More Andrew Sullivan on the Swift Boat Liars

Andrew Sullivan discusses the Swift Boat Liars and more important the long term inpact of it. I'm afraid Sully probably got it right.

EMAIL OF THE DAY II: "The 'Email of the Day' you posted, about the Swift Boat people, is horrifying. It is, perhaps, the most eloquent example I have yet seen of how coarse and vile our political culture has become. The President's supporters are so twisted with hatred of their opponents that they cannot even acknowledge the simple fact that John Kerry put himself in harm's way, fought with courage, bled for his country. He could so easily have been killed -- that's a very strange way to plan your political future. Dozens of Swifties died on the rivers of the Mekong Delta, including Kerry's close friend and fellow Swift commander, Don Droz. He was ambushed and killed just a few weeks after Kerry shipped back sateside. It could just as easily have been Kerry. They patrolled side by side countless times. Like Droz, Kerry exposed himself to enemy fire to save men's lives. That anyone would begrudge Kerry taking the three Purple Hearts and the right to go back home that came with them is truly depraved."

My feelings entirely. I notice, however, that now that the smears have taken their toll, the talking point from the GOP is that the real issue is Kerry's 1971 testimony. That indeed is a completely legitimate issue. But if these vets had just started with that, would they have gained traction? No - they had to challenge Kerry's medals in order to get the media attention that would allow them to refight the Vietnam war. What galls me is how people like the elder Bush and Dole and Gillespie and Novak and others now refuse to back up specifics impugning Kerry's medals but ask open-ended questions like: "Could they all be liars?" Or: "There are inconsistencies," - without having the balls to say what they are (because the most reliable records refute Kerry's critics on all but one trivial count). This is a classic smear tactic. But it's no use complaining, and Kerry was wrong to hope the media would ignore the smears. What worries me is what happens if Bush wins the election and a huge swathe of blue America concludes it was because of this swift boat business. The rancor that we have seen already could metastasize into something even more bitter and divisive. I cannot see how that benefits anyone in the long run.