Turning Tide

Just want to add to the left-wing blog chorus that Kerry did the absolute right thing by hitting back against the Swift Boat Liars ads, and doing it the right way, not simply by calling them lies (which they are), but by connecting them to the Bush campaign, which isn't hard when one of the veterans that appeared in the ads is on the Bush-Cheney '04 for Vets Steering Committee (until, magically, his name disappeared from the rolls two days ago). Kerry has reframed the debate, and in this media age you have to fight back to get heard above the din of the 24-hour news cycle. The great Digby put it best:

Combatting smears is very, very difficult. It is almost impossible, as a matter of fact, when you have a compliant media that wants to be "fair and balanced" to the point where they would give Hitler equal time to make his case against the Jews.