SWIFT BOATER GETS SUNK. Word is that Democrats might sink Swift Boat Veterans For Truth donor Sam Fox's nomination to be ambassador to Belgium. The nomination, of course, has to come before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where John Kerry has been having some fun with his tormentor. Fox gave $50,000 to the Swifters, but is lately trying to claim that he had no idea the money would be used to launch an anti-Kerry smear campaign, which either shows he's an idiot and thus unsuited to be an ambassador or a liar and...thus unsuited to be an ambassador. Generally speaking, when I give someone $50,000, I tend to find out what it's for. Senate Democrats, happily, aren't eager to forgive and forget, and one top aide told The Washington Post that "Democrats may sink [the nomination] to show support for Kerry and teach a moral lesson about the personal destruction wrought by of independent 527 groups such as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." That would appear wise. If rich funders understand there will be actual consequences for filling the coffers of vicious smear artists, maybe they'll be less likely write those $50,000 checks in the future. --Ezra Klein
