A Swift Kick
It's long been obvious that the war will decide the election.

Only now it looks like Vietnam, not Iraq.How did we get to the point where the election has been hijacked by a debate over whether John Kerry's wounds were bad enough, and his bravery sufficient, in a jungle war 35 years ago?

I blame the media. (Why not? It's my column.)

The Swift Boat Veterans have a right to purchase air time and make their case, and they've done a remarkable job, from their point of view, with a lousy half-million-dollar ad buy in three states.

But the media, which can't get enough of Vietnam, picked up the issue and ran with it on a hundred cable finger-pointing shows -- without having the slightest idea whether it was true. Without that echo-chamber effect, this dinky little ad would have sunk without a trace. Full article