Both father and spouse of the current President refuse to do the honorable thing, denounce, when asked, the smears of war hero John Kerry.
From the LA Times...
[M]uch of the offstage debate centered on the ongoing controversy over criticism of Kerry's actions during the Vietnam War — some of it fanned by Team Bush.
George H.W. Bush, the 41st president and the current president's father, said in an interview on CNN that allegations by Kerry's critics in recent television commercials were "rather compelling."
In the interview, which took place Monday, he was careful to add that Kerry "served honorably." But he declined to condemn the most serious charges of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — that Kerry lied about important episodes during his service in Vietnam as a Navy officer in the Mekong Delta and did not deserve a Purple Heart and Bronze Star that he was later awarded.
Democrats denounce those allegations as a smear, and available military records generally corroborate Kerry's account.
But the former president, stoking the controversy, said of Kerry's Swift Boat critics: "I don't know enough about them to say they're all liars."
In recent days, Laura Bush has also declined to condemn the anti-Kerry group's allegations concerning the Swift Boats and the young Lt. Kerry's service aboard them during four intense months in the Mekong Delta.
I'm still waiting for the extensive media coverage of the younger Bush's (absence from) war record. How exactly did he snag the difficult to obtain position in the Texas National Guard? Where exactly did he disappear to when he didn't show up for a physical, disqualifying him from defending the country by flying planes? Doesn't the fact that he didn't care to defend us from attack in the way he had agreed to do--by being a pilot in the Texas guard--matter? Is only John Kerry's record suspect?
If the claim is: well Kerry talked about his service in Vietnam, well then let's look at Bush's claim that he had extensive business experience--that he is a CEO ready to lead this country?