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Swift Boat Veterans

• October 11 -- Trashing "Unfit for Command," Loving Kitty Kelley
After spending seven weeks near the top of the Times best seller list, the NYT finally issues a 100% negative review of "'Unfit for Command," while giving a favorable notice to Kitty Kelley's trashy anti-Bush "biography."

• October 4 -- A Faulty Diagnosis of Swift Boat Charges
Reporter-physician Lawrence Altman discusses Kerry's recently released health records -- but experts on the Swift Boat saga question Altman's diagnosis.

• October 1 -- Swift Boat Vets Anti-Kerry "Calumnies"
A.O. Scott reviews a pro-Kerry biopic and gets in a crack at the Swift Boat Veterans.

• September 28 -- "Unsubstantiated" Swift Boats Watch
There they go again: "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which drew national attention with advertisements making unsubstantiated attacks against Mr. Kerry's military service…."

• September 27 -- Earth to Clymer
An op-ed page by former Times man Adam Clymer compares the Swift Boat veterans to flat-Earthers.

• September 23 -- The Times and the "U" Word
News flash: Times reporter uses "unsubstantiated" to refer to something other than the Swift Boat vets.

• September 22 -- "Compelling" Anti-Bush Charges vs. "Unsubstantiated" Swifties
Nicholas Kristof finds the Bush National Guard accusations compelling, but turns his nose up at the "unsubstantiated" Swift Boat vets.

• September 22 -- No "Surprise" Here: Times Plays Up Bush Guard Story
The Times editorializes: "…it was somewhat surprising that Mr. Bush's National Guard service again became a big topic of debate." Yet the Times put the controversy on its front page twice recently. Plus: The editors finally tackle Memogate.

• September 20 -- Softening the Poll Blow for Kerry
The latest Times poll shows Bush with a nine-point lead among likely voters, but the paper's headline softens the blow. Also: Is the Times stamping out "unsubstantiated" descriptions of the Swift Boat Vets?

• September 20 -- Still Picking Over Bush's Vietnam Service
CBS's big "scoop" about Bush's National Guard duty may have blown up in the network's face, but the New York Times is still poking around the ashes: "This year of inconsequence has grown increasingly consequential for President Bush because of persistent, unanswered questions about his National Guard service."

• September 14 -- Room for Kitty Kelley, None for Swift Boat Vets
After ignoring the book "Unfit for Command" by members of the Swift Boat Veterans (now #1 on the New York Times best seller list), the Times greets Bush-hater Kitty Kelley's trashy anti-Bush "biography" with a front-page Arts section review.

• September 9 -- Taking Anti-Bush Charge Seriously After Dismissing Swifties With Contempt
Katharine Seelye and Ralph Blumenthal treat seriously the new controversy over Bush's Vietnam service--quite a change from how the Times treated the Swift Boat Veterans.

• September 8 -- "Unsubstantiated" Watch
The score is 17-0 so far.

• September 7 -- Democratic Heartburn on the Times' Front Page
There's a heaping helping of Democratic angst on Sunday's front page, painting a picture of a disillusioned Kerry camp.

• September 7 -- Polls, Schmolls, Says Nagourney: Part II
Adam Nagourney again plays down the apparent success of the Republican convention: "Yet if history is any guide, the contest is far from settled....Polls taken right after a convention offer an inflated sense of a candidate's standing."

• September 1 -- Republicans Disrespecting Veterans?
Jim Rutenberg stirs a controversy among Republican delegates: "When speakers at the Republican convention discuss Senator John Kerry's service in Vietnam, they use words like 'respect,' as Rudolph W. Giuliani did on Monday, giving nary a hint of the unsubstantiated charges by a veteran's group that Mr. Kerry lied to get his war medals, which dominated the campaign for two weeks before the convention began."

• September 1 -- Kerry Slow to Respond to "Unsubstantiated" Assaults
David Halbfinger and Jodi Wilgoren hint at changes to come in the suddenly faltering Kerry campaign and again bash charges from the Swifties: "Mr. Kerry was slow to respond to an assault on his Vietnam combat record and character, with largely unsubstantiated accusations, by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth."

• August 31 -- Apple Takes a Bite Out of the Swift Boat Veterans
Long-time campaign correspondent and former Times Washington bureau chief R.W. Apple interviews his old friend Sen. McCain and discusses the Swifties: "The advertisements questioning Mr. Kerry's war record, the work of a 527 group of Swift boat veterans, were largely financed, at least initially, by rich Texas Republicans, some with past links to Mr. Bush."

