PRESTOPUNDIT

"UNFIT FOR DUTY" -- John Kerry on George Bush:

"Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation."

So it's back to "Bush lied, people died." I guess this is just about what you'd expect from someone who began his political career with a blanket condemnation of American military men as "war criminals."

Sen. Kerry set up his bare-knuckles attack on the President with this statement: "The Vice President called me unfit for office last night." I defy anyone to find anything close to such a statement in the Vice President's speech. Mr. Cheney did say this, "The President's opponent is an experienced senator. He speaks often of his service in Vietnam, and we honor him for it."

But this is what Mr. Kerry says about President Bush and VP Cheney: "For the past week, [my opponents] attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as Commander- in- chief. We�ll, here�s my answer. I will not have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq. The Vice President called me unfit for office last night. Well, I'll leave it up to the voters to decide whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty."

Let's see. Kerry sought deferments just like Cheney (they were denied). Kerry entered the reserves, just like Bush. And neither Bush nor Kerry could know how LBJ and the military would choose to use them for national service. Kerry had no reason to expect dangerous combat duty. Flying the plane Bush flew was itself hazardous duty -- men died doing it. And in other wars, air reservists were sent to fight. (Read my "John Kerry" postings for links and details.)

The bottom line of all this is that John Kerry has chosen to take us once again back to the agony of the Vietnam era -- he does want to run on this deeply divisive issue, folks, as he's shown again and again, with his repeated attacks on George Bush's service record during the Vietnam era. That's why he hasn't acknowledged his deceptions about "Christmas in Cambodia" nor apologized to the Swift Boat vets. He doesn't want to put this topic behind him. He wants to use it for partisan political purposes.

Don't be mistaken. Kerry hasn't been shy about using incendiary talking points borrowed from the Michael Moore's of the world. Look at his speech last night -- peppered with references to the Saudi Royal family, Halliburton, lies about Iraq, failures to see combat in Vietnam. It's like the stump speech version of the "Fahrenheit 9/11" crocumentary. As has been said before, the blame for the focus of so much of the campaign on still raw wartime controversies from thirty years ago lies squarely with one man -- John Kerry.

UPDATE: Veteran Dale Franks reacts:

This is outrageous. I reject utterly any contention that Kerry's military service immunizes him against criticism from those who did not serve. One of the key elements of our system of government is the inflexible and inviolable principle that the military is permanently subject to civilian audit.

No one questioned Mr. Kerry's patriotism. They questioned his judgement, and rightly so. For Mr. Kerry to proclaim the valid criticisms he's received over the last four days as a slur on his patriotism is, quite simply, a lie. What makes this even more insulting is that the military service of which Mr. Kerry claims to be so proud now, is the same military service he denigrated as an exercise in atrocity 30 years ago ..

Mr. Kerry's service in Vietnam tells us precisely nothing about his ability or fitness to serve as president, and more than the lack of service was a bar to FDRs fitness to be a wartime president. It is specious and pejorative to assert otherwise.

And this from KerrySpot:

Was this really Kerry's problem? Not enough "heat"? Not enough attacks on Bush? Not enough focus by Kerry on the Vietnam years?

Kerry has � if you'll pardon the expression � gotten stuck in a quagmire. He, and a good chunk of the Democratic party, honestly and totally believed that the best way to prove that he has the best policies to fight the War on Terror is to remind people he fought in Vietnam. To many ears, that sounds like a non sequitur. Military service can be a plus in a presidential candidate, but Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan had little or no military experience and they all did pretty well leading the U.S. during a war.

But Kerry has focused on his Vietnam years almost exclusively, and waved his thrown and apparently re-collected medals around like a magic talisman to ward off all criticisms.

Now the Swift Boat Vets appear, and do a number on Kerry's Vietnam record. It jabs Kerry on a key element of his self-image, and he's responding clumsily and angrily. But getting down and dirty himself with the Swifties and attacking Dick Cheney for taking too many deferments in the 1960s and 1970s will do nothing to help him win over undecided voters and independents ..

Yet more:

John Kerry on Geoge Bush: "All hat, no cattle."

Slings and Arrows on John Kerry: "All hat, no Cambodia."

Posted by Greg Ransom