corrente

Gee, Bush thinks, or at least says, that Kerry's service was "honorable." So can't he get his own wife to stay "on message" with him? Oh, wait. He's using his wife as a campaign surrogate. Phew!

TIME
Do you think these swift-boat ads are unfair to John Kerry?

[LAURA] BUSH
Do I think they're unfair? Not really. There have been millions of terrible ads against my husband.
(Time via Atrios)

Work with me here, Laura (back).

The point isn't whether the ads are "terrible." The point is whether the ads are true.

It would indeed be a "terrible thing" to find out that Bush was guilty of payroll fraud in the Guard (never mind the AWOL thing for now). And when Paul Lukasiak builds the case that Bush is guilty of payroll fraud, he uses the concepts of "evidence" and "reasoning."

When the SBVF[cough]T say "terrible things" about Kerry, they don't use "evidence" and "reasoning." They just make stuff up. Like the idea that there are four men, not three, in a 14-foot boat, and two of them are Lieutenants. So when their stuff falls apart on examination, they just make more shit up. That's why what they're doing is called a "smear."

See?

I think the Bushes believe that any criticism of Bush is unfounded, simply because he was elected President. Oh, wait... That can't be it...