Just noted in passing

It's not really important, but I just thought it worth noting not so much for its political impact but for what it reveals about the ways of the powerful.

Austin (AP, August 28) - In a video posted on the Internet, Ben Barnes, a former Democratic speaker of the Texas House, said he is ashamed he helped President Bush and the sons of other wealthy families get into the Texas Air National Guard in 1968 so they could avoid serving in Vietnam.

"I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard when I was lieutenant governor of Texas, and I'm not necessarily proud of that, but I did it," Barnes said in the 45-second video, which was recorded May 27 before a group of John Kerry supporters in Austin. Barnes, who was House speaker when Bush entered the Guard, later became lieutenant governor.

He said he became ashamed after walking through the Vietnam Memorial and looking at the names of people who died.

Shrub has always denied that there was any family influence involved in getting him into the Guard. That's an example of what I used to call "a Reagan truth," but I supposed the name should be updated. Anyway, it was defined as "a statement that is technically true but phrased in such a way as to give a misleading impression - that is, a lie."

The "Bush truth" here is that he says there was no "family" influence involved. That may well be true - because according to Barnes, it was a friend of the family, not an actual family member, who made the call that resulted in him - also not a family member - using his influence to get Bunny into the Guard.

John Kerry, once a man who stood for something, has turned into a smarmy, wishy-washy, corporate butt-kissing twerp trying to prove how macho he is. But George Bush is just a, a - words fail me - just a slimy creep.