Friends*, permit me to wade into the bog, the festering pit, the putrescent field of muck and decay that is presidential politics.

I happened to read about Scott McClellan defending Bush's record on the whole National Guard service thingy. Viz:

Briefing reporters on Air Force One on the way to a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, Mr. McClellan said the president would never have been honorably discharged from the Texas National Guard, if he had not satisfactorily met his military obligations.

He said these are the same attacks that are made every time Mr. Bush is up for election. The White House spokesman said Democratic challenger John Kerry "will do anything he can to avoid defending his record."

Now, I really don't give a flying hoochie-koochie what Bush did when he was in or out of the National Guard. I don't care if he was president of the Coke Appreciation Society during his college years, or any such nonsense. This is all irrelevant when we consider that this is the man who INVADED IRAQ FOR GOD'S SAKE!

However, I do find it somewhat odd that Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, is engaging in campaign dickity. Since when is this appropriate use of White House resources? After all, Mr. McClellan is a public servant, appointed by the President, to be sure, but not paid by his campaign staff. Will we next have Executive Orders being made to help incumbents secure the Presidency? Yuck.

In other news, Kerry is BEHIND 42% to Bush's 51% in a Time magazine poll. Holy cow! How can you lose to that? That's like coming in behind a horse's ass in a beauty contest. Or, to be precise, that's like coming in behind a horse's ass in a presidential election.

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*Sorry - I've been listening to Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, who love this sort of chumminess.