Letter: Kerry’s protests deserve respect

Saturday, June 19, 2004 | 12:35 p.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

June 19 - 20, 2004

When President Bush denounced the torture of Iraqi prisoners, his supporters were quick to praise him for taking the moral high ground. Strange then, that so few of them have commended John Kerry for his 1971 testimony, in which the decorated veteran protested similar abuses in Vietnam.

Instead, the Bush camp has tried to portray Kerry's remarks as disloyal and unpatriotic. They claim that he insulted our armed forces and damaged U.S. morale. Some say he lied. A few have even accused him of aiding the enemy.

So it seems that election-year politics work something like this: When the president condemns military misconduct, it is strong, ethical leadership. When his opponent does so, it's slander, bordering on treason.

How far will the Bush campaign go to try to counter Kerry's status as a war hero? And how long before the tactic backfires? At least we only have five more months of this nonsense.

SEAN SABATINI

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