Colin Powell refused to weigh in Sunday on the Kerry vs. Bush military service fracas, but had this to say about U.S. draft policies during the Vietnam era in his 1995 autobiography, "My American Journey."

"The policies determining who would be drafted and who would be deferred, who would serve and who would escape, who would die and who would live, were an anti-democratic disgrace." He went on: "I am angry that so many sons of the powerful and well-placed … managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units."

Asked on Fox if Bush's National Guard service fell into that category, Powell said only: "I disagreed with the policies that were in place at that time. I didn't think it was the right set of policies for the challenge the nation was facing. But those are the policies that were in place at that time."

On the connection between Saddam and 9/11:

During a session of "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Powell also said he had no indication there was a direct connection between the deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and those who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Boston Globe reports:

The spin is so thick right now on Bush's military service I'm having a difficult time even understanding the arguments. First, Drudge. He has two new items up, and the first one I looked at was a photocopy of a typed document (PDF) that Drudge says is Bush's agreement with the National Guard, signed in 1968 by Bush and Captain William Hooper. In trying to figure out the relevance of the document, since I didn't see one from Drudge, I settled on Paragraph G, which says:

Provided I satisfactorily participate as a member of the Ready Reserve, I will be deferred from induction; if I fail to participate, I may be involuntarily ordered to perform 45 days active duty, and/or be certified for induction.

It also spells out what is "satisfactory participation."

I figured this was leaked by a Democrat, to show that because Bush failed to take his physical or take makeup classes in Boston, he should have been assigned to active duty and/or inducted, but since he wasn't, we should assume he got special treatment. Apparently, I got it all wrong.

By Anton Greg.

Larger version here.

In the "truth is sicker than fiction" department, Physician Tom Coburn, a former Congressman, is the Republican candidate for Senate in Oklahoma. Via Atrios,

A doctor who has performed abortions wants there to be the death penalty for those who perform them. He also sterilized a 20 year old woman without her consent, and then illegally billed Medicaid for the procedure. He said "That ["the gay"] agenda is the greatest threat to our freedom that we face today." He criticized NBC for showing "Schindler's List," saying that it promoted "irresponsible sexual behavior."

Don't think Coburn is only a danger to Oklahomans. Here's the sickest part:

Tom Coburn may be indispensable to the Republicans' effort to hold on to their majority in the U.S. Senate in November. "He is their best hope for keeping an Oklahoma seat Republican in the closely divided Senate," wrote conservative pundit Robert Novak.

What you can do. Give to Brad Carson, the leading Democratic challenger.

Don't miss the John Kerry interview in this week's Time Magazine. He shows his stuff.

America is not as safe as we ought to be after 9/11. We can do a better job at homeland security. I can fight a more effective war on terror. The standard of living for the average American has gone down. People's incomes have dropped. Five million Americans have lost their health insurance. The deficit is the largest it's been in the history of this country. They're taking money from Social Security and transferring it to the wealthiest people in America to drive us into debt. They're shredding alliances around the world with people we have traditionally been able to rely on. That's what bothers me.

George Bush has made the wrong choices for America. He's leading the country in the wrong direction. John Edwards and I have better choices. We have a health-care plan for all Americans. We're going to stop subsidizing jobs that go overseas and create jobs here in America. We're going to fund education and not leave millions of children behind every day. The trail of broken promises and reversed decisions of this Administration is unlike any I have ever seen at any time that I have been in public life, and I'm going to draw that picture as clear as a bell.

What will Kerry do differently than Bush in Iraq?

There's a new update to the U.S. News and World Report article we wrote about here on the issues raised by Bush's National Guard Service. Ouch, for President Bush.

A review of the regulations governing Bush's Guard service during the Vietnam War shows that the White House used an inappropriate--and less stringent--Air Force standard in determining that he had fulfilled his duty. Because Bush signed a six-year "military service obligation," he was required to attend at least 44 inactive-duty training drills each fiscal year beginning July 1. But Bush's own records show that he fell short of that requirement, attending only 36 drills in the 1972-73 period, and only 12 in the 1973-74 period. The White House has said that Bush's service should be calculated using 12-month periods beginning on his induction date in May 1968. Using this time frame, however, Bush still fails the Air Force obligation standard.

This comes from a lawyer who serves on a military law task force.

