[Your Nightmare]

Bush is accused of not showing up for his National Guard duty. Your saying Kerry asked -- under the regulations of the Navy -- to "opt out" of combat duty and it was granted by his superiors. These are two vastly different accusations (one's illegal, the other is not - one, if true, would be desertion; the other is not).

Your grasping at straws here. Drop it.

[jmstein7]

No. I won't drop anything. As long as he (Kerry and the dems) calls my president a "deserter" for allegedly missing a physical, then, by his own defintion, he (Kerry) will be known as a "deserter" for ditching the men he commanded in combat on a technicality.

He didn't have to leave -- but he did.

[TankerKC]

one's illegal, the other is not - one, if true, would be desertion; the other is not

Who’s grasping at straws now?

[Williams]

Now wait a minute! Everybody wants to be a legal genius. I strongly doubt that if W had missed a physical or not shown up one day for guard duty, that he would have been a "deserter."
So why are you so quick to say that what W was accused of would be "desertion?" First of all, W didn't desert, he wasn't AWOL, and there is zero evidence he did anything but serve honorably. Second, it is relevant if Kerry opted out of combat duty and got himself a desk job because he ABSOLUTELY has been campaigning on his WAR record. In fact, he can barely exhale without saying the words "I" and "Vietnam." IMHO he is an incredible scumbag because he is using his service in a war after returning home and calling his comrades war criminals. They were not, anymore than W was a "deserter."

[CSM]

"These are two vastly different accusations (one's illegal, the other is not - one, if true, would be desertion; the other is not)."

Neither situations is even relevant as long as both people received an honorable discharge cert. That is all that matters. It means that both left the service according to policies that were in existence and that were acceptable at that time.

[Ann Archy]

Bush DID his duty, and got an Honorable Discharge and what's more, he's been HONORABLE since...unlike F ingKerry who HURT his fellow Vets by what he did after he got out!