Bush National Guard Woes Post-Mortem(?)
Righties are tiptoeing very, very quietly away from the issue of Bush’s National Guard service, in hopes that the story has really been done away with. And the shock troops of the right are already hard at work smearing Kerry, anyway (the best defense is a good offense, and all that). But in the meantime, a few more-thoughtful types have some final words on the subject.
Kevin Drum at Calpundit has a great roundup of what we know, what we think we know, and what we know we don’t know: National Guard finale? And he has an interesting followup to the Calhoun assertions (from the guy who claims Bush did his Alabama Guard service sitting in his office reading airplane magazines): More from the Memphis Flyer.
Meanwhile, Bill Maher makes some excellent observations about the way Bush is trying to equate his own service, such as it was, with the perils faced by Guardsman today: Bush draftdodger.
February 19th, 2004 at 6:16 pm
I dunno if they’re tiptoeing around it so much as they’re just not interested. Honestly I don’t place much importance on this story. Did he dodge his way around nam in the Guard? Very possibly. And I’m sure a lot of military people would feel a little uncomfortable taking orders from a dodger, but I can’t say I care much. I guess you could make the case that the fact that Bush may be lying about this is a big deal, but that ends up being pretty close to the argument that got Clinton impeached — and that was pretty stupid.
Lisetning to Howard Dean talk about how he avoid the draft made him look a little weak on that issue as well, but I didn’t hold that against him. I don’t blame anybody that didn’t want to fight a war that the country didn’t believe in. Perhaps Bush’s case is an example of a larger trend, but I say focus on the (ample) concrete stuff that he’s fucked up during his administration rather on what kind of person he is. It’s the old Type C / Type M argument thing that everybody on both sides should be careful about.
April 5th, 2004 at 1:37 pm
I think it’s kind of interesting. I think it’s safe to say that the people who are now chastizing Bush are the same ones who voted for Billy Boy in ’96. Ah, the irony is sweet. Here’s a review:
1996 election:
Bill Clinton (D)-no service in Vietnam. Ran off to Europe until war was over.
Bob Dole (R)-Hand paralyzed during military service.
Back to the present…
2004 election:
George Bush (R)-no service in Vietnam. Fulfilled military service in National Guard, though some question his attendance.
John Kerry (D)-served in Vietnam. Won 3 purple hearts, minimum to leave (two of which were for injuries that, in his own words, “would have cost him two days.”)
So, in a nutshell, liberals are now attacking Bush for doing something very similar to what their candidate did in 1996. Hmmm….