O'Reilly speaks fairly!!

Bill O'Reilly has published a column on his website that smacks down the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush ad with a fairness he has not often exhibited on his TV appearances.

This is his summary of the controversy:

It is very possible to perform heroically on some occasions and do less than admirable things on others. All human beings are flawed and we are capable of both valor and deceit. That's what I think happened here. John Kerry was brave, but was also calculating. His heroism impressed most of his Swift Boat mates, but his civilian anti-war activities and perceived grandstanding also alienated many other Vietnam Vets. And so the battle lines are drawn.

One can disagree about his "calculating" line (and I certainly do), but O'Reilly has delineated the true basis for this ongoing dispute. We all know how unreliable memory can be, but to dispute Kerry's medals 35 years after the fact is dishonorable in itself. What is true is that these veterans - and other veterans around the country - continue to hold John Kerry's VVAW Vietnam protest activities in the early 70's against him.

It would be helpful if once and for all the Republican line about Kerry "dishonoring all Vietnam veterans" could be put to rest. The Kerry campaign has put together a definitive response to these attacks here.

O'Reilly finishes:

The lesson here is that blind partisanship is not an attribute. No person or candidate is all good or all bad. In America today, with both sides peddling lies and defamation and spin, it is alarmingly difficult just to get simple facts on which to base a responsible vote.

It's pretty hard to disagree with that statement.