It' s a small point, but I was disappointed when President Bush withdrew his nomination of Sam Fox as Ambassador to Belgium. Fox contributed significant sums to the Swift Boat Vets, and John Kerry and other Democrats attacked Fox during his confirmation hearing on that ground. Now, though, Bush has given Fox a recess appointment as Ambassador that will run more or less through the end of Bush's second term.

The identity of the Ambassador to Belgium is an issue of essentially zero importance. But I'm glad to see Bush standing by Fox, for two reasons. First, the Democrats in Congress are doing everything they can to destroy his administration, and he should fight them with all the powers at his command. Second, and more important, Bush and other Republicans should not do anything that appears to acquiesce in the left's slander of the SBVs.

That the Vets have been "discredited" is a commonplace not only on the left, but in the mainstream media. Yet it is hard to find any explanation of where this "discrediting" lies. Most of what the Vets said in their ads has never been disputed, let alone discredited. Their most effective ad showed pictures of John Kerry in his anti-Vietnam war days, and quoted Kerry's own speeches. The ad was important because most voters had no idea that Kerry had accused his fellow servicemen of being war criminals. The Vets also exposed the lie of Kerry's "Christmas in Cambodia," which Kerry now admits was false. Another ad showed officers who had ranked above Kerry in the chain of command, and who now consider him unfit to be commander in chief. How has that been discredited?

In fact, there was only one SBV ad the accuracy of which is even disputed, the first one that talked about the medals Kerry was awarded during his Vietnam service. Some of those facts are still uncertain, but the thrust of the ad, that Kerry's purported heroism in Vietnam was being grossly over-sold, was certainly true.

So: Bravo to President Bush for standing by Sam Fox and, implicitly, by the Swift Boat Vets.

To comment on this post, go here.

UPDATE: I responded to Eric Boehlert's pathetic attack on this post here.

Posted by John at 08:06 PM  |    |