Nevertheless, it seems to me that the basic issue here is: did a president happy to see his opponents’ war-medals dragged through the mire get some easy passes during the Vietnam war? The answer is obviously yes. Check out this U.S. News story for more details (yes, that left-wing rag). Does this matter? Not to me. I always assumed that Bush got cushy treatment his entire life in everything he did from military service to business to politics. I don’t see how that really affects the important question of whether he’d be a the best pick to lead the country for the next four years.
THE MEDIA WARS: My take on the new confluence of 527s, cable news dominance and blog power is now posted. So’s my recent TNR piece on Dick Cheney’s latest “go fuck yourself” gaffe, if you couldn’t read it through the TNR firewall last week.
THE MEDICARE DEBATE: And if you’re not already depressed about this campaign, the Medicare premium issue shows why you should be. The senior lobby – the people outraged that the huge new entitlement for prescription drugs isn’t generous enough, even though people in my generation will be working their butts off to pay for it for the rest of our lives – are upset that their premiums have just gone up. The effrontery! The very idea that pampered seniors should actually pay for something! And both campaigns are blaming each other. The vital question – how can we afford all this stuff for decades to come? – just isn’t addressed. There is no fiscally conservative presence in this election. At least Kerry supports the pay-as-you-go rules for Congressional spending, which Lyndon B Bush won’t. But the rest is pandering and lies.
The Dish 