Four Months and Flip Flops

Eschaton has an interesting post about the number of newspapers and media pundits who have stated in recent days that John Kerry's Vietnam service amounted to four months. The way this is arrived at is by defining service as direct combat experience and then by counting that wrong, too. Where it comes from is the wingnut think tanks, the usual source for materials for some journalists.

Using the same logic, we can argue that George Bush served approximately 1.5 minutes in the National Guard. Only flying counts, after all, and by my calculations (heh!) his flying time was around 90 seconds, take or add a few.

Fascinating how the conversation can turn from the original question of how one candidate managed to avoid going to Vietnam altogether to the much more mesmerizing one of how well the other candidate actually fought to earn a lot of medals and stuff. It would have been better if Kerry had stayed at home, it seems. Then he would have come across as evenly pitted with the other candidate. Don't mind me.

I think that Karl Rove has an F-fixation. First it was flip flops, then it was four months. What next? Could it be a four-letter word or was that Cheneyed to death already? I'm all agog with anticipation.

Flip flops to me are those sandals that children wear. To Karl Rove any learning from experience is a flip flop. One must never change ones mind, you know. Only people who cannot learn can be presidents of the most powerful country of the world. I prefer flip flops.