Make Bush pay for his lies....

...his own, and those circulated on his behalf. A cogent observation from Josh Marshall:

This whole Swift Boat episode is entirely in keeping not just with the record of George W. Bush, but, to be frank, his whole family. Think back to the 1988 and 1992 presidential races. Partly, it's in their political DNA. But it's also in the nature of blue bloods trying to ape populist politics -- for the key example, see the 1992 GOP convention in Houston and the sad antics of Bush family retainer Rich Bond.

Marshall's absolutely on target with the 1992 analogy. The Bush family does not give a rat's ascot about the truth and has NEVER hesitated to smear their political opponents. (Just ask the currently-emasculated John McCain, now letting bygones-be-bygones in order to stake out some sort of future in the GOP.)

The difference between 1992 and 2004, however, is that the smears are picked up and amplified by the right-wing echo chamber of Faux News, talk radio, Matt Drudge, etc. That's all the more reason for the Kerry campaign to fight back and fight back HARD. As Marshall points out in his post, Bush is vulnerable on a number of fronts -- his own credibility is in tatters -- and it's time to pound that home. Over and over again.