I'm sure you all know about the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad that's been causing all the controversy. Well, Democrats have been calling on Bush to condemn the ad, even though he has no direct ties to it and has said that Kerry served honorably in Vietnam.

So today he condemns the ad.

But Bush, when asked if his comment included the Swift Boat ad, went further than previous White House statements and referred specifically to the controversial commercial.

"That means that ad and every other ad," he said. "I'm disappointed with all those kinds of ads. This kind of unregulated soft money is wrong for the process." He called on Kerry to join him in opposition to the 527 groups.

The response from John Edwards?

"The moment of truth came and went and the president still could not bring himself to do the right thing," said Senator John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential candidate.

"George Bush needs to take responsibility and demand that the ad come off the air," he said. Kerry is circulating his own ads demanding that Bush reject the essence of the Swift boat ads.

To the first point, the ads aren't illegal, right? So if Bush "demanded" that they be taken off the air, wouldn't that equate to stifling free speech? He says he doesn't agree with ad, support it, is disappointed in it, and condemns it. What do the Dems want him to do, send Ashcroft over to the SBVFT headquarters and gun them down?

As to the second point, demanding that Bush "reject the essence of the ads". Hasn't he already? I've seen the ad, and the essence of it is that Kerry did not serve honorably in Vietnam and that his record is tarnished. The White House has *repeatedly* said the opposite. That's rejecting the essence of the freakin' ads, ain't it?