RE-FIGHTING VIETNAM

CBS News anchor Dan Rather made questions over the veracity of documents he used on the show “60 Minutes II” much more difficult by an aggressive refusal, at least initially, to consider that he might have been duped. CBS now says it will investigate the charge, which it should, but the larger issue of what the likely false documents mean to the presidential race remains so far unexamined.

Last week, we included in an editorial comments from the “60 Minutes” program, which showed four documents purportedly from President Bush’s former squadron commander suggesting the president had received favorable treatment. The editorial pointed out that other media – The Associated Press and The Boston Globe, for instance – had reported on similar conclusions, which have not been challenged, but it appears very likely that we were mistaken to have included the “60 Minutes” evidence.

The point of the editorial was to observe that the groups attacking the candidates, beginning with the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, were distorting what the election between President Bush and Sen. Kerry ought to be about: “It isn’t that their military records should be ignored, but they ought to be placed in the context of [the candidates’] lives.” Now the four documents used by “60 Minutes” ought to be placed in the context of this re-fighting of Vietnam. If they are indeed false, they are part of a smear campaign that focuses attention on events of 35 years ago and away from more important events today.

Today’s events are in Iraq, in Washington and nationwide within the economy. They are not in Vietnam or at the Texas Air National Guard. Can either candidate explain, without political spin, where the war in Iraq stands and what possibilities for peace remain? Seniors need answers to rising Medicare costs; students want to know whether they will be able to afford college. All Americans should be concerned with national security and whether the changes in the intelligence community will improve the defense of the country.

The candidates themselves talk about these issues – or talk around them – but the groups unofficially surrounding both campaigns raise so much noise about extraneous issues that debates about issues that matter are drowned out.

CBS has more explaining to do over the documents it used. But covering issues more relevant to Americans today would have been a better choice.