No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

Kerry Attacks Bush on Swift Boat Ads

Kerry has now attacked Bush on the nasty Swift Boat people for Bush ads. It was an interesting set-up.

First, Kerry first disavowed the MoveOn ad that attacked Bush's failure to perform his Air National Guard duty, and asked them to remove it. This was apparently related to McCain's request that he do so.

McCain had also asked Bush to disavow the (much more indefensible) ads by the Swift Boat Liars for Bush. Bush declined to do so, while not associating himself with this group.

Now Kerry has directly associated Bush with that ad by pointing out that Bush is letting them do his dirty work, while refusing to disavow what they say. Bush appears to get the benefit of the ads while not admitting responsibity for them.

But until Bush disavows their ads as Kerry has the MoveOn ads Bush remains responsible for them. Kerry's response makes This perfectly clear.

Then Kerry expands the counterattack. Kerry's line - "If he (Bush) wants a debate on our service in Viet Nam, then Bring it on." is a great soundbyte. It lays out the basic argument on Viet Nam service in a single line, to Bush's severe disadvantage.

This isn't a classic 'war-room' type instant response, but I don't think that an instant response to this kind of attack is at all safe now. The bad guys have learned how to present their attacks to be more difficult to defend against.

In this case, Kerry seems to have set up his response by making his own denial of the MoveOn ads, and waiting for Bush to respond. Then Bush walked right into this. This is a 'judo-type' attack, or perhaps an 'attack, parry, reposte' attack similar to what you find in fencing.

It is beautiful. Present a position, predict your opponents' reaction, then if his reaction is the weaker one, attack his weakness.

Can you imagine Bush doing something like this in Iraq or against al Qaeda? Kerry will drive bin Laden nuts!

Oh, yeah, and the Republicans too.

Kerry wasn't my first choice for Presidential candidate. But then, subtle tastes take a while to grow on you.