This Is Bushland, Not America

"Our nation stands at a fork in the political road. In one direction lies a land of slander and scare; the land of sly innuendo, the poison pen, the anonymous phone call and hustling, pushing, shoving; the land of smash and grab and anything to win. This is Nixonland. But I say to you that it is not America." Adlai Stevenson, 1956

The names of the men pictured above, left to right, are George Elliott, Roy Hoffman, Louis Letson, Adrian Lonsdale and Van O'Dell. They, along with former Nixon plumber John O'Neill, Larry Thurlow and others, have chosen to give voice to their grievances with John Kerry's antiwar activities in the early '70's by slandering his service in Vietnam. The claims they have made (and broadcast in an anti-Kerry television commercial) are in each instance contradicted by the recollections of John Kerry's boatmates, by official Navy records and by their own prior statements. Elliott, Hoffman and Lonsdale were lauding Kerry's service more than 25 years after serving with him. Hoffman said just last year, referring to Kerry's actions that earned the Silver Star, "It took guts, and I admire that." Today Roy Hoffman tells us that John Kerry didn't deserve that Silver Star.

These men served honorably in Vietnam, but they have dishonored themselves. I am absolutely certain that the American people will recognize their discredited allegations as a gutter-dwelling smear campaign and, if the Deserter has not repudiated them in advance of the wave of public revulsion, will hold the Deserter accountable on November 2nd.