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Fortunate Son and the Swift Boaters

In honor of the Swift Boaties, check out Kautilyon
and his link to the J. H. Hatfield book "Fortunate Son" available from Amazon. This book was successfully taken off the shelves during the last Presidential campaign.

Hatfield alleged, among other things, that Bush was arrested for cocaine possession in 1972 but got off because of his Daddy. The info allegedly came by way of K. Rove. Whether or not the charges are true, they were dismissed by the mainstream press in much the same way the charges of Bush's going AWOL have been dismissed, e.g., they were treated in a quite different manner from the charges made by the Swift Boaties.
Kautilyon also links to an introduction to the book by Greg Palast and a pretty comprehensive set of criticisms of Hatfield by Media Matters.

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Of Swift Boaties, Politics and Veracity

Bush and his brain are now mouthing that 527 organizations are the real issue when it comes to the Swift Boaties' ads. However, I'd suggest it's important not to buy into that - the more important issue is the veracity of the claims made by the various 527 organizations. Unfortunately Kerry played right into the GOP game by condemning the Moveon response to the Swift boatie ads (despite the fact that ads by moveon and their ilk are a good part of the reason he's still in the race). If he's thinking he's going to be above all this crap, my hunch is we're going to be treated to a rerun of the Dukakis - Horton campaign, with similar results.

I'd like to see him use this to take the offensive already - say outright: (a) these are provable lies (I assume he can cogently explain why); (b) they are completely typical of Bush/GOP campaigns (give examples), and; (c) they exemplify the sort of degradation that is harmful to American self-government and which deserve to be rejected in a society that supports democratic, as opposed to demagogic, values. At some point he might also casually inquire if any Alabama NG people from our current commander in chief's unit have yet been found who can recall the prez being present at all during his period of service there.

(Actually, the Kerry campaign has made a start toward (b) with the new ads featuring tapes of McCain admonishing Bush about his smears during the 2000 primary. But this could undoubtedly be strengthened by bringing in other Bush family examples, Willie Horton for example, and maybe even Lee Atwater's deathbed renunciation of such tactics. And it would probably benefit from being tied to points (a) and (c)).

Its unfortunate that Viet Nam is now the becoming the center of the 2004 campaign, and even more unfortunate that Kerry will probably try to find some way to wimp out of the attacks on his record rather than take the offensive. His truest patriotism was,imho, shown in his cogent opposition to a war that ran against the true interests and principles of this country, and that was ultimately shown to be based on a consistent policy of duplicity and deception.

Nevertheless, in the wake of all the confusion engendered by the new found memories and ads of the the Swift Boaties, I would like to propose that, for the benefit of truth and the information of the American public, a 527 organization be formed which will be dedicated solely to a detailed and honest comparison of the military histories and records of George Bush and John Kerry.

And may the best man win.

UPDATE: Kerry withdrew his ads in response to a request by McCain. What a joke!