Former New York Times editor Howell Raines has a piece in tomorrow's left-wing Guardian newspaper taking Sen. John Kerry to task for not running a competent campaign. Let's set Raines' arguments aside for a moment and focus on one throwaway statement.

As America's first war-hero candidate since John F. Kennedy, he ought to be leading the national discussion on what went wrong in Iraq.

Let's give Raines some credit. He's old. He was alive during John F. Kennedy's presidency. Maybe Alzheimer's is setting in. Seriously, though, the first war-hero candidate since JFK?

Raines is conveniently forgetting George H.W. Bush, a decorated pilot who was shot down during WWII. Bob Dole who was greviously wounded serving in the famed 10th Mountain Division in Italy. (For those who are interested, Dole and Kerry can compare Purple Heart-winning wounds.) He's even forgetting Democrat war-hero George McGovern, a World War II bomber pilot.

Makes you wonder what it takes to become editor of the Times. Perhaps I'm overqualified.

(For a more detailed dissection, enter the Captain's Quarters.)