To the editor:

The appearance by former Sen. George McGovern at the Dole Institute for Politics is good news. In the years since his loss to Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential election, I think many Americans have learned that McGovern’s values would have been better for our country. Bob Dole should be commended for bringing in McGovern.

There is one curious thing about McGovern’s visit. Considering what Dole said recently about John Kerry — that Kerry’s Purple Hearts are questionable, and that Kerry should apologize for protesting the Vietnam War — I’m surprised that Dole wants McGovern here. In the early 1970s, McGovern strongly supported Vietnam Veterans Against the War, when Kerry was one of the group’s leaders.

There’s a contradiction here — like the one we heard during August’s CNN interview with Dole, in which Dole called Kerry a “friend” and “hero,” but then went on to trash him. If not a contradiction, it’s at least a vindictive “flip-flop.”

I admit my bias, which is that I think both Kerry and McGovern, whatever wrong they did, also helped save American and Vietnamese lives by opposing the Vietnam War.

When Dole spoke in Lawrence earlier this year, with former President Clinton, their talk of more “civility” was very positive. Why can’t Dole be as civil to Kerry as he is to McGovern, who, like Kerry, is a combat veteran (but from World War II) who turned against the Vietnam War in a principled way?

Ray Pence,

Lawrence