Swift Boat II: A Return to Slanderville

"Pansy!"

I guess the GOP motto is "if it worked before, let's try it again," no matter if that which allegedly "worked" is to slander true patriots. But with a week to go in the special election for Ohio's 2nd Congressional district, an aide to Republican Jean Schmidt has attempted a takedown of Iraq War veteran and Democrat Paul Hackett:

I understand that Hackett did not participate in combat at all. ... Let's just not act as though we led marines in combat if we did not, okay?

He commanded a Civil Affairs unit. Riding around in the desert distributing supplies when the roads are littered with IEDs and snipers is combat, buddy. 11 other civil affairs officers have died in the conflict. No matter what you think about the war itself, it's truly disgusting that anyone who volunteered to go over there would have their patriotism questioned.

And unlike John Kerry, Hackett has immediately answered back:

When asked to answer that charge, Hackett is blunt: "The only way I know how to support the troops is by going over there." He doesn't hesitate to criticize Schmidt's support of the war: "All the chicken hawks back here who said, 'Oh, Iraq is talking bad about us. They're going to threaten us' - look, if you really believe that, you leave your wife and three kids and go sign up for the Army or Marines and go over there and fight. Otherwise, shut your mouth."

I'm sure that will receive the same answer it has from the College Republicans, Jonah Goldberg and all the other members of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders, who type through cyberspace with the greatest of ease, torching the enemy with their diatribes about "Islamofascism," rat-a-tat-tatting with the guns of "They hate our freedom!" But whine though they must, deep down they know it's true.

Maybe it's that kind of straight talk that earned Hackett the endorsement of The Cincinnati Post, who endorsed Bush in the last two elections;

Hackett, in our view, is a gust of fresh air. If we had to put a label on him, it would be Libertarian Democrat. He says what he thinks and doesn't seem to have much use for the orthodoxy, or the partisanship, of either party. He doesn't want the government telling him what kinds of guns he can own, nor does he want it interfering in family or medical decisions or taking away civil liberties in the name of fighting terror. He regards Social Security more as an insurance program than a retirement savings plan, but wants to put it on a sound footing and would raise the earnings ceiling if necessary to do so.

If elected, he notes, he would be the only member of Congress with direct military experience in Iraq - which, he says, is a fight we should end as soon as possible. He wants to finish the job and get out, and he wants the United States to stop holding hands with Pakistan and to get serious about tracking down those responsible for the 9-11 attacks.

We like Hackett's candor. We're impressed with the freshness of his ideas. We believe his experience shows him to be someone who is action-oriented.

This would still be an upset if Hackett were to win this very partisan Republican district, but he's the right candidate for this race: a civil libertarian with national security credentials who ran for office because he "got off the plane from Iraq and all they were talking about in Washington was Terri Schiavo!" This guy won't be Swift Boated. He'll do the asskicking around here, and he just might win this thing.