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My email to Nightline tonight:

I just watched your report on the Kerry and the vets. Clearly, it is impossible for journalists at ABC to have missed the fact that Senator Kerry has made his four months in Vietnam the foundation of his Presidential campaign. Yet, you spent a large portion of tonight's show questioning why Vietnam has become an issue during this 2004 election. The issue receiving the most focus was whether questions concerning Senator Kerry's service would shift any veteran votes. You hopefully assumed it would not.

What your show really revealed tonight was why the average American no longer relies on shows like Nightline to gain honest insight to an issue. In the last several days, tens of millions of Americans have already viewed the Swiftvets ad. Most of them are not military veterans. They have already read factual evidence from representatives on both sides of the issue. On the most popular cable news channel tonight, they learned that Senator Kerry's claim that he spent Christmas of 1968 in Cambodia is factually incorrect and that the Kerry campaign is struggling to explain his statements regarding an incident he claimed was "seared into his brain". Across the internet and airwaves, Senator Kerry's record in Vietnam has become a hot topic of conversation. Not just for veterans. A book questioning his military record is now #1 on Amazon.

Senator Kerry is using his service during Vietnam to attract the non-veteran vote as well as the veteran vote. And questions concerning that service impact all voters. Not just veterans. Your failure tonight to understand the growing interest in Senator Kerry's military career is further evidence you have not yet grasped the fact that most of your viewers are probably more broadly and well informed on the topic than the hosts of your show. Your information is obsolete even before it airs. That is probably appropriate, because clearly the usefulness of "news" shows like Nightline is also becoming obsolete. After watching Nightline tonight, I rest assured that your inevitable demise will be no one's loss.