'Going Upriver': The truth about John Kerry

Sunday afternoon, Mike and I went to see George Butler's documentary, "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry." It's a powerful piece of filmmaking, containing more truth in a single frame than can be found in the Swift Boat slime (be it John O'Neill's book or those disgusting TV ads).

Butler focuses on John Kerry's decision to enlist and go to Vietnam; the situation he observed there that led him to question the war; and the principled leadership he displayed during "Dewey Canyon III," when members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War went to Washington to call attention to the ungodly mess in southeast Asia.

As we left the theater, Mike said:

"It's as if Kerry's spent his entire life preparing to get us out of the mess we're in now."

Here lies Dick Cheney

Kevin Drum fact-checks last night's debate -- and catalogs Cheney's lies.

Who served in the military -- and who didn't

Here's an item currently making the rounds in e-mail. It's a list of who's served in the military -- and who hasn't. This, coupled with the fact that a DEMOCRAT led this nation through WWII, ought to be a wake-up call for the idiots who persist in believing that Republicans are strong on defense and Democrats aren't. That's bullshit -- and here's the proof.

DEMOCRATS:

Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-'47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.
Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-1953.
Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII, receiving the Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars, and
Soldier's Medal.
Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit.
Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with Combat V.
Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
Chuck Robb: Vietnam
Howell Heflin: Silver Star
George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18 Clusters.
John Kerry: Lt. j.g. Navy, Vietnam; Silver Star and Bronze Star with Combat V.

REPUBLICANS:

Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
Tom Delay: did not serve.
Roy Blunt: did not serve.
Bill Frist: did not serve.
Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
Rick Santorum: did not serve.
Trent Lott: did not serve.
Dick Cheney: did not serve.
John Ashcroft: did not serve.
Jeb Bush: did not serve.
Karl Rove: did not serve.
Saxby Chambliss: did not serve.
Vin Weber: did not serve.
Richard Perle: did not serve.
Douglas Feith: did not serve.
Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
Richard Shelby: did not serve.
Jon Kyl: did not serve.
Tim Hutchinson: did not serve.
Christopher Cox: did not serve.
Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
Phil Gramm: did not serve.
Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
John M. McHugh: did not serve.
J C Watts: did not serve.
Jack Kemp: did not serve.
Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
George Pataki: did not serve.
Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
John Engler: did not serve.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
Clarence Thomas: did not serve.

PUNDITS & PREACHERS

Sean Hannity: did not serve.
Rush Limbaugh: did not serve
Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
Michael Savage: did not serve.
George Will: did not serve.
Paul Gigot: did not serve.
Bill Bennett: did not serve.
Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
Bill Kristol: did not serve.
Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
Ralph Reed: did not serve.
Michael Medved: did not serve.
Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
Ted Nugent: did not serve.

From my wish list:

I only wish that when Cheney cried crocodile tears in response to Gwen Ifill's question about the partisanship in DC, Edwards had said:

"We saw just how sincere the VP is about that when he told my colleague Pat Leahy to go have sexual relations with himself."

A win for Edwards

Thomas Oliphant points out the old man behind the curtain::

John Edwards had the political discipline to resist the temptation to behave with Cheney's off-putting nastiness, restricting himself to one powerful recitation of the vice president's long record of extreme right-wing position on race relations and education. He helps John Kerry politically, but what was important last night was that he helped demonstrate that Cheney isn't a big player anymore, that Edwards can play on the same stage, and therefore that the country is free to change leaders next month.

John Edwards went up against Darth Cheney last night, and didn't back down once. He nailed the VP on his countless lies -- especially his repeated conflation of Saddam Hussein and 9/11. Edwards tied that one to Cheney's tail like a tin can.

But he landed his best blow when he pointed out that Cheney's record proves that "a long resume does not equal good judgment."

We've seen the mounting proof of that over the last four years.