"Mr. Kerry says . . ."

. . . among other things that he's still carrying "The Hat" around with him.

The occasion was an interview with Kate Zernike of the New York Times. The purpose of the article was to remind people that John Kerry (who if you didn't know served in Vietnam) is a war hero who'd been done wrong by those lying, dirty-dog Republican hacks, the Swift Boat Vets.

Kerry's "fighting back hard" against their unfounded accusations and distortions that caused him so much . . . whut.ever:

"They lied and lied and lied about everything," Mr. Kerry says in an interview in his Senate office. "How many lies do you get to tell before someone calls you a liar? How many times can you be exposed in America today?"

But . . .

Mr. Kerry portrays himself as a wary participant in his own defense, insisting in the two-hour interview that he does not want to dwell on the accusations or the mistakes of his 2004 campaign. "I'm moving on," he says several times.

It's pretty obvious that Kerry is planning a run to secure the Democrat's 2008 nomination for President. In order to succeed he has to rehabilitate his image as a lying skunk. To do that he must accomplish two things:

First, Kerry has to fully discredit by whatever means necessary, The Swift Boat Vets and anyone and everyone connected with them. Second, Kerry has provide proof of the claims he made about his military service to refute the specific charges made by The Swift Boat Vets.

The easiest and only way for Kerry to do that would be for him to release to the public his full military record, which is obviously something he can't afford to do.

Despite the rhetoric, the only thing Kerry has ever promised to do was sign the Form F-180 that releases the information in his file. He's never said he would release it for public scrutiny.

When Kerry finally did sign the form after the election, he authorized the release of his full and complete record . . . to Douglas Brinkley (Kerry's biographer) at the Boston Globe and the Los Angeles Times ONLY. Neither would share any of the information contained in the document release claiming privileged communication.

Kerry is now, however, allowing friends and supporters to gather on his behalf "new evidence" (like the photograph above) that will verify absolutely what he said before about his military record was the unvarnished truth, validated just as before by only, "Mr. Kerry says . . . "

LATER: Wizbang's Lorie Byrd also noticed The Return Of The Magic Hat.

LATER-LATER: Florida Cracker links in Florida Barbie Presents.