corrente

Because the closest Bush came to risking his sorry butt was planting it in a dentist's chair—during his "missing year" in Alabama in the Guard. Assuming the records aren't fake, of course.

Anyhow, remember this little slice of Republican life as we know it? (back)

Delegates to the Republican National Convention found a new way to take a jab at Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Vietnam service record: by sporting adhesive bandages with small purple hearts on them.

As it turns out, even a Republican operative can feel shame—or at least simulate it—and Ed Gillespie shut this noxious little operation down.

I think it's going to be a while before people forget this one, though. It's the little details that are always so telling, isn't it? A nice little vignette from Terry Neal:

Last night, outside the CNN studio set up in Madison Square Garden, I ran into Jon Soltz, who served in Iraq as a captain and tank platoon leader in the 1st Armored Division. Soltz, now a coordinator for Veterans for Kerry in Pennsylvania, was fuming. This morning I talked to him again.

"This is the same kind of stuff that they pulled against Max Cleland in 2002 and John McCain in 2000," he said. "Now they're continuing to try to attack Senator Kerry. Frankly, I'm not surprised anymore. . . . You've got a vice president who turned his back on his country five times [the number of military deferments Cheney received during Vietnam], you've got a president who evaded service in Vietnam. They have no respect for men and women in uniform.

"I think it's time to talk about my war -- Iraq. It's my friends who are coming back dead and wounded and they can't even respect Purple Hearts. Any man who's been into combat knows he was lucky if he comes back alive. It's not a joking matter."
(via WaPo)

Way to support the troops there. aWol.