My kingdom for a bar of soap

Republicans are slime.

My apologies for making such a blanket statement.  I know better.  Not all Republicans are slime, nor is all slime Republican.

I'm just a little bit cranky after reading the front page of Sunday's Chicago Tribune.  One of the editors, William Rood, happened to serve with John Kerry during the infamous Swift Boat days.  Rood has stayed silent for 35 years regarding Vietnam, refusing many requests for interviews, but for yesterday's paper, he broke his silence.

It's a fascinating story.  I'm not going to recount here, but you can read it for yourself if you like.

The Tribune is one of the more conservative papers out there, so I'd guess that Rood himself might lean towards the right, however, he's obviously tired of all the mud being tossed toward John Kerry's way about his service in Vietnam.  Reading his accouint of the events that earned Kerry the Silver Star, it's obvious that the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" are anything but truthful.

If you like Kerry, you don't believe these guys.  If you like Bush, you think they preach the Gospel. 

Personally, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth disgust me.  They use their status as verterans to hide behind the hatchets that are Republican politics these days.  I found it interesting that many of these people have ties to prior Bush campaigns.  We used to accuse the Soviets of pushing propaganda back in the heyday of the Cold War, but the tactics of the GOP put TASS to shame.

And Bob Dole lost points with me by mocking Kerry's purple hearts.  Maybe Kerry needs to carry a pencil in his fist from now on.

Take a look at the homepage of John Kerry's campaign.  Then take a look at the homepage of President Bush's campaign.  The differences in tone are staggering.  Kerry's website focuses on his campaign, what he wants to do for America, and features articles and video of his campaign visits.  You have to go 3/4 of the way down the page until you see any mention of his opponent, a feature entitled "Bush-Cheney: wrong for America."

In contrast, the President's homepage is full of Kerry-bashing.  There's the "John Kerry Flip-Flop Olympics" and the "John Kerry Gas Tax Calculator", along with video of ads running on television currently that attack Kerry and mention NOTHING about the accomplishments of the President.  You have to get halfway down the page until you see anything that touts the administration that has run this country for the last four years.

It's a striking difference.  The Republicans would rather tell us why we should not vote for their opponent instead of telling us why we should vote for them.  The negativity borders on obscene.

The Democratic convention in Boston last month stayed away from negative issues and focused instead on their own party.

Don't bet on the same when the GOP meets in New York at the end of the month.  When they aren't exploiting 9/11, they'll be posturing about the dangers of a democratic adminsitration instead of praising their own.

Bet on it.  And don't forget the Pepto-Bismol.