Opponents behind Kerry smear

I applaud Dolores Janiewski’s response to Bruce Farland’s letter denigrating John Kerry. The book he quotes, Unfit for

Command, was produced by a group of pro-war hawks (Swift Boat Veterans) financed to the tune of millions of dollars by senior figures in the Republican Party, to derail Kerry’s Democratic presidential candidacy.

Its claims have been refuted many times, and the term ‘‘swiftboating’’ has entered the American vernacular as a synonym for ‘‘dirty politics’’.

Kerry was against the Vietnam War, and spoke out (loudly) about it.

But he did what he perceived to be his duty by enlisting and doing a combat tour (wounded and sent home), while Bush took refuge in the Texas Air National Guard, thereby escaping conscription.