In 2004, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry was narrowly defeated by incumbent George W. Bush. One of the factors in Kerry’s defeat was, no doubt, a so-called “527 Group” founded by John O’Neill: Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

The group, eventually known as Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, was disbanded in 2008, but not before its claims that John Kerry misrepresented his military service record were roundly debunked – and not before the term, “swiftboating,” came to represent smearing a political candidate with a specific ‘Big Lie’ while referring to it as truth. In fact, it seems that it was Mr. O’Neill who was lying about his Vietnam War record, not John Kerry. And O’Neill wasn’t the only one lying; George W. Bush, Karl Rove and the late Andrew Breitbart all denied having anything to do with the group but their claims were later disproved.

And now, as President Obama has nominated John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, O’Neill is back and more than hinting that he’ll revive his organization to defeat Kerry’s nomination to any cabinet position. Perhaps if he does, someone will form an organization to swift boat O’Neill.

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Art-itorial by Barbara Broido. Visit Barbara’s Doodle Blog for more of her art, design work and socio-political commentary.