"STOP PICKING ON ME!!"

Ok, where to start? I read the most (well, it’s certainly not the MOST outrageous story I have ever read, not even close. It’s just a figure of speech – get off my back!)

In a preemptive strike trying to portray the Republican’s as evil (not hard to the liberal press), John Kerry wrote a letter to President Bush accusing him of using smear tactics against him. This letter magically appeared just a few hours after Rep. Chambliss (R-Ga) mentioned Kerry’s thirty-two voting record on defense.

Now, two things are very obvious. First of all, Kerry had this letter just waiting for an excuse to send it on. Writing open letters to the President takes quite a bit of time – you need a couple of writers to formulate it, edit it, get it vetted by the leaders of the party (That being the NEA and Planned Parenthood), etc. You just fire one off the hip. And first of all again, the thing that threw Jane Fonda Kerry into such a tizzy is something we like to call the truth, not something Hanoi John deals in much. His voting record DOES stink on defense.

The sidebar story on this whole thing is the Saxby Chambliss/Max Cleland connection. Chambliss beat Cleland in 2002 for a seat in the House of Representatives and we all know how he did it, he questioned Cleland’s patriotism, even Kerry mentioned it in the letter:

"Saxby Chambliss, on the part of the president and his henchmen, decided today to question my commitment to the defense of our nation," Kerry said in Georgia, one of 10 states choosing electoral delegates on March 2.

Kerry said Bush used the same strategy to beat John McCain in the 2000 race for the Republican presidential nomination, and during the Chambliss-Cleland race.

In his letter to Bush, Kerry called Chambliss' run against Cleland "one of the most despicable campaigns ever conducted."

Of curse, like most things that Kerry says, it’s all a lie. For a great rundown on what the race was REALLY like, check out Rich Lowry’s ditty here. Cleland lost because he was voting like a liberal Democrat, fine if you’re from the People’s Republic of Massachusetts, but bad if you’re from Georgia. And maybe because he’s nuts – look at this quote and see if you can make any sense of it:

"For Saxby Chambliss, who got out of going to Vietnam because of a trick knee, to attack John Kerry as weak on the defense of our nation is like a mackerel in the moonlight that both shines and stinks," he said.

Another quick Kerry, this from Sunday’s “This Week”

"I don't know what it is that all these Republicans who didn't serve in Vietnam are fighting a war against those of us who did," the Massachusetts senator said.”

Oh, so you are saying that no one who didn’t serve in Vietnam can point out the obvious failings of those who did? You might want to check with your draft-dodging buddies in the Party before enforcing that, dipstick.