Now that John Kerry is running for president and The Fog Of War has won an Oscar, there is a lot of national focus on the Vietnam War. All wars carry a hefty amount of mythology, and one of the most powerful myths of the Vietnam War is the one which tells of massive torturing of American soldiers because of the actions of Jane Fonda.

For decades now, soldier after soldier has come forward to say there was no such torture or any other kind of retribution, but right-wing Americans insist on believing there was. Former Senator Tom Hayden, who was married to Fonda, brings up a key issue: Why do we accept the rapes, burnings and torture performed by American soldiers, but condemn a visit by Fonda?

As Hayden points out, Fonda's main purpose was to expose the planned destruction of Vietnam's dikes. George H.W. Bush, ambassador to the U.N., called this charge untrue, but his lie was exposed in transcripts of conversations between President Nixon and Henry Kissinger, who both favored the idea of drowning a couple of hundred thousand Vietnamese people. Those people were spared, largely thanks to Fonda.

For her role in the anti-war movement, Fonda was condemned as a traitor. For his role in lying for Nixon and Kissinger, Bush was awarded by being elected president. What a country.