So I'm going to be difficult. Let me say first off that I do not care about the SWIFT vets story, have not been following it, and it will not effect my vote one way or another. Further, I agree that the ad is way, way over the line. Dishonest, sleazy, etc. But...
1. If you treated someone's wound, and the people who brought him in said "he lied about it." Yeah, that's significant. I agree the ad's phrasing (cited by Saletan) is misleading to the point of a direct lie. But the next step for our reporters to do is to *follow up* (who told the medic this, can we find them, etc.) not to go into a defensive crouch against the VRWC as evinced by Saletan's "case closed." This is true even though such a VRWC does in fact exist.
2. A lot of the impact of the ad is military men who knew John Kerry, all saying they hated his guts and don't trust him. If one were simply to excise the comments from French, Letson, O'Dell, (and maybe Chenoweth), the ad would still be powerful. One might ask: what business does anyone have airing an ad where old military men slam Kerry? Well, if a candidate wraps himself in his wartime service, I think iit's fair game to run an ad where guys in uniform blast him. Unfortunately, this is not that ad.
Why don't you check that link, Michael? Bugmenot's service provider pulled the plug.
sorry, posted as I was running out the door. I hope they'll be back up.