-wife has been disclaimed by her as false testimony. Doesn’t matter, they’re going to run with the story anyway. The networks don’t care. Made up news is just as good as real news

The lies of the left never seem to be in dispute whether true or not. They are in fact upheld by their liberal media friends regularly.

Once again the hypocrisy of the right does not cease to amaze. CBS has offered documents that they believe to be authentic. We will determine if they are in the coming days. “Swiftboats for Truth” is much more of a cheap shot not in any way deserving of the time it has received. Every Swiftboater has been contradicted by the documented record or their own words. Kerry has been accused without merit of getting Purple Hearts for scratches, self-inflicting his wounds, not being under enemy fire when his boat was riddled with bullet holes and lying about his mission. Despite those charges being debunked the Right feels those charges are worth entertaining and debating ad infinitum. Even John O’Neil has admitted on White House tape to Nixon that he was in Cambodia contrary to his claim about it not being possible that Kerry or any US soldier was there. O’Neill has an illustratable agenda. He was and still is offended by Kerry’s testimony before Congress. He was used by Nixon to discredit Kerry back in the 70s. The facts remain:
Bush was not in Vietnam. He was given preferential treatment to get into the National Guard and he cannot account for his time in Alabama. Kerry served with honor. No smear can dispute it.

Fred Barnes provides a list of what you need to believe in order to conclude that CBS's documents aren't forgeries:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/617fgqgo.asp

After listing the what the burden of belief puts on the shoulders of those believing the documents to be authentic, Barnes offers this:

"Now if you can't accept all that, there's another side. To believe the documents are forgeries, you have to believe this:

(1) The documents were typed recently using Microsoft Word, which produces documents that are exact copies of the CBS documents.

(2) There's no number 2. All you have to believe is number 1."

bolye again you are simply taking the worst charteristics of human nature and then applying them to "liberals'. One cannot take this critzism seriously.

Robert, why doesn't John Kerry just sign the neccessary forms & allow his military records to be released in their entirety as Bush has done. As far as motivations go, John O'Neil is certainly politically motivated, but not because of partisanship like those who have attacked Bush's record. It's reasonable to understand how someone who served in the Vietnam era would be offended by John Kerry's actions after the war. And since you make the easy assumption that Bush dodged that war in the Guard, I'll just make the assumption that Kerry's purple hearts were bullshit because the whole idea of someone getting three extremely superficial wounds within four months is just too convienant.

I sometimes get the idea from the Left that the ranks of National Guard during the Vietnam war was filled exclusively with politican's sons. Were you a big fan of CCR, Robert? This may surprise you but 1960 fighter aircraft were extremely dangerous & certainly not a cowards way out of the war.

Final question: If Kerry served with honor, was Bill Clinton's actions during the war dishonorable?

What I love about this campaign cycle is just how flippin nuts the baby boom generation is. Vietnam was, well, pretty divisive and just has never been a winning issue. Clinton got elected twice after thumbing his nose at it, Bush once despite us already knowing the way he got by. Why did Kerry get the crazy idea that making Nam a focus of this campaign would possibly help him?

Here is a hint to the Democrats . . . IRAQ . . .is the one issue at this point. Come up with something on it and its relation/non-relation to the "War on Terror" or give Bush a landslide.

Oh, and while I am at it, Baby-Boomers please get the hell over Kennedy's asassination and the mystique of the whole Camelot myth. Seriously, what is with this new WB show "Jack and Bobby"? I know the WB is where one goes to learn about life and love but this is ridiculous.

I mean I still remember where I was when the Space shuttle Challenger exploded live on t.v. in front of me and sure it was a traumatic national moment in my youth. I could never have faith in velcro again (except in my Trapper Keeper) nor could I see fit to drink Tang anymore. My confidence in human technology and the space program was forever weakened and my traditionalist/conservative's recognition of the Promethan hubris of modern man was ingrained.

All such national tragedies should rightly be remembered and memorialized but the morbid fixation with the Kennedy's, particulary their tragedies, is really out of hand.

Right, "CBS has offered documents that they believe to be authentic". Not PROVEN to be authentic. And when real facts surface about the legitimacy of the documents and it appears overwhelmingly that they are false, does CBS even consider doubting them?

Nope. Circle the wagons and deny, deny, deny that there is even a chance that they could be false.

They are just high level disengenuous liars. But, in the realm of the Dan Rathers of the World, they can (they think) get away with it.

From Bill Clinton across the board, the Dems/Libs will do, use or say anything, real or unreal to win.

Bush in a landslide.

Nathan
I never made "the easy assumption that Bush dodged that war in the Guard". I just stated the facts.."Bush was not in Vietnam. He was given preferential treatment to get into the National Guard and he cannot account for his time in Alabama. Kerry served with honor." You can not support your assumption about the Purple Hearts with facts nor can the swiftboaters.
As far as CCR - If the shoe fits...
Clinton avoided the draft - no question. It is not honorable or dishonorable.It is what it is.
We need to be consistant. If not serving is dishonorable then Clinton,Gingrich,Hassert, Delay,Chenny etc should all be disqualified. Would you agree? I doubt it.

Robert,
I know a Vietnam vet (whom I consider to be a war/gun nut) who told me that Purple Hearts were given frequently for scratches. I haven't read any of the Swift Vets allegations, but Kerry's war record seems suspicious to me. That's all. I wouldn't think it's worth any mention except for the fact that he made it a centerpiece of his campaign & one of his qualifications for the presidency.

I'd also like to point out that Kerry joined the Navy, which many choose in the sixties as a safer alternative to the army. Perhaps Kerry's war avoidance strategy merely failed. As far as Bush flying in the Texas Guard: even if he did so to avoid direct combat it was still more demanding & life threatening than anything Clinton, Chenny, Hassert, ect. did for the country.

To be consistant, if I were modeling an ideal state than military service would be a requirement for holding political office because one should not be power over the lives of others if unwilling to the make the same obligation themselves. I'm thinking along the lines of the ancient Greek city states. And although I'm no classical scholar, one thing I'm sure: If Kerry had made slanderous statements about the Athenian army they would have executed him in the streets.

Critzism, racisism. Ism there some kind of spell checker that can help this boy?

Isn't there a friend out there for poor Webster who spends his days spell checking other people's words?