I'm temporarily away from the blog, so I thought I'd post one of my personal favorites from almost exactly four years ago (there were conventions going on then, too). As you may recall, an independent group calling itself "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," began a campaign to destroy John Kerry's reputation as a war hero.

One has to view this strategy through a jaundiced prism today, as John McCain, war hero, uses the POW defense for virtually every difficult question posed to him. Not to take away from his sacrifice in the least, but does it really help the electorate in making an intelligent choice when he uses it as his default answer?