It’s often hard to sort out the facts from the smoke and mirrors during presidential campaigns, and veteran politicians know that if a lie is repeated often enough, it can eventually pass for the truth. A friend recently forwarded an e-mail to me that I think helps put facts into perspective during this election year. After checking it for accuracy, I am printing some of it here, and adding other facts that may be useful to consider while deciding who deserves your vote for president.

The Kerry/Edwards campaign seems to hold great appeal to a certain segment of the baby-boomer generation who fondly remember the anti-war rallies they attended in college days. This isn’t the sixties, and – much as we’d like to be – none of us are 19 years old anymore… time to grow up and face facts. For those who believe Kerry’s claims that Republicans are warmongers, here are some facts about Democrat presidents:

FDR led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us – Japan did. From 1941 to 1945, over 400,000 American lives were lost. Roosevelt also had Japanese Americans detained for the duration of WWII for fear they might be spies. Where was the ACLU then?

Truman finished that war and started one in Korea, although North Korea never attacked us. From 1950 to1953, over 54,000 lives were lost.

John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962, and Lyndon Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire. Vietnam never attacked us. From 1965 to 1975, 58,000 lives were lost.

Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us. Here’s an excerpt from a speech Clinton made about Bosnia on November 27, 1995. It was a great speech – in fact, it sounds just like something Bush would say today (current Democrat leaders would howl in protest): “With the Cold War over, some people now question the need for our continued active leadership in the world. They believe that, much like after World War I, America can now step back from the responsibilities of leadership. They argue that to be secure, we need only to keep our own borders safe, and that the time has come now to leave to others the hard work of leadership beyond our borders. I strongly disagree. As the Cold War gives way to the global village, our leadership is needed more than ever because problems that start beyond our borders can quickly become problems within them….Nowhere has the argument for our leadership been more clearly justified than in the struggle to stop or prevent war and civil violence. From Iraq to Haiti; from South Africa to Korea; from the Middle East to Northern Ireland, we have stood up for peace and freedom because it’s in our interest to do so, and because it is the right thing to do.”

Speaking of the Clintons, we’ve been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find her Rose Law Firm billing records (about four years). Bill Clinton was offered Osama bin Laden’s head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing, although bin Laden’s group had attacked us on multiple occasions. Clinton spent more time and money prosecuting Microsoft under anti-trust laws than he did chasing the terrorists who attacked us during his watch.

The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking, but it took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. And, while we all lament that Americans are being killed and injured in Iraq, let’s put casualty figures into perspective. As of the beginning of August 2004, approximately 925 American service men and women had died in Iraq (counting combat deaths as well as those not combat-related). Approximately 2,500 Americans died on the beaches of Normandy on D-day – in one day. There were 39 combat-related killings in Iraq during the month of January 2004. In Detroit there were 35 murders in January. And that’s just one American city.

John Kerry heralds himself as a war hero, but after his return from Vietnam he was active in Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and even threw his ribbons over the fence of the Capitol building in protest. (He later gave two or three different versions of what happened in an attempt to deny what he had done). His voting record in Congress is basically anti-military.

In the two years since terrorists attacked the United States, President Bush has liberated two countries (Afghanistan and Iraq), crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran, and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered hundreds of thousands of his own people (Saddam Hussein). He may not have been a hero in Vietnam, but he is proving himself now as the Commander in Chief of our country during one of its most challenging times. Which hero would you rather have?

What about Kerry’s claims relating to the current U.S. economy? We are pulling out of a recession, thanks in large part to the tax cuts that President Bush fought for, and which the Democrats now want to repeal. Of course, there’s room for improvement on the domestic front, and we all need to work together to make sure the country we hand over to our children is a strong and healthy one. But the answer to this country’s problems does not lie in collecting money from hard-working, productive citizens to give to the federal government, so that bureaucrats and political hacks can spend it on their own pet projects. American voters are the ones who can best decide how to spend money for their families’ needs. And I hope American voters will take a long, hard look at the facts before they make their choice for president in November.

COMMENTS? email: lyle@nbj.com