Thanks, John. You Fought The Good Fight

I've never had any particular sympathy for losing presidential candidates, but I feel badly for John Kerry.

I was not a John Kerry fan before he landed the nomination, and even for many months afterward. I think he conducted too cautious a campaign and missed an opportunity in April to firmly seize the Iraq issue. But I think he comported himself with dignity and even a measure of chivalry. I continue to believe his service in Vietnam was honorable and his opposition to the war in Vietnam principled. I still find it implausible that every Vietnam vet who politically opposes George Bush - Kerry, McCain and Cleland - is guilty of having conducted himself disgracefully in Vietnam.

I imagine Kerry was stunned and surprised at the ferocity of the Swift Boat attack. But I can't even imagine how difficult it must have been for him to realize that much of the country scorned his service and were willing to denigrate it for political ends. That must have hurt.

I wanted to believe that my country opposed an immoral war. I will have to console myself with the thought that millions of my countrymen, albeit a minority, opposed this war.