How Thurlow Will They Go?

Larry Thurlow, one of John O'Neill's swift boat hitmen, is not a particularly credible fellow, is he?

I will make one more appeal to all republicans for fairness. I have gone to the swift boat vets' website, expecting to find documentation of their claims regarding Kerry's service. Instead, I found that the site focused almost exclusively on Kerry's antiwar activities in the States. I respect the swift boat vets' service in Vietnam, and I can understand how bitter these men must feel if they believe John Kerry's antiwar stance in any way denigrated their service in Vietnam, but it is plain that they are untruthfully attacking John Kerry's service because they cannot harm him politically by criticizing his opposition to the Vietnam war.

These swift boat vets are unfortunately the same kind of people as those who are threatening Joseph Darby, the Abu Ghraib whistleblower. Their attitude is that we, the public, have no right to know what is happening in a war fought by our country if it may reflect poorly on any of the troops. This, of course, is an untenable position.

I would ask my 'pub friends to drop this issue so that any further discussion of this campaign can focus on the issues that matter: the war in Iraq, economic and fiscal policy, and the incumbent's desertion from the Texas Air National Guard.