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How does this make Kerry look bad?
What significance are you attaching to this latest story that you posted?
I can't understand if people are really trying to convince me about Kerry's integrity based on a single line of commentary from over 20 years ago. If that's what you want to base your vote on, that's fine with me--it's none of my business what your reasons are.
If you want to hold criticism of Bush up as an example, I draw a distinction, however, between accusations of being AWOL and wanting to find out if they were true and lying, mispeaking, or being misunderstood about whether one tossed his medals (AFAIK, only some very far-fetched commentators have questioned whether they were earned) or someone else's. For one, the latter isn't illegal.
But it doesn't matter to me. I didn't base my vote, even partially, on whether Bush was AWOL. To my mind, it didn't even become an issue until various right-wing voices began questioning the integrity and patriotism of Democrats. IIRC, that's about the time Kerry made his service become an issue.
So I find it bizarre that you criticise Kerry for "switching" stances regarding whether Bush's military career was relevant. He thought it wasn't germaine then, nor have I seen him use it as an issue now. But he certainly has a right to defend himself, in my eyes, against allegations that he is weak on defense, unpatriotic, doesn't care about the troops, and etc.
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"The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann
"You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman
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