Old-time liberal Nat Hentoff pays his respects to the dogged courage of attorney John O'Neill and journalist Thomas Lipscomb, both of whom were unafraid to confront John Kerry's actual record in Vietnam.
Of all the targets of vitriol and attempted ambushes during the presidential campaign, I most admired John O'Neill of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth for his calm determination to stand his ground on his charges against John Kerry's Vietnam service in Unfit for Command, the book he co-authored.[O]n Election Day, historian Douglas Brinkley -- who wrote a hagiographic book on Kerry, Tour of Duty, triumphantly told the Financial Times that the mainstream media have ''exposed Kerry's critics as liars and frauds.'' I would not take a course with that careless historian, but I respect O'Neill for his courage and his public service for having enabled many Americans to look much more closely as John Kerry's presidential qualifications. And, indeed, the Swift Boat Veterans did a lot to keep Kerry from the Oval Office.
Tip via Power Line.
As a point of reference, Hentoff is a regular columnist at the Village Voice.