When I blogged about the whole National Guard thing earlier, I was primarily interested in the partisan lens through which people compared Clinton’s student deferment and Bush’s service. It seems that the can of worms is much messier.

The following blog is on top of all the briefing materials:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_02_08.html#002555

Bush said he would release his records and then didn’t. Phony (politically motivated) recollections. Phone calls from political heavyweights to make sure Guard officials didn’t distract Lt. Bush from important campaign-related events with petty demands that he show up for training. But the money exchange is Helen Thomas and Scott McClellan (Posted Feb 13) in which Helen seems to be doing research on a community-service sentence article. Poor McClellan.

Do I think avoiding Vietnam is a disqualification for public office? I do not. Hell, if I had been alive back then I hope I would have been smart enough to avoid Vietnam too - and I would have had to been smart since my dairy-farming family had no connections that could get me into the Guard. However, if Bush’s main campaign plank is character and he is revealed, once again, to have been disingenuous about his past/criminal record, it might be worth noting. That said, I can’t see how Thomas could be writing a story about the President being sentenced for a crime during his guard years; how the hell would a public record like a conviction have remained hidden after all these years? Someone would have found it four years ago. One would think.