30 Pieces of Silver

So is it their hatred of his coming home to protest that drives them, or is there an extra financial incentive to get these guys to blatantly lie about their own records to try to go after Kerry?

Larry "Fine" Thurlow, who commanded a Swift Boat in Vietnam, like Kerry, lied about the circumstances which led to his own Bronze Start in order to claim that Kerry lied about his.

Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John F. Kerry's most vocal critics, who has accused the Democratic presidential candidate of lying about his wartime record to win medals, contradict his own version of events...

But Thurlow's military records, portions of which were released yesterday to The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, contain several references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" directed at "all units" of the five-boat flotilla. Thurlow won his own Bronze Star that day, and the citation praises him for providing assistance to a damaged Swift boat "despite enemy bullets flying about him."...

The Bronze Star recommendations for both Kerry and Thurlow were signed by Lt. Cmdr. George M. Elliott, who received reports on the incident from his base in the Gulf of Thailand. Elliott is a supporter of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and has questioned Kerry's actions in Vietnam.

Sad isn't it. Sickening actually.

There is good news, however, for those who prefer their politics to be comprised of the traditional "hot" air without the added touch of blatant lies and character assassination, Kerry has, for the moment, pulled ahead of Bush in Ohio.