Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Attack of the not-so-swift.
Matt Gunn (link via Atrios) does a good job of debunking the "Swift Boat Veterans For Truth" on the merits.
However, even after giving these guys the benefit of the doubt over the sincerity of their feelings or the truth of their allegations, their denials that they're shilling for the Bush Administration ring hollow for one key reason: the timing of their recent media blitz.
If John Kerry is "unfit to be commander-in-chief", as they have stated, then why wait until now to try and stop him? If their crusade was to prevent the scourge of Kerry rather than to promote the election of Bush, the best time to stop Kerry would have been during the Democratic primary season rather than the general election, where Kerry now stands roughly a 50-50 chance of becoming President.
They had several opportunities to come forward and have a better chance of stopping Kerry:
* The summer of 2003, before the ascent of Howard Dean and when Kerry was the presumed front-runner.
* During the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, when Kerry began his comeback.
* And most notably, during the week between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, when Kerry suddenly got all the attention and became the front-runner. Kerry's support had always been a mile wide and an inch deep. His veteran status was the key selling point in Iowa, and had that aspect of his resume been questioned, he might not have won NH. Once he won the Granite State, he was unstoppable.
Now, Kerry has the entire Democratic party behind him, and is the only alternative to Bush. But, of course, this isn't about stopping Kerry - it's about propping up Bush. Well, either that, or John O'Neill wants another 15 minutes of fame, having used up his previous 15 in 1971 going on national television to debate Kerry at the behest of the Nixon Administration.
Amazingly, even some of the more thoughtful righty blogs, like Real Clear Politics, are viewing this politically motivated self-appointed fringe group as some kind of actual threat to Kerry:
|
However, even after giving these guys the benefit of the doubt over the sincerity of their feelings or the truth of their allegations, their denials that they're shilling for the Bush Administration ring hollow for one key reason: the timing of their recent media blitz.
If John Kerry is "unfit to be commander-in-chief", as they have stated, then why wait until now to try and stop him? If their crusade was to prevent the scourge of Kerry rather than to promote the election of Bush, the best time to stop Kerry would have been during the Democratic primary season rather than the general election, where Kerry now stands roughly a 50-50 chance of becoming President.
They had several opportunities to come forward and have a better chance of stopping Kerry:
* The summer of 2003, before the ascent of Howard Dean and when Kerry was the presumed front-runner.
* During the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, when Kerry began his comeback.
* And most notably, during the week between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, when Kerry suddenly got all the attention and became the front-runner. Kerry's support had always been a mile wide and an inch deep. His veteran status was the key selling point in Iowa, and had that aspect of his resume been questioned, he might not have won NH. Once he won the Granite State, he was unstoppable.
Now, Kerry has the entire Democratic party behind him, and is the only alternative to Bush. But, of course, this isn't about stopping Kerry - it's about propping up Bush. Well, either that, or John O'Neill wants another 15 minutes of fame, having used up his previous 15 in 1971 going on national television to debate Kerry at the behest of the Nixon Administration.
Amazingly, even some of the more thoughtful righty blogs, like Real Clear Politics, are viewing this politically motivated self-appointed fringe group as some kind of actual threat to Kerry:
As far as politically damaging attacks go, this should rank right up there among the most potent ones imaginable.Give me a break. If anything, bringing up Kerry's claims of Americans committing war crimes in Vietnam at the same time daily disclosures of torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners are making the rounds isn't exactly smart politics.
Comments:
Post a Comment
