Pot. Kettle. ?

That other Times, the LA Times has two stories that dovetail nicely.

They are, shockingly about Bush and Kerry.

First, the pres.' stuff:

Bush National Guard Records Released

White House contends that the records show the president was paid for service dates during a period under scrutiny.
From Associated Press

11:22 AM PST, February 10, 2004

WASHINGTON -- The White House, facing election-year questions about President Bush's military service, released pay records and other information today that it said supports Bush's assertion that he fulfilled his duty as a member of the Air National Guard during the Vietnam war.

The material included annual retirement point summaries and pay records that the White House said show that Bush served.

"When you serve, you are paid for that service. These documents outline the days on which he was paid. That means he served. And these documents also show he met his requirements," press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters. "And it's just really a shame that people are continuing to bring this up."

"These documents clearly show that the president fulfilled his duties," McClellan said.

The documents indicate Bush received pay for six days of duty between May and December of 1972 when he was supposed to be on temporary duty in Alabama. There is a five-month stretch in 1972 when he was not paid for service. The records do not indicate what duty Bush performed or where he was.

The White House also has not been able to produce fellow guardsmen who could testify that Bush attended guard meetings and drills. "Obviously we would have made people available" if they had been found, McClellan said.

Sen. John Kerry, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, is regularly accompanied by a "band of brothers" of military veterans who served with him in Vietnam.

Kerry said today he has said all he is going to say about Bush's record.

"I just don't have any comment on it," Kerry told reporters between campaign stops in Tennessee and Virginia. "It's not an issue that I chose to create. It's not my record that's at issue and I don't have any questions about it."

Much more at link

6 days of duty records. That's it? Hell, that's not even a week. Sheesh. What do pay records mean? Not much I'd say. Tom Paine has far more depth.

Where is any record of Bush serving in calendar year 1973?

McClellan does his job. There is still a long period that no one seems to be able to account for. I don't know what this means. I suspect that most people will draw the conclusion -- if they care at all -- that Bush was in effect, AWOL.

Without supporting evidence, I remain neutral on the issue.

Kerry's statement; "it's not an issue that I chose to create. It's not my record that's at issue and I don't have any questions about it," is sheer political genius. If that wasn't canned, I admire a guy that can turn a phrase like that.

Onto Kerry:

Bush Camp to Pore Over Kerry Votes

(I'm sure they've been dong this now for weeks, but..let's continue)

WASHINGTON — The manager of President Bush's reelection campaign said Monday that in an expected matchup with John F. Kerry, the Republican team would focus much of its criticism on the votes the Massachusetts senator cast to cut defense and intelligence spending and to oppose 1991's Persian Gulf War.

The comments by Ken Mehlman, posted on the Bush campaign's website, signaled that the president and his aides hoped to undercut Kerry's credentials on national security issues.

While campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, Kerry frequently has cited his Vietnam War record and belittled Bush's use of military themes and imagery. If Republicans want to talk about national security, Kerry tells crowds, he has a ready reply: "Bring it on!"

It appears that the Republicans will do just that — albeit carefully.

"We honor Sen. Kerry's patriotic service during the Vietnam War," Mehlman said in an "online chat" with Bush supporters. "Yet we question the judgments of his votes to consistently cut defense and intelligence funding, his vote against the first Gulf War, and his recently stated belief that the war on terror is primarily about law enforcement and intelligence."

David Wade, a Kerry spokesman, responded: "The GOP is resorting to their usual politics of attack and distortion. It's smart strategy. Otherwise they'd have to do something really desperate, and talk about their record."

But Bush advisors say that it is Kerry, by virtue of his thousands of votes during his 19-year career in the Senate, who has a vulnerable record. They plan to depict him as a "typical" Massachusetts liberal who is soft on defense and who has been tied to special interests.

"John Kerry is who he is, and he won't be able to run from that," said one Bush campaign advisor.

Mehlman also warned Kerry and other Democrats to steer clear of the questions some have raised about Bush's tenure in the National Guard during the Vietnam War. Bush flew a fighter jet when he was in the Guard from 1968 to 1973, but his units were not called into combat.

The rest of the story

pure bs DISCLAIMER! I'm an engineer, not a political analyst. I'm a guy with a blog and sometimes I see stuff.

This is how I read the two above pieces. Kerry and others have questions over Bush's Guard service. It's a matter of record that Bush twice took time off from the Guard to campaign for Republican candidates while Vietnam was aboil. The first time
in 1970 for his dad's congressional campaign and the second from May to November 1972 to travel to Alabama to work on a Republican U.S. Senate campaign. These things are not in dispute.

What I want to know, is this not something of a dereliction of duty? I do not know. I am inclined to think so, but I do now how the military views such matters.

We know how Bush behaved in these cases.

Until it can be shown otherwise, it remains unknown as to what motivations Kerry had in voting on any issue.

I did chuckle a bit about Wade's statement.

You know what the real 'awful truth' is, it is that the vast majority of voters don't have a reasonably full set of untainted facts with which to draw conclusions. The facts are sometimes hard to find, but with effort, they can usually be found.

Read as much as you can. Try and find non-partisan, verifiable, fact based pieces, and think for yourself. Don't let anyone dissuade you from using reason -- the best tool we have -- to draw your own conclusions.