A Tribute to the Swiftboat Vets

If it weren't for honorable men like John O'Neill and his compadres who served on the Swiftboats, (and, of course, the New Media, without whom the "Swiftees" would have had much difficulty getting their story out) the election may have turned out completely different. Be sure to read An American Story; a fitting tribute to some great patriots who didn't back down:

What impresses is the spirit of the American people and the point that Lincoln made, about how you can’t fool them all the time. The country finally handed up, in Mr.O’Neill, a man of extraordinary quality, a graduate of the Naval Academy who spent two years in combat in Vietnam, graduated first in his class at the University of Texas law school, and clerked on the Supreme Court for Justice Rehnquist. Mr. O’Neill, once summoned by his Vietnam commander, Admiral Roy Hoffmann, had to make but one or two calls to bring the Swiftboat Veterans scrambling to the defense of the Navy’s honor — and America’s.

Threats of lawsuits didn’t faze any of them. In the case of the sailors, they had already put their lives on the line, and in the case of the prisoners of war, they had already withstood torture on behalf of America’s cause. Telephoned death threats and the sneers of the glitterati meant little. And they knew their story. The moment Senator Kerry stepped onto the podium of the Democratic Convention in Boston, snapped a salute, and announced he was reporting for duty, Mr. Corsi, who had been studying the anti-war movement for years, knew that “Unfit for Command” was going to become a runaway best-seller.