[mburbank]

Here's my take. He never showed up in Alabama, but he did his ttoal hours for the guard, so they paid him and discharged him and didn't make waves becuase of who he was. That by itself is not a big deal. I'm sure a lot of folks sort of greased through at that point in time, and many of them did it becuase they were important people. The Vietnam war was a bad deal and however you kept from going is your own business. Carter pardoned the folks who went to Canada, I don't think W's sketchy performance is anything except kind of lame.

BUT.

He insists he served in Alabama. No one, not one single soul recalls this, and the administration has been looking since W. ran for governor of Texas.

AND

He lost is flight privilidges bcuase he failed to show up for a physical. You know who paid to train him to fly a fighter? Your parents and mine. Other families sacrificed thir kids. W. could have at least taken his service seriously enough not to let his flight certification lapse. It's disrespectful, and it sure as hell isn't anything he ought to be proud of, as McLellan keeps insisting.

That being said, it was 30 years ago, and a man can change a hell of a lot in 30 years. Like his DUI which he admitted in the last election, if Bush woould simply step up, as he had in other instances and say "I wasn't much of a person bck then. I regret that, and I've grown." I wouldn't care. I still wouldn't vote for him, but this wouldn't make an iota of difference to me. It's the sleezy finger pointing way he handles it that speaks to his character.

I'm going to copy this last part into other relevant threads.