THE MEMOS

To clarify something. When I said that the Killian memos were “devastating” to Bush, I should have been clearer. I didn’t mean devastating to his re-election prospects. They’re a blip on the radar screen of the campaign. Just devastating to the idea that he never got special treatment because of his privileged background during the Vietnam war. Of course he did. And a lot of other people did too. Bush still did a hefty stint of service – certainly heftier than, say, Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney or John Ashcroft. And now the forgery theory seems to be gaining momentum, thanks to Drudge. I have no expertise in these matters, as I’ve already said. But if they are forgeries and the forgers are in any way connected to the Kerry campaign, then they really could be devastating to Kerry’s campaign. But I don’t know. My gut tells me they’re probably genuine; and if they were forgeries, I don’t see why the White House would also send them out. But we’ll see, won’t we?