The Anchoress

UPDATE: Apparently the release of Kerry’s records is really not passing the smell test. Powerlineblog says:

A knowledgeable reader called to say that the Navy would not have Kerry’s complete service records; according to the caller, the records are retained by the National Personnel Records Center. He pointed out that the Navy’s Web site directs veterans seeking their records to the National Personnel Records Center (click here for the Navy site’s intruction). It would have been nice if the Globe had included this information in its story. See also Polipundit’s comment here.

It seems that perhaps Kerry’s story, with the help of the Boston Globe, is stil; not adding up. I don’t know how important it is, really, at this point. But it would be nice if we could get the full truth on this man, finally and for a change.

But the American electorate did make the right choice in ‘04. Kerry’s 20 years of doing nothing in the Senate and his questionable membership in radical leftist groups (about which he was never forthcoming) were troubling enough. But we finally get an admission, now, that the man was all packaging, no product. Some of us DID know that, ‘way back when Evan Thomas promised that the press would give 10-15 points more than he could have gotten on his own. A promise which the press delivered, btw.

Accompanying this article are two of the worst pictures of either man I have ever seen. Bush has a unibrow and Kerry…well, Kerry looks very, very unfortunate.

During last year’s presidential campaign, John F. Kerry was the candidate often portrayed as intellectual and complex, while George W. Bush was the populist who mangled his sentences.

The grade transcript, which Kerry has always declined to release, was included in his Navy record. During the campaign the Globe sought Kerry’s naval records, but he refused to waive privacy restrictions for the full file. Late last month, Kerry gave the Navy permission to send the documents to the Globe.

But he was so “brilliant,” and Bush was so “dumb.” And the press seemed to be just fine with promoting a man who wouldn’t even show them his college transcripts. Wow.

”I always told my Dad that D stood for distinction,” Kerry said yesterday in a written response to questions, noting that he has previously acknowledged that he spent a lot of time learning to fly instead of focusing on his studies.

Learning to fly? If he knew how to fly, how come he wasn’t a pilot, instead of a Swift Boat cap’n?

Michael Kranish, of the Boston Globe, who loves John Kerry, does spend half the article explaining how even though Kerry’s grades were terrible, he was a tremendously talented and successful student, soldier, politician and all around good guy.

Bush went to Yale from 1964 to 1968; his highest grades were 88s in anthropology, history, and philosophy, according to The New Yorker article. He received one D in his four years, a 69 in astronomy. Bush has said he was a C student.

ONE D…not FIVE…and almost a few A’s.

Hmmm…I suppose it is true that grades in college are not the measure of a man. But these are stinkers. Bush however, does appear to have a better record than Kerry. For what it’s worth.

In fairness, though, it really must be said: grade inflation, particularly at Ivy schools, is so rampant these days that the D’s Kerry got would like be C’s today, and both his and Bush’s B’s would undoubtedly be A’s. So, if you went to Yale within the last 20 years, and your grades were much better, remember that.

Kerry has apparently finally sent in the Standard 180 form he signed last month. But from what I have read, he is having his military records sent to his home (the better to shred you with, my dear) so who knows what Americans will finally be allowed to see of his military records. And it will be very interesting to see if the press goes through Kerry’s records with a fine-toothed comb, interviewing dentists, etc.

He is still, clearly, not really willing to show those records on anything like “open” terms. Kranish points out that the newly released military material is simply what was released during the campaign.

Kerry needs to release his whole military record. He needed to release them a year ago, when he was asking us to elect him as our Commander-in-Chief. When you built your entire presidential campaign on your military prowess, the nation deserves to see the record. The press was willing to overlook all that, because they were desperate to see Kerry defeat Bush. But now that he might become pesky to the queen, we might actually - FINALLY - see some members in the press seriously look into what is in John F. Kerry’s military history.

Ed Morrissey also feels that either everything hasn’t been released, or that Michael Kranish has simply not reported the whole story:

Kranish remains silent on several points of controversy that the secrecy of the files helped stoke. Namely, Kranish doesn’t mention anything about Kerry’s discharge, and why it took him until 1978 to get it, while he quit serving in 1972. He doesn’t mention any assignment or attachment to an intelligence unit that would corroborate his later explanations of Christmas In Cambodia or gun-running to the Khmer Rouge. Kranish also doesn’t reveal anything about the timeline of events or command assignments that would answer whether he tried to steal part of Tedd Peck’s service record in order to provide cover for David Alston to lie about their time together during the political campaign.

Kranish wrote Kerry’s gushing “biography” for the campaign. I suspect he’s doing a bit of selective reporting re those records.

Meanwhile, Mark in Mexico and Michelle Malkin seem to have the best round-ups on this. And Ann Althouse has some fun linking to old press assertions that Kerry was brilliant and wonders if we should go rent Peter Sellers’ film, “Being There.” Her comments thread is great. And you MUST go back and read Howell Raines “does anyone doubt Kerry has a higher IQ than Bush?”

You know what I am finding interesting? Many (not all) Conservative bloggers like are saying, “it’s over, let it go…”

And I sort of agree with that…

But then I think to myself…argh…if the situation were reversed, would the lefty bloggers be letting it go, or would they be pounding Bush into the ground about it? They wouldn’t be letting it go. Their energy is simply remarkable. But I DON’T have the energy to pound. Others will have to.