He just doesn't get it

Dan Rather granted an interview to the New York Observer. The short short version: "who cares if the documents are fake? The point is whether the information contained in the documents is true."

An InstaPundit reader, comparing Dan Rather to the unfortunate Frank Grimes from The Simpsons, nails it:

He can't understand why no one is getting upset about his "blockbuster" story that Bush might not have met all his ANG requirements, and it's making him crazy. He has completely missed the point that most people already assume Bush got preferential treatment, and was not the most repsponsible person in his youth - AND THEY DON'T CARE. They've already put that into their voting calculus, and if it didn't hurt Bush when he was relatively unknown in 2000, it certainly ain't gonna after he's been Commander in Chief for four years. Why someone would put their credibility and career on the line to make this politically insignificant point continues to baffle me.

I could care less about whether Bush met his National Guard requirements when he was young. Or whether Dick Cheney was nailed for drunk driving in 1963. Or whatever stupid things John Edwards did when he was young. I wouldn't care about John Kerry allegedly whoring for undeserved medals in Vietnam, except that his Vietnam service is the only reason he's ever given for why he should be President. (If Bush had based his entire campaign around being a flawless ANG pilot, CBS might have something here.)

The enlightened consensus seems to be that Bill Clinton getting sexual favors in the Oval Office didn't render him unqualified to be President, but the people who feel the most strongly about that are the same ones screaming "Bush went AWOL!" at the top of their lungs. Go figure.

Posted by damian at September 16, 2004 07:47 AM