“The moment of truth came and went, and the president still couldn’t bring himself to do the right thing,” Edwards said. “Instead of hiding behind a front group, George Bush needs to take responsibility and demand that the ad come off the air.”

Take responsibility? Mr. Edwards, I think you’re actually starting to believe your own campaign rhetoric. Are you still clinging to the myth (c’mon, seriously, who concocted this little gem? Sen. K? Terry? Your friend-of-a-friend Mr. Soros? Enquiring minds want to know) that W. actually arranged for those ads?

Oh, and on the subject of taking responsibility, please take responsibility for the Bush attack ads and do something about those. Show us what a true leader should do, especially since the 527s aligned with your campaign seem to have far outstripped the SBVT boys by at least a couple of orders of magnitude. Lead by example.

So, let’s examine what you’re railing on the President for a bit more closely. Mr. Edwards, you are quoted yesterday as saying:

“This is a moment of truth for George W. Bush,” Edwards said at a Democratic rally. “We’re going to see what kind of man he is and what kind of leader he is. … We want to hear three words: Stop these ads.”

Today Bush responds:

“That means that ad, every other ad,” he said. “I can’t be more plain about it. And I wish – I hope my opponent joins me in saying – condemning these activities of the 527s. It’s – I think they’re bad for the system. That’s why I signed the bill, McCain-Feingold.”

Really, Mr. Edwards, I know you’re an intelligent man. It seems to me you’re desperately splitting hairs, but I’m afraid the only people this is resonating with are the people who are already voting for your ticket. In your fantasy world, is “stop these ads” actually a stronger statement that saying he is “condemning these activities of the 527s”? (Hint: In this context, those “activities” include both television ads and the Swifties’ book. The rest is left as an exercise to the reader.)

Now, mind you, I don’t think for a moment that the SBVT ads are inherently wrong. I agree that they may be “bad for the system,” but at the same time, I recognize that when supporters for one side – yours – have already spent months doing this sort of advertising, it’s really difficult to condemn the supporters of the other for (eventually) following suit.

(Humble thanks to Mark Noonan for the “true leader” link.)