I kind of feel like people are having trouble seeing the forest for the trees when it comes to President Bush’s service in the National Guard. The issue here is that Bush took the rich man’s way out and went into the National Guard on the wings of a political favor, and then said Sunday in his interview with Tim Russert that he supported the war in Vietnam. Everything after that is window dressing. Even if he showed up and was the most conscientious National Guardsman during his time of service, he still decided he was too good to fight in a war that had his support. Isn’t that the character issue here? The fact that the paperwork is jumbled and they can’t find any actual people who will admit that they saw him doing his duty is a side dish.

Update: Slate bottom lines it pretty well.