Wasn't there reporting on their comparative college grades, with Bush being better, during the campaign?

Or am I remembering the comparison to Gore, which IIRC was similar?

Jay,

I recall that Bush had a higher military-measured IQ. Could that be it?

Anyway, that's a killer picture of Kerry.

Jay,

I recall that Bush had a higher military-measured IQ. Could that be it?

Dubya looks much better in his picture. Bush's academic performance totally spaked Kerry's. Kerry posted four Ds his first year alone. Bush received only one D the entire four years. I wonder if this piece will get any metion in the MSM. I also wonder what else was in there. The Globe article says Kerry was "a top naval student at naval Candidate school" though it dousn't say anaything about his rank or grades to back this up. The Dems sure got sold a pig-in-apoke last year. Good thing they had the MSM working for them or Dubya would have had a Nixon/Reagan type landslide.

I don't know that it will get much traction in the media, and not sure if it should, but it is definitely funny, and can get some traction among bloggers.

Jay Tea... That picture of Kerry is sooooooo funny! He kind of reminds me of Lurch. Thanks I really needed that! HA!...

The more I learn about John Kerry the more I understand the Democratic anger at we "idiots" for not electing him. I didn't catch on at first but in reality they were acting like the conniving used car salesman who gets his hackles up when you turn down his tricked up offer because you tell him you don't want to buy what you realize is a lemon.

Let's see... Kerry has his records sent to the paper and the reporter who backed him the most, and we are to believe that there is nothing substantially new in the file?

I call B***S*** on that. Or, in the words of a Tom Clancy character, "Why should I believe you? You're a reporter."

[And is it just me, or does that photo of Kerry bear a passing resemblance to the salt vampire from Star Trek? OK, OK, that was just mean... perhaps on par with comparing W to certain simians.]

Something is missing here. Kerry received an honorable discharge in 1978 after approval from a Presidential review board. This approval should have been given in 1972 or 1973 and should not have required a review board. Several articles have suggested he recieved something other than an honorable discharge and the timing of his ultimate discharge with Pres. Carter's amnesty program is probably more than coincidental.

If everything has been released, where are his fitness reports from 1970 and 71? The Globe doesn't ask and there seems to be very little curiosity on their part. Also, why did he have to apply to have his medals "reissued"? If the medals had been lost or tossed, all he need do is get new ones with documentation that he is eligible.

Too much is missing.

Bush was better looking then and better looking now, not that looks are an important asset in a leader, but you know why not rub it in given you know who is so insecure, LOL

I still recall the documentary Nancy Pelosi's daughter did on Bush during the 2000 election, clearly the daughter must take after her father, she's a smart kid, Bush is also very charming and funny in more intimate situations as in he knew everyone's name on the press bus and their personal business and teased them relentlessly.....

Zsa Zsa -- perhaps you were thinking of Herman Munster? I find the likeness is to the same actor, only the character was Francis Muldoon (Car 54).

Pigilito,

It is called an AVABS score, an aptitude test for the military. Base on the score, one get to choose the job. Bush did much better than Kerry, he would not have became a fighter pilot with a low score.

People always forget that Bush partied a whole lot when he was in school. A party animal and still got a C average, it is actually quite impressive.

Correctomundo, He is Francis Muldoon! Good call.

Releasing Kerry's military records to the Boston Globe, and only the Globe, is like providing evidence in a crimal proceeding to the defense attorney and only the defense attorney. I think the "release" of the college transcripts is a red herring. A plausable reason as to why Kerry was unwilling to allow the records to be seen that actually had nothing to do with his military service.
I never thought that there was an obvious "smoking gun" in those records. An investigation by the FBI or the Navy into Kerry's anti-war activities would not be in this file.
Kerry's three Purple Hearts have always been a "bee in my bonnet". I've told friends that if Kerry got three Purple Heart's for his scratches and bruises, then I should have gotten 20 or 30 Purple Heart's for all the "boo-boos" I got in Vietnam. Every one I know that got an honest Purple Heart has scars, limps, and/or disfunctional body parts. And a thick medical file reflecting original treatment/surgery/rehab.
I would like to see those files in the hands of someone familiar with military records for an analysis of what is there, but more importantly, what is missing.

In form 180 one has the option of requesting a "deleted" or "undeleted" report of separation. Which did he request? A deleted report does not include the following; Authority for separation, reason for separation, re-enlistment eligibility code, separation code, etc. Sounds like it would matter which the Boston Glob hols in their hot little hands. The only reason he would "need" an undeleted report is if he was applying for benefits.

That should read "...which the Boston Glob hol(d)s..."

duh.

The military and medical records, however, appear identical to what Kerry has already released.

Of course, these are the same people that believed Bill Burkett when he claimed that the President had his records sanitized. COuld it be that they believed him because they knew it had been done in another case?

Could the use of the sKerry college photo by the Boston glob signal a shift in sympathies? I mean, really! What subtler ad hominem attack could one envision?

Jay,

It is amazing how MSM is reporting that John Kerry's grade average at Yale University was virtually identical to President Bush. By the way, Bush is the better "looking" student than Kerry in their college photos!

To handle a couple issues mentioned in the comments:

1. Kerry did, according to Brinkley, finish first in his Navy survival school out of 130 or so.

2. Yes, there are obviously missing parts. Tom Maguire points out that the Navy claimed all of Kerry's medals were properly documented; then where's the after action report on the first Purple Heart?

3. Kranish is about the worst person that could be picked to write this article from the standpoint of ending the rumors.

The actor who played Francis Muldoon in "Car 54, Where Are You?" and Herman Munster was Fred Gwynne, whose last work was as the judge in "My Cousin Vinny."

"If you can't convince 'em, confuse 'em."

The SF 180 is actually a request for "Report of Separation" which document is in the sole custody of the National Personnel Records Center - not the branch in which the veteran served (in this case the Navy). And the character of Kerry's "separation" (discharge) from the Navy is obviously the document(s) to hide.

The SF 180 directs the National Personnel Records Center to release records. What is the Navy doing in the middle of this? The Navy must have been the first directed recipient of the NPRC release in the SF 180 (not the Boston Globe). As a Federal entity, the Navy is then subject to Privacy Laws and any release by them had to be additionally waived by Kerry. He could then easily not waive specific documents for release that he found damaging. What the Boston Globe got was the remainder of whatever the Navy received from NPRC, less what Kerry wished to withold.

A real shell game. Kerry may not be very bright, but he as enough money to buy very slick advice.

fatman --- one of my favorite movie lines ever:

"What's a yout?"

Actually wavemaker, if that line is from "My Cousin Vinnie", I've got to admit that I never saw it (Joe Pesci gives me heartburn). I just happened to know it was Fred Gwynne's last work, so I included it.

And what IS a "yout" anyway?

A "yout" (or "yoot") is the dialect of a Joizey-bred lawyer (Joe Pesci) referring to a "YOUTH."

Hence the Judge's query, when, before the Judge, Pesci's character argued about the facts, referring to "two yoots..."