I mentioned in an earlier post how the silly season had begun. I warned that lies, damned lies, and statistics would go flying about and that the first casualty of this war of words would be the truth. So you should not be surprised by certain Republican partisans who are trying to shoot holes in the military service of presidential candidate John Kerry. I won't repeat their lies but I wouldn't be surprised if they try to say Kerry never served in Vietnam. That it was all a Left Wing conspiracy and the the photos were faked using the movie sound stage next door to the one used to fake the moon landing.
It is a sorry state of affairs in which this is the level of the debate. To me, the bottom line is did either Senator Kerry or President Bush serve in Vietnam? If Kerry did and Bush didn't then lets leave it at that and move on to more important issues like how to pay for the war in Afghanistan/Iraq.
This sordid story reminds me of the Nixon years in which he recruited a team of supporters who, under direction of the President, burglarized offices, illegally tapped phones, spread lies about his opponent, and did just about anything they could to win the election. What is it about some misguided Republicans that they become so virulent and believe the ends justify any means?
In other political news, some right leaning pundits are predicting a landslide victory for Bush in November. As I've said before, the only way that will happen is if there is a terrorist attack just before the elections. Otherwise, our nation is so evenly divided that whoever wins will do so by a very small margin. In fact, it is entirely possible that we could have a replay of the last election in which the person who wins the popular vote loses to the person who wins the Electoral College. In fact, one recent poll I heard of says President Bush is presently ahead in Electoral College votes but behind in the popular vote.
Whoever wins in November will have to figure out how to unite a very divided country.
Aloha!
