Smears Unravel

On Thursday, Larry Thurlow, a member of the Swift Boat Veterans Against Truth, appeared on CNN's Inside Politics alongside James Rassman, the Green Beret Lieutenant whose life John Kerry saved, earning Kerry a bronze star in the process. Thurlow, who was not in Kerry's swift boat (none of the smear-artists were), claimed that Kerry did not deserve the Bronze Star because "we were under no fire from either bank," a claim which, if true, means that Rassman has been lying for no apparent end (he is not a Democratic partisan).

Yes, btw, a nice ancillary benefit of the SBVAT campaign is that it effectively defames a lot of other veterans besides John Kerry. We already knew, thanks in part to Kerry's Senate testimony, that veterans of the Vietnam War did things that are difficult to talk about in polite conversation. That doesn't mean that their bravery wasn't real, or that Kerry somehow wasn't held to the same standards as everyone else when it came to being awarded medals. (Particularly obnoxious is the idea that Kerry's wounds weren't big enough to merit a purple heart. I personally don't accept the validity of purple hearts for anything less than a shotgun shell in the gut.)

Anyway, the problem in this specific instance is that Thurlow also earned a bronze heart in the very same mission. So, which is it: Were Kerry, Thurlow, and Rassman all lying 35 years ago, or is Thurlow lying now? I report, you decide. (Read Atrios and follow him to the Daily Kos for full details.)