Or maybe WWII

As if a return to Korea (see below) weren't enough, now we're looking back at World War II. Repsonding to Bob Dole's weekend transformation from primary season impartial observer to general election Republican hired gun, Joshua Micah Marshall points out that Dole should know better than to give Kerry guff for winning a Purple Heart for superficial wounds, since he won his first one for the same kind of incident. Instead, here's the remarkably underhanded thing Dole had to say on Sunday: "And here's, you know, a good guy, a good friend. I respect his record. But three Purple Hearts and never bled that I know of. I mean, they're all superficial wounds. Three Purple Hearts and you're out." [Update: Kerry bled! So says his crewmate, Del Sandusky: "I was there when he got wounded. I saw the blood. I don't care what Dole said."]

Good friend, indeed. Maybe Dole should remember that Kerry is running against the son of a man that Dole doesn't particularly like. Or that Kerry volunteered to be in a position to be wounded three times in the first place.

In any case, what's next? Will we start rehashing the Spanish-American War? Perhaps we can start debating slavery again and turn back the clock to the Civil War--oh, wait. Alan Keyes says we already are, because the abortion debate is really about slavery. (He's down 41 points, though, so I guess what he thinks isn't terribly important to this election.)

Please, candidates, can we talk about the issues of OUR time? Bush, if you want to fundamentally change the way we pay our nation's bills, say so, and explain why you think it's the right way. I may not agree, but I'll listen to that. Kerry, if you think you can prosecute a more efficient war on terror, explain why, and people will listen. Elections have been mudslinging fests for years, but isn't this election important enough to actually debate ideas rather than dental records and the depth of shrapnel in a man's leg? I don't care if Bush was in Alabama or what Kerry did in the Mekong Delta; I care what either of them will do if we give them four years to run the country. I don't think I'm alone in this. Hasn't Bush won enough from this little feud? He never fought, yet he's the one whose partisans have turned Vietnam into a campaign issue. He should call a truce while he's ahead and spare the nation a gutter game that threatens to sink our politics even deeper into the mire. If he does, even I will have to admit that he did the right thing--and the smart thing, by forcing Kerry to stop using the smears against John McCain to tar Bush. We'll know soon enough. [Update: Bush wants ALL ads from independent groups, from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to MoveOn.org, to stop, saying they're bad for the system. I wonder how Kerry will respond to this? He's got a lot of big money behind him right now, but those Republican fringe groups can scare up cash in a hurry...]

Thank goodness there are only 71 more days of this. I don't know how much more I can take.