Yesterday many of you said that the real objective with the Swift Boat Liars for Bush was to try and put an end to the soft money. Scott McClellan's (non)response to McCain that whined about 527's was indicative of
things to come:
The White House yesterday distanced itself from a political ad that questions John Kerry's Vietnam service and called on the Democratic presidential nominee to join President Bush in demanding an "immediate cessation" of all advertisements by outside groups.
"We have not and will not question Senator Kerry's service in Vietnam," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One. "The president is calling for an immediate cessation to all the unregulated soft money activity."
First let me say what this really means: Dem 527's are kicking ass so bad that the Republicans see no hope of catching up any time soon. That's a really good thing which has now been confirmed by this sneaky GOP effort to sway emotions against the 527s.
Now let's move on to a more important point. There is a substantive difference between what the Swift Boat Liars for Bush did and the Hitler ad that Republicans have been crying about like an overgrown bully who just got his nose bloodied by a supposed underdog (which is what they are). The Hitler ad was based on facts presented from an admittedly subjective perspective. The Swift Boat Liars for Bush was based on damnable lies. Facts presented subjectively vs damnable lies presented with a straight face. Daylight vs. dark. Day vs. night. BIG substantive difference.
And while we're on this topic, let's call the people behind the Swift Boat Liars for Bush for what they are: A coordinated effort to undermine by any means necessary the credibility of any opponent of George Bush, be it John McCain or John Kerry. They are identifiably the same ethically challenged people that smeared McCain.
And since they are so supportive of George Bush, one must be open to the idea that there is some coordination between them and the Bush campaign. In fact there is good evidence of collusion between the two supposedly separate groups. It is well known that part of the Swift Boat Liars for Bush project was to hire a private investigator. There was an article on that in yesterday's Houston Chronicle. Now think to yourself who would have come up with the previous story challenging Kerry's veteran status, the story about him throwing away (or not) his medals. That story was leaked by the White House off the record to a GOP-friendly newsman at ABC (evidently among others), but someone decided not to stay off the record and ratted out the White House involvement. (The White House had previously vehemently denied involvement.) OK we know the White House was behind that story, but where do you suppose they got the info they leaked? Who would have been investigating to come up with it? Hmmmmm.....
Finally, let's call the whole episode a lesson learned. The lesson is not that we should ban 527s but that we should ban damnable lies that are so vicious they could be the subject of a slander or libel suit. The Hitler ad was subjective but was really neither slanderous or libelous. A suit suggesting it was would be laughed out of court. The Swift Boat Liars for Bush on the other hand....
Make no mistake about it. Karl Rove was involved in the whole Swift Boat Liars for Bush project. It reeks of his smell. But even if we never prove the illegal and prosecutable collusion we all know happened, we are nonetheless able to distinguish the substantive differences that make John McCain denounce the Swift Boat Liars for Bush while he only probably winces at the Hitler ad.