What's really fascinating is that, to the best of my knowledge, absolutely none of the new "witnesses" were on Kerry's boat, a factor used to discredit many of the Swift Boat witnesses. Are we to understand now that this is no longer an issue? That the issue of "being on the boat" was bullshit to start with? This was a critical Kerry talking point two weeks ago. What happened?

The reporters are valiantly fighting on behalf of Kerry, but I'm not sure it's going to work. Kerry's campaign must have squads of people out there scouring the U.S. for more "witnesses." Unfortunately, they're panicking, and not checking their facts. The mainstream media has forgotten how to be reporters, and they're eating this Kerry campaign promotion whole. It's going to bite them, hard. Wait for it.

Found Russell's original letter here. To the best of my knowledge, he appears in no other records on this subject.

Kerry's campaign has quietly backed away from several claims originally made in this controversy, and more are coming. The whole "Cambodia" bit has folded up entirely.

The Democrats picked this fight by crapping all over Bush's National Guard record, subjecting him to exactly the kind of investigation and microscopic inspection they're bitching about now.

Then Kerry comes out and joins the attack. Then he sets himself up as a war hero to justify himself as a president who can handle conflict. In fact, he makes it the core of his campaign.

Now they scream "no fair!" Typical.