• August 30 -- Another "Unsubstantiated" Portrayal of the Swifties
A front-page story by Adam Nagourney and Elisabeth Bumiller paints a picture of a plugged-in Bush but continues to characterize Swift Boat Veterans claims as "unsubstantiated."

• August 30 -- Lost in Cambodia
In his story on Bush and Kerry's Vietnam history, David Halbfinger manages to bring up Cambodia without mentioning Kerry's discredited tales of spending Christmas 1968 there.

• August 30 -- Are Swifties Questioning Kerry's Patriotism?
Todd Purdum rehashes an old chestnut of Republicans questioning Democratic patriotism: "But the old culture wars followed [Kerry] into the 21st century, and he now finds himself bombarded by veterans who question not only his patriotism but his honor."

• August 27 -- Bush Bugs Times By Not Bashing Swift Boat Ads
Bush sits down for an interview with David Sanger and Elisabeth Bumiller and bugs them by refusing to specifically condemn the Swift Boat ads.

• August 27 -- Still Ignoring Kerry's "Christmas In Cambodia"
The Times again couches Swift Boat charges in a dubious light: "The Swift boat veterans, whose most serious charges have been contradicted by official records, some of their own past statements and a number of witnesses, got most of their initial money from Texans supportive of the president." Plus: Kerry in Cambodia, ignored again.

• August 26 -- Swift Vets "Have Reopened Wounds" of Vietnam
Timothy Egan's "Wounds Opened Anew As Vietnam Resurfaces" lays the blame on the Swift Boat Veterans: "But the advertisements by one group of veterans attacking the war record of Mr. Kerry, advertisements that are closely tied to supporters of President Bush, have reopened wounds about class and service and frayed some of the unifying threads."

• August 26 -- More "Unsubstantiated" Swift Boat Accusations
Elisabeth Bumiller's front-page piece on the resignation of a Bush campaign lawyer argues the Swift Boat story could be bad for Bush, and nearly ignores Kerry's "Christmas in Cambodia" falsehood.

• August 25 -- Gunning for the Swift Vets
Jodi Wilgoren follows Kerry to Manhattan and again unleashes loaded terms ("unsubstantiated," "Republican-financed") to characterize the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

• August 25 -- More Guilt by Association for Swifties
Another Times story employs guilt by association against the Swift Boat Veterans: "Mr. Bush's campaign aides have repeatedly said they have no connection to the group, almost all of whose challenges to Mr. Kerry and his war record have been contradicted by official war records and even some of its members' own past statements….it has gradually acknowledged ties to people close to the Republican Party and Mr. Bush's campaign."

• August 24 -- "Correcting" Fred Barnes
TV critic Alessandra Stanley tackles coverage of the Swift Boat Vets.

• August 24 -- More Anti-Swift Bias from a Paper "Calling Itself" Objective
Elisabeth Bumiller and Kate Zernike's front-page story on Bush denouncing outside political ads includes a dismissive description of the Swift Boat Vets. Also: What about the "web of ties" between the left-wing Moveon.org and the Kerry campaign?

• August 23 -- "Undermining" Swift Vets, Ruing "False Information" on Blogs, Talk Radio
The Times insists that the "most serious contentions" of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth "have been undermined by official records and conflicting accounts." Co-author Adam Nagourney frets in a related story about "this era when so much unsubstantiated or even false information can reach the public through so many different forums, be it blogs or talk-show radio."

• August 20 -- "Fed Up" Kerry Takes on Swift Boat Vets
The headline to Jodi Wilgoren's piece on Kerry's response to the Swift Boat veterans reads "Fed Up, Kerry Says Bush Lets Group 'Do His Dirty Work,'" which assumes Kerry is justified in his counterattack.

• August 20 -- "The Times Attacks the Swift Vets"
The Times finally devotes a front-page story to the Swift Boat veterans challenging John Kerry's Vietnam war record--but it follows a pattern reminiscent of the Clinton scandal days in focusing on the subjects making the attack instead of the actual anti-Democratic charges raised, an angle clear from the headline, "Friendly Fire: The Birth of an Attack on Kerry."

• August 19 -- How Dare Anyone Cover Charges by Swift Boat Vets
The editorial page goes negative on the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and attacks other media for daring to report the story: "The assault is gaining attention, with Internet and cable television zealots debating combat minutiae and even whether Mr. Kerry enacted wartime events with his political future in mind or held secret meetings with Communists."