MORE DIRTY TALK

Mmmmmm:

President Bush is "living in a fantasy world of spin," failing to tell U.S. troops or the American people the truth about the situation in Iraq, Democratic challenger John Kerry told National Guard veterans Thursday.

Two days after Bush addressed the same group, Kerry said of the president, "I believe he failed the fundamental test of leadership" by failing to level with the veterans.

"The president stood right where I'm standing and did not even acknowledge that more than 1,000 men and women have lost their lives in Iraq. He did not tell you that with each passing day we're seeing moref chaos, more violence, more indiscriminate killings," Kerry said in remarks prepared for delivery to the National Guard Association of the United States.

"You deserve a president who will not play politics with national security, who will not ignore his own intelligence while living in a fantasy world of spin, and who will give the American people the truth about the challenge our brave men and women face on the front lines," the Democratic senator said.

For the difference people identify between Bush and his father, one similarity holds: A chronic detachment from reality.

Two days, two new memes from the Kerry campaign. Bush the "excuse president", and and Bush the "out of touch president". Sure beats that previous line of his, no matter how true it is.

And along those lines, did Kerry listen to Krugman?

If Senator John Kerry really has advisers telling him not to attack Mr. Bush on national security, he should dump them. When Dick Cheney is saying vote Bush or die, responding with speeches about jobs and health care doesn't cut it.

Mr. Kerry should counterattack by saying that Mr. Bush is endangering the nation by subordinating national security to politics.

It looks like that's exactly what Kerry did today. Good.