The charge is that the memos implicating Bush, written in 1973 are in "Times New Roman", and are proportionately spaced, therefore some liberal must have forged them on a computer. They assert a military unit would not have had top of the line equipment, so the documents are forged.
I clearly remember sitting in the HQ of the 70th Training Division in Livonia, Michigan, preparing similar documents on an IBM typewriter in Times New Roman, proportionately spaced, around 1979. [Fortunately, W wasn't in this unit. Or was he? If so, I never saw him.] At that time the Army wouldn't give us electronic typewriters at all, so we brought in our own for weekend drill. As an aspiring young lawyer I brought in my IBM ballprinter, which I had purchased used. The Bush documents could have been typed on my used typewriter. That typewriter is seared in my memory.

Don't miss the news with Dan Rather tonight. CBS has issued this press release on the Bush National Guard document flap.

Later today, CBS News will address on the air and in detail the issues surrounding the documents broadcast in the 60 MINUTES report on President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. At this time, however, CBS News states with absolute certainty that the ability to produce the "th" superscript mentioned in reports about the documents did exist on typewriters as early as 1968, and in fact is in President Bush's official military records released by the White House. This and other issues surrounding the authenticity of the documents and more on this developing story will be reported on tonight on THE CBS EVENING NEWS WITH DAN RATHER.

CBS and Dan Rather are sticking to their guns:

Dave Thomas is a Democrat running for Congress in Colorado. He is currently the elected District Attorney for Jefferson County, which is one of the toughest jurisdictions on crime in the state. In the early 80's, when I first met him, he was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office going after major drug traffickers, including the ones I represented.

So why am I, a defense lawyer, asking that readers contribute to his campaign? Because he's honest and fair, and except on crime issues, a progressive Democrat. He's always willing to listen. He picks up the phone when you call. He's a public servant in the truest sense of the term.

The Columbine school shootings occurred in his district. He was a steady leader throughout, notwithstanding the many groups he had to please, from victims' families to the Sheriff and police and the media.

I just received a telephone call from Dave, asking for my support. Not from a staffer, or a recorded message, but from him. My resources are far too limited to be of any significance, so I thought I'd put the call out to you readers.

Dave's website is here. Please go over and make a contribution. Polls show him neck and neck with Republican opponent Bob Beauprez, who is a first term Congressman who won by a hair last time--122 votes. The 7th District is a new District, the 2002 election was the first. Beauprez is vulnerable. We can take back the House, one seat at a time.

If you make a contribution in an amount ending in "$.13," Dave will know its from a TalkLeft reader.

Bump and Update: Just got an email from a reader who thought we missed the forgery story. We didn't, we just wrote a lot of stuff afterwards. So here's a bump to our post written at 5:17 pm yesterday so you all can keep discussing it.

*********************
There is quite a debate going on in the blogosphere about the Killiam Memos revealed last night on 60 Minutes regarding Bush's National Guard Service. Powerlinereports on those claiming they are a forgery while Kevin Drum of Washington Monthly reports CBS is confident they are authentic.

The argument concerns typefaces available in 1971....

Update: Here's proof from IBM that proportional spacing came out in 1954 on it's IBM Executive model. (via Jefe at Atrios.) That does look like the memos.

Update: Electric typewriters began replacing manual typewriters in the mid-1960's. The IBM Selectric came around 1970. Manual typewriters began to disappear during the mid 1960's due to the increased popularity of electric typewriters. The Selectric was to electric typewriters what the Underwood was to manuals. (Atlantic Monthly, Nov. 1997, available on Lexis.com in which the author also describes viewing Selectrics "circa 1970" in a shop)

U.S. News & World Report joins the fray and reports that Bush's military records appear to show that the president failed to fulfill his duty to the Air National Guard. They sum up:

A recent examination of the records by U.S. News does not appear to support Retired Air Force Colonel Albert C. Lloyd Jr.'s conclusions. Among the issues identified by the magazine:

• The White House used an inappropriate–and less stringent–Air Force standard in determining that President Bush fulfilled his National Guard duty.

• Even using this lesser standard, the president did not attend enough drills to complete his obligation to the Guard during his final year of service.

Say hello to the AWOL Project--devoted to examining the Bush Military Files. Their latest debunks Bush's claim that he attended make-up sessions in Boston.

The recent release of the “missing” payroll records from George W. Bush’s tenure in the Texas Air National Guard confirm that Bush did not show up for any of his mandatory training for five straight months.

Follow the paper trail. The site says: