Let's note two things right now: (1) the second Swift Boat Vets' ad is COMPLETELY TRUE; (2) the Bush campaign has no connection to the Swift Boat vets. As James Taranto noted today (second item), the outside lawyer who acts as both a lawyer for the Swifties and the Bush campaign has an equal -- Robert Bauer is a lawyer for both the Kerry campaign and left-wing 527 group America Coming Together (which has raised about 20 times the money that the Swifties have).
Paul at Wizbang had a trenchant comment: The voters, rather than seeing a strong leader, are seeing a rather odd man sending his lackeys to grovel at the gates of power. The "Roger and Me" shtick might be fine for Michael Moore badgering the head of GM but Kerry wants to be leader of the free world. So far, he is looking woefully un-Presidential.
Nonetheless, Texas welcomes Kerry's useful idiots with open arms. Courtesy National Review, here's the text of a letter from some Texas politicians who are all Vietnam vets, and are supporting the president's re-election.
Dear Senator Kerry,
We are pleased to welcome your campaign representatives to Texas today. We honor all our veterans, all whom have worn the uniform and served our country. We also honor the military and National Guard troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today. We are very proud of all of them and believe they deserve our full support.
That's why so many veterans are troubled by your vote AGAINST funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, after you voted FOR sending them into battle. And that's why we are so concerned about the comments you made AFTER you came home from Vietnam. You accused your fellow veterans of terrible atrocities and, to this day, you have never apologized. Even last night, you claimed to be proud of your post-war condemnation of our actions.
We're proud of our service in Vietnam. We served honorably in Vietnam and we were deeply hurt and offended by your comments when you came home.
You can't have it both ways. You can't build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up. There is no double standard for our right to free speech. We all earned it.
You said in 1992 "we do not need to divide America over who served and how." Yet you and your surrogates continue to criticize President Bush for his service as a fighter pilot in the National Guard.
We are veterans too -- and proud to support President Bush. He's been a strong leader, with a record of outstanding support for our veterans and for our troops in combat. He's made sure that our troops in combat have the equipment and support they need to accomplish their mission.
He has increased the VA health care budget more than 40% since 2001 -- in fact, during his four years in office, President Bush has increased veterans funding twice as much as the previous administration did in eight years ($22 billion over 4 years compared to $10 billion over 8.) And he's praised the service of all who served our country, including your service in Vietnam.
We urge you to condemn the double standard that you and your campaign have enforced regarding a veteran's right to openly express their feelings about your activities on return from Vietnam.
Sincerely,
Texas State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson
Rep. Duke Cunningham
Rep. Duncan Hunter
Rep. Sam Johnson
Lt. General David Palmer
Robert O'Malley, Medal of Honor Recipient
James Fleming, Medal of Honor Recipient
See here for more detail.
Blogs for Bush has picked this up.
I'm submitting to the Beltway Traffic Jam.
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