The LA Times nails it

I have a lot of respect for Bob Dole, but I have to admit that his comments on the Swift Boat controversy have diminished it somewhat.

This editorial hits the absurdity of Dole's role in the flap dead-on:

John Kerry "never bled," and his wounds in Vietnam were only "superficial," Dole declared Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition." Not good enough! You call those wounds? Why lemme tell you, young fella….

So give this round to the GOP. Next, the Democrats can be represented by former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, and lost a Senate race to a Republican who questioned his patriotism.

Two parties can play this game. But who on Earth would want to?

I would say that the snark is absolutely the right tone for a "respectable" news organization covering this flap. The whole controversy is ridiculous beyond measure, and I will confess that the ginger treatment these guys are getting from the press leaves me furious. To treat their allegations, which directly contradict both eyewitness accounts and all the documentary evidence contemporary to the charge, with even a modicum of respect dishonors the American military and impugns the entire system by which this nation bestows honor and respect upon those who serve it under arms.

The whole controversy is a disgusting sight and it makes me sick.