Batten down the hatches.

The next big anti-Kerry attack from the wingnuts is coming via "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." How many of them are actually Swift Boat vets is yet to be seen. Their relationship to the truth is quite tangential, though.

Joe Conason has the goods at Salon (yeah, I know. The day pass thing is a hassle. So isn't about time you popped for the premium sub?). The outfit is headed up by John O'Neill, who served in Kerry's old unit after Kerry left Vietnam, and has been following him around (and coming in a distant second by almost any measure) since Chuck Colson recruited him to carry Dick Nixon's water as a vet for the war. He's assisted by a team of veteran Republican dirty tricksters - the kind of people who slandered John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries.

As a veteran enlisted man, I've always had a very simple measure for officers. "Would I follow him in combat?" What I know about John Kerry is that the men who did that, almost to a man, say they still would, and, politically, still do. Their opinions count a hell of a lot more to me than any collection of bystanders, onlookers and embittered Republican operatives. I think they'll count a lot more with the American voters who will see them on stages and in ads as the campaign rolls on.

And I'm still waiting to hear from the airmen who followed Lt. Bush into...oh yeah. That's right.

This will be messy for a few days folks, but don't panic.