Rathergate anniversary - 25 days and counting - Swift Boat Vets, the run up to Rathergate - what a difference one year makes

One year ago today, I stumbled onto the blogosphere for the first time when I followed a Lucianne.com link to a Captain's Quarters post regarding the Swift Boat Vets. The story of my discovery of this post and Captain Ed's blog is discussed here.

By mid-August 2004, the Swift Boat story had been brewing for some time. It is difficult to assign an anniversary date to that story, so August 14th is as good a date as any (not really, but I don't feel like doing more research right now).

The Swift Boat Vets had as much to do with Rathergate as anyone else. They pummeled Kerry with their TV ads all through August. Kerry had gained no traction from his own (end of July) convention and he fell far behind in the polls (BTW - I hate polls) by the beginning of September. The MSM/DNC was desparate.

Ann Coulter believes (and I agree) that CBS' airing of the ANG phony documents on September 8th instead of October 31st was the direct result of Kerry's wounds caused by the Swift Boat Vets. The MSM/DNC could wait no longer. The MSM/DNC would have to find something else for its October surprise. Because the Swift Boat Vets forced MSM/DNC's hand early, the blogosphere had time to react. Rathergate was a 12 day scandal. That 12 day window would not have existed in late October. Read Ann Coulter's column.

So as we look back to one year ago, the sequence that would lead to the earthquake known as Rathergate (and all that followed) was already in motion. But none of us had any idea that events would move so quickly. The Swift Boat Vets were beating up Kerry, the MSM/DNC was desparate to save Kerry, and the blogosphere stood ready to expose MSM/DNC lies.

One year ago today, the network news was still dominated by the big three anchors that had occupied their chairs for the previous 20+ years. The "celebrity anchor" was very much a force to be reckoned with. Today, all three celebrity anchors are now gone, while the blogosphere's power to force the truth on to the front pages is recognized (but not admitted) by all. For those who are still in doubt, read the latest events in the growing Air America scandal.

One year makes a tremendous difference. I cannot wait to see what strides we make by this time in 2006.

The roots of my own blogging.

Today is the probable one year anniversary of the first time I ever looked at a blog. You might think it odd that I remember such a thing. At that time, my own blog did not exist. My own blog would not be created for more than a month. How would I remember looking at someone else's blog?

On August 14, 2004, I followed Lucianne.com's "blogtruth of the day" link to Captain's Quarters. [The Captain had posted interesting facts about the Swift Boat Vets that were unavailable elsewhere.] I then linked Captain's Ed's post at a Yahoo Group that I moderate (the Group has been pretty dormant lately). The link is still in place at the Yahoo Group and Captain's Ed's year old post still makes for good reading.

The Swift Boat Vet story that Captain Ed (and others) chronicled remains fascinating, if for no other reason than the idea that a psycho such as Kerry could get so close to the Presidency.

I had always ignored Lucianne's "blogtruth of the day" link. But from that day forward, I usually paid attention. I would later find other Swift Boat Vet posts and begin reading some blogs regularly. The process by which I would start my own blog had begun. Thank you Lucianne, thank you Captain Ed and thank you Swift Boat Vets for Truth.