I certainly wouldn't want to be unfair to those fine folks of the Swift Boat Liars for Bush group.
So I feel duty-bound to say that they have indeed accomplished something positive for the world. They have brought the blogger Hesiod out of his untimely retirement from blogging!
He's not promising to do it all the time. He's even leaving open the possibility of bowing out again. Let's hope we see much more of him. And check out Hesiod's comeback post: I've Had Enough! 08/30/04:
As many of you will certainly recall, I was one of the first people in the Democratic camp to take the so-called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" seriously as a threat.
I posted a number of items criticizing them and going after them.
But, their conduct over the past month has been beyond reprehensible. It has been criminal.
Has it really been nearly three months since Hesiod took a pause from the blogosphere? The place hasn't been quite the same since. Hesiod has a niche all his own. More from his comeback salvo:
What's eerie and disturbing about all of this is that it is almost a carbon copy of what happened to John Kerry in his 1972 Congressional race. Originally, he had a comfortable lead over his Republican opponent.
But the Nixon White House made it their personal mission to do whatever it took to take out John Kerry. And they did.
I think Hesiod has the correct reading of the effect of the controversy over the Swift Boat Liars' bogus claims:
I think, ultimately, the Swift Boat ads will backfire on Bush. That's pretty much conventional wisdom at this point. The first polls taken after the controversy erupted showed a slight amount of slippage in support for Kerry, which is not unexpected.
Later polls will show a rebound effect for Kerry. But those won't manifest until a week or two after the GOP convention.
There is another way in which these ads will rebound on the Bush campaign: It will make John Kerry a sympathetic figure to the millions of anti-Bush voters out there who were waningin their enthusiasm for the Democratic nominee.
John Kerry has now entered the ranks of recent Democratic party martyrs, along with Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Max Cleland and even Gray Davis. Only the Bush campaign and radical Republicans could make Gray Davis a sympathetic figure.
He really gets today's Republican Party.
Hesiod, try not to leave us alone in the blogosphere while George W. Bush is still in the White House, okay? And: Welcome back!!
Go now and read his latest posts. And bookmark his site: Counterspin Central.
Update: After a very good two-day run, Hesiod has bowed out again. Let's hope it's like Frank Sinatra's many retirements.
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