When speaking of President Bush, his supporters use words such as integrity and leadership.

What am I missing here?

This is someone who supported the Vietnam War but couldn’t actually bring himself to fight in it. Instead, he used family connections to join the Texas Air National Guard. Did he join the Guard so that he would increase his chances of being sent to fight in the war that he supported?

Thirty-five years later, this tough-talking hawk lands on an aircraft carrier and says, “Bring it on!” And while his two military-age daughters sit out the Iraq war that he initiated, he courageously sends many other people’s daughters overseas to serve and die.

Recently, a group of his supporters, the so-called “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,” launched a smear campaign against Sen. John Kerry. Mr. Bush would neither condemn their tactics nor stand up and back them.

This is integrity? This is leadership?

I call it cowardice and hypocrisy.

Hans Bryant, Fayette