The National Review warns that though the Democratic attacks (and media echo chamber) about President Bush being AWOL and DESERTING have died down somewhat, it is just the calm before the storm that is soon to hit. The Democrats are about to turn their Vietnam attacks on Vice President Dick Cheney.

“There’s going to be a massive attack on Dick Cheney soon,” says one source who keeps up with such matters. “The Cheney story of deferments makes Bush look like Audie Murphy” — a reference to the much-decorated World War II hero.

The sheer gall of it all is amazing. Republicans point out Kerry’s voting record and Kerry has a hissy fit.

The most recent exchange between the two campaigns was set off by a remark made by a Bush surrogate, Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss. In a conference call with reporters about the upcoming Georgia Democratic primary, Chambliss said of Kerry, “When you have a 32-year history of voting to cut defense programs and cut defense systems, folks in Georgia are going to look beyond what he says and look at his voting record.”

It seemed an uncontroversial assertion; Kerry has been in public office for decades, and his voting record is undoubtedly relevant to his campaign for the presidency. But Kerry quickly attacked, suggesting that Chambliss, acting “on the part of the president and his henchmen,” was questioning, among other things, Kerry’s Vietnam record.

In a letter sent to the White House late Saturday, Kerry wrote, “Over the last week, you and your campaign have initiated a widespread attack on my service in Vietnam, my decision to speak out to end that war, and my commitment to the defense of this nation. Just today, Saxby Chambliss — a man elected to the US Senate on the back of one of the most despicable campaigns ever conducted against Max Cleland, a true American hero — was carrying this attack for you.”

Kerry went on to accuse the president of trying to “re-open [the] wounds” from “a very difficult and painful period in our nation’s history” — the Vietnam era — for “personal political gain.”

So, the Democrats can make slanderous, unsubstantiated, personal remarks about George Bush’s service in the National Guard during Vietnam. That is all part of campaigning, and is good, clean fun. But if Republicans point out John Kerry’s voting record from his time in the Senate, this is out of bounds. It is laughable for Kerry, who brings up his service in Vietnam in practically every speech he makes (to the extent that it has become a standard joke), to accuse others of re-opening old wounds by bringing up Vietnam for personal political gain. But now, the Democrats are going to bring up Vietnam again, with Dick Cheney in their cross hairs, hoping to score political points by demonizing him for not having served in Vietnam, like their dear John Kerry. The hypocrisy is astounding and the only thing more amazing is the media’s complicity in reporting all of this.

So, watch out, Dick Cheney. The Democrats are after you. You have been warned.