Swiftvets, MoveOn.Org and 527 orgs

I wrote about this in July, and now it's coming to pass.

The Swiftboat Vets for the Truth has released a video that is highly critical of John Kerry's Vietnam service, claiming he lied to obtain medals. Shortly they will release a book titled Unfit for Command.

Kerry has made his Vietnam service a centerpiece of his campaign, and I suppose one could argue that he brought this on himself. But it does not augur well for the future of politics. The Campaign Finance Reform Act, co-sponsored by John McCain and Russell Feingold, was touted as the solution to campaign financing problems. In reality it may be the biggest campaign financing loophole ever opened by Congress.

Worse yet, it allows people with a lot of money to finance any kind of ad they want to, including ads that no politician would ever dare to run. When MoveOn.org published an ad comparing Bush to Hitler, Republicans howled and demanded that Democrats denounce the comparisons.

Now that the Swiftvets have released an ad highly critical of Kerry's service, the left is going to howl just as loudly, and rightfully so. But it's too late. They have sowed the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind.

When I wrote about this earlier, I predicted this could be the dirtiest campaign we've ever seen. I'm sorry to see my prediction coming true.

UPDATE: Blackfive records an interesting exchange between the two sides in the debate. Needless to say, it doesn't resolve much.