Andy @ Hillhome.org

I find it amazing. There has always been a feeling among veterans that only other veterans have the right to question or criticize aspects of the military, or specific conflicts. Anyone else who does so is instantly labeled a “coward” for not serving their country. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin did this to Dick Cheney.

Now the latest in the Swift Boat Veterans controversy, and I’ll try to boil it down very simply:

1. Kerry’s campaign accuses President Bush of orchestrating the ads, and John Edwards calls on him to “stop these ads.”

2. Yesterday, President Bush said that he thought Kerry “served admirably and he ought to be proud of his record.” When asked if he would renounce the particular ad in question, Bush said, “that means that ad and every other ad. I don’t believe we ought to have 527s. I think they’re bad for the system.”

3. John Edwards then said, “The moment of truth came and went, and the President still couldn’t bring himself to do the right thing.”

Incredible. I find it amazing that John Kerry doesn’t ever address the substance of the ads, but instead runs to the FEC and his legal team to combat the allegations. He accuses Bush of “smear tactics.”

What he fails to recognize is that the Swift Boat Veterans have as much a right to participate in the political process by airing their views as John Kerry himself does. It is downright un-American of Kerry to try to deny them their First Amendment rights.