Joe Conoson has some good comments on the issue today.
"For George W. Bush's surrogates to question John Kerry's war record, as they have continued to do in recent days, requires a special Republican brand of super-high-octane gall. Why would the president want to draw additional attention to the most unflattering contrast between him and the Democratic challenger? Why would his flacks reopen the painful issues of that era by questioning Kerry's undoubted heroism? If anyone ever earned the right to talk about what he had seen in Vietnam and why no more Americans should kill or die there, it was the young, highly decorated Navy lieutenant who had volunteered for duty.
Perhaps Bush and his strategists believe that offense is the only way to play defense on his spotty National Guard record. Perhaps they think that with enough money and enough noise, they can erase Kerry's medals and heroism. (After all, according to a recent Harris poll, millions of Americans evidently believe that U.S. troops actually found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so it is reasonable to think they would believe almost anything.) And perhaps they expect the mainstream media to assist in defacing Kerry's character -- just as important media organizations smeared Al Gore four years ago with Republican spin points.
There are a couple of points I'd like to underline. First, does anybody doubt that the desicion to go after Kerry's Military Record was, if not made by President Bush, at least approved by him? I think President Bush finds it to easy to distance himself from his surrogates.
Secondly, it shows how much President Bush and his followers really respect military service; it naturally comes second to loyalty to conservatism. So any soldier who chooses to criticize President Bush or support liberal causes, don't expect your uniform to protect you in the slightest from the smears of conservatives. Just so you know.
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