[lookout123]

i agree with stevedallas i really am sick of the vietnam debate being the only real issue in this election cycle. Kerry thought he could stand on his war hero record and ignore his 19 years in the senate because of bush's less than stellar military record. unfortunately for kerry, it has jumped up to bite him in the ass and he is having a hard time moving on to the more important issues. who these 2 pampered privileged men were during the vietnam era is less important to me than who they are today, and what vision they see for the next four years.

the R's want to beat the shit out of Kerry's list of medals. it is so easy to do because people who have been in the military know what it takes to get 5 medals in 4 months. but to be fair, he was young and had political ambitions. in the state he comes from that meant he had better do something close to walking on water. he tried for a deferment and when he was denied he was commissioned in the naval reserve and went to vietnam.

the D's want to beat the shit out of Bush for a lot of reasons, but they keep going back to his ANG service. why, because it is easy. he was connected and got into a branch that was unlikely to go to vietnam, just like a lot of rich kids did. right or wrong it wasn't unusual. they are fixated on his apparent absences from drill for 6 months. for those of us in the guard and reserve - it isn't that big of a deal. missing drill periods has no real consequence unless you are trying to gain years for retirement. if you aren't there you aren't paid. gwb was just in the ANG to fill the time and avoid going to vietnam.

in the end, none of it really matters because these were the actions of young men from wealthy families, 30 + years ago. it is unreasonable to say they are fit or unfit for a leadership position in 2004 based on what they did in the late 60's and early 70's.