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WHAT LIBERAL PRESS? Here are a couple of nice examples of the bias that creeps into coverage of the Kerry war controversy. An Associated Press dispatch refers to “the Republican-bankrolled Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.” This is an accurate description, inasmuch as the group has indeed taken money from people who are Republicans. But do you recall ever hearing a “mainstream” press reference to, say, “the Democrat-bankrolled MoveOn.org”? Neither do we. A piece in Monday’s New York Times, meanwhile, notes that “some Democrats close to Mr. Kerry said they feared that the very thing that had led the party to see him as its strongest challenger to Mr. Bush, his record as a decorated combat veteran in Vietnam, was now threatening to undermine his candidacy because of criticism raised by some former Vietnam veterans.” “Former” Vietnam veterans? So according to the Times, if you criticize Senator Kerry, you lose your veteran status?

DEM AT TACKS BUSH’S WAR RECORD We have noted that despite Democratic whines that criticism of Senator Kerry’s war record is some sort of unprecedented smear, in 1996,The Nation published an article questioning Senator Dole’s war record. National Review’s Jim Geraghty reminds us that in 1992,The New Republic published an article by Sidney Blumenthal – later a “correspondent” for The New Yorker and then a hatchet man for the Clinton White House – that quoted tail gunner Chester Mierzejewski, who served in the Pacific with George H.W. Bush and who disputed the latter’s campaign account of his wartime activities. Mr. Geraghty has a long excerpt from the article, which doesn’t seem to be available online, followed by his own conclusion:

One can believe that Sid Blumenthal’s article, citing Mierzejewski and some differing versions of Bush’s story raises legitimate questions about the former president. And one can believe that the Swift Boat Vets for Truth, all 264 of them and their sworn affidavits, along with Kerry’s Christmas in Cambodia story, raise legitimate questions about Kerry. But it is hard to contend that the former is legitimate hard-nosed journalism while the latter is just a smear campaign.

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALIST? Senator Edwards’s wife, Elizabeth, “comes to Tucson on Sunday to reach out to female voters – and a female reporter,” reports the Arizona Daily Star. “The wife of Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards specifically requested that an Arizona Daily Star female feature reporter interview her while she is in town.” It’s a bit reminiscent of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where male doctors were not allowed to examine female patients. Of course, this is America, where we do not tolerate sex discrimination. Maybe the male reporters at the Arizona Daily Star should file a class-action lawsuit against Mrs. Edwards. But who would represent them? Well, we can think of a certain trial lawyer who may be looking for work next January.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER Blogger Edward Morrissey notes a report from Fox News’s Major Garrett that the Kerry campaign has acknowledged one of the key allegations in John O’Neill and Jerome Corsi’s “Unfit for Command”:

Kerry received a Purple Heart for wounds suffered on December 2nd, 1968. But an entry in Kerry’s own journal written nine days later, he writes that, quote, he and his crew hadn’t been shot at yet, unquote. Kerry’s campaign has said it is possible his first Purple Heart was awarded for an unintentionally self-inflicted wound.

Which, of course, is precisely what “Unfit” says happened.

LIFE AFTER THE VICE PRESIDENCY “Gore, Violence Splash Film in Traditional Horror” -headline, Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press, August 23

THIS PEW ISN’T BIG ENOUGH FOR THE TWO OF US “Two Members of Clearwater ChurchVie for Same Seat” -headline, Florida Baptist Witness, August 19