Quote:
Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Surely no one here would quibble with his military record. We can take issue with a calculated and contrived use of the record as a building block for a political career. I doubt if Jonh McCain spent time in Hanoi trying to decide whether to look dishelved or preserved for his release photo.
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I would not quibble with GWB's military record -- because I think there is no profit in it for the Democratic party in the 2004 elections.
However, while I would not characterize it the way Ty has done, I think that there are enough legitimate questions about Bush's situation that (particularly when combined with Cheney's five deferments) Sen. Kerry will or should be largely insulated from such charges during the campaign.
Consider -- It is no distortion to say that there appear to be serious and legitimate questions about whether Pres. Bush, as a young man, fulfilled his obligations as a member of the NG (?) in the early to mid-1970s.
It is also no distortion to say that there appear to be serious and legitimate questions about whether Pres. Bush, as a young man and the son of the (former) local Congressman and U.N. ambassador, received preferential treatment by being assigned a highly coveted slot in the local unit of the Texas Air National Guard, while there was a waiting list for such positions.
Now, some who have reason to know have said YES, and some have said NO, on each of these issues. That was then, this is now, and in any event nothing can be proven. However, when you combine this with Kerry's unquestioned war record and the lack therof for GWB or Cheney, I think that Kerry will be relatively safe from charges of opportunism and exploitation -- even if lots of people don't like him.
S_A_M